Way Back When, 100 years ago today on October 14, 1918, the dreaded Spanish Influenza pandemic hit Santa Barbara. As if the telegrams arriving with news of local boys dying in the war in Europe were not bad enough, now we were battling the flu here at home. I'll be giving a talk about the flu and WWI called "Countdown to Armistice" at the Goleta Historical Society on Sunday, Nov. 4 at 3 p.m., and at the SB Central Library on Sunday, Nov. 11 at 2 p.m. (Both the flu and the war will be part of my "Way Back When: Santa Barbara in 1918" book to be released soon.)