Fifty-three stories of people and events on the "other coast" from the early days to the 1930s.

Nilda Rego, a newspaper reporter for most of her adult life, was born and raised in Berkeley, California. She attended its public schools from kindergarten at Longfellow Elementary School through the University of California.

She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in journalism with a minor in history. Her first newspaper job was as the society editor of the Contra Costa Gazette, in Martinez. After writing about weddings and learning to spell such important words as stephanotis and Benedict, she retired to raise a family of six children—one girl and five boys.

In 1969, Nilda began working for the Concord Transcript, a Lesher newspaper, again reporting on weddings. Within a year she transferred to hard news, covering the city hall and police beats. Her "Days Gone By" articles started in 1987 when the editor of the Contra Costa Times decided that the newspaper should have a weekly local history column.

Nilda Rego retired from the Times in 1991, but continued to write her column until 2015.

Nilda Rego (February 13, 1927-April 19, 2026)