John Murphy | The Che Underground

There to Here: Cynthia Jaynes Omololu,
Young Adult fiction phenom

January 2, 2018July 10, 2012 by Mmrothenberg

(In this installment, Che Underground: The Blog talks to San Diego scene documentarian Cynthia Jaynes Omololu about her career in young-adult fiction. If you’d like your story told, e-mail cheunderground@gmail.com!)

With the publication of Dirty Little Secrets and the recent release of the first installment of your new Transcendence series, C.J. Omololu is developing a growing reputation as an author of fiction for young adults. How did you get from the San Diego scene of our youth to a writing career in San Francisco?

Aw, thanks, Matthew. I’ll take that kind of reputation. It actually makes a lot of sense – I have to write from the perspective of a 16 or 17 year old and a lot of people say I’m emotionally stunted at around that age. Okay, not totally true, but I started hanging around the San Diego scene at about that age, and it was a pretty influential time for me. We’d moved to Del Mar from Poway in the summer between 9th and 10th grade and I felt like I never fit in there – we were renting an apartment in the land of multimillion dollar beach houses and honestly, I couldn’t compete.

More familiar faces

January 1, 2011July 15, 2008 by Mmrothenberg

Another fabulous installment from the Cyndie Jaynes Collection of photographs from the San Diego underground ca. 1984-’85.

“[M]ost of the ‘hanging around’ photos … were taken at [John] Murphy’s place on Normal St.,” Cyndie recalls. “I got a camera for high-school graduation, and sat around taking photos of anyone who showed up.”

We’re very grateful she did; each of these loving portraits offers a shock of recognition and a rush of neurotransmitters to long-unused synapses. Check out the photos and help us fill in the blanks!

Many familiar faces (a few missing names)

January 1, 2011June 30, 2008 by Mmrothenberg

The Cyndie Jaynes Collection continues to generate a kaleidescope of images from the early-’80s San Diego underground … This batch features a shot I overlooked from the Tell-Tale Hearts’ performance at Dave Fest 3 as well as a variety of portraits.

Here’s a selection of Cyndie’s photos, followed by a list matching names to these well-loved faces. Note the gaps in the historical record; help us out here!