Alia Volz

“Volz’s mother was the main vendor of pot brownies in San Francisco in the 1970s, and into the ‘80s. She literally pushed Alia around in a stroller, delivering pot brownies to all the artists and restaurants around the city and at Fisherman’s Wharf. It was a major business. There’s another level of the book that’s a social and political history of San Francisco, including the assassination of Harvey Milk, the beginning of Aids, etc. It turns out that these pot brownie vendors were some of the first people to explore the medical uses of marijuana. They were forces in the decriminalisation process as well.” Read more...

The Best Memoirs: The 2021 NBCC Autobiography Shortlist

Marion Winik, Journalist