– SPECIAL EDITION –

What Local Authors Are Reading

Independent Bookstore Day was originally scheduled for this past weekend. We usually celebrate it with local authors and an afternoon open house of wine and great camaraderie. Needless to say, this national event didn’t happen as planned and has been postponed until August. None the less, we wanted to recognize our local writers and asked them to share what they are reading now, and/or what they recommend as good reads in these troubled times.

We think you’ll enjoy their commentary below.

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What They’re Reading

Local authors share what they are reading and what they suggest we read during these challenging times.
We have all these authors books in stock as well as what they are recommending.

Erin Byrne

While in Paris – pre-pandemic – I read The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, which is absolutely fantastic. Witty, chilling, and escapist literature at its finest. I have seen the musical many times in SF, NY, London, and re-watched the 2004 film, which is an over-the-top gorgeously thrilling delight.

Upon my return – with the world in full pandemic mode – I needed something light, so read The Grammarians by Cathleen Schine, which was rollicking, fun, and made me cry at the end, a rare feat. Then I ordered three more of her books, as her style is just what I need now. I am halfway through The Weissmanns of Westport and it lifts my spirits.  

Recently I went on a streak of reading Ann Patchett novels. I loved The Dutch House so I reread Bel Canto one of my very favorites (which also is a film starring Julianne Moore, quite lovely). I also read Run and loved that too. 

I'm working on a novel of occupied Paris and while I normally read long, deep, engrossing novels, right now I need to be cocooned and comforted by a simple good book. Stories lift us out of our daily concerns and difficulties and can be so healing and encouraging at this particular time. Erin Byrne

Erin lives in Sausalito when she’s not in Paris or sheltering in place with her sons in Seattle. She is the author of Wings: Gifts of Art, Life, and Travel in France, editor of Vignettes & Postcards from Paris and Vignettes & Postcards from Morocco. She teaches writing in Paris and the Bay Area.

Her story, “Our Ravaged Lady”, about last year's fire in Notre Dame cathedral, won the Grand Prize Gold Solas Award for Travel story of the Year and is oddly prescient and inspirational for this very time. https://www.besttravelwriting.com/btw-blog/great-stories/grand-prize-gold-winner-our-ravaged-lady/ One of its main themes is based on a quote by Emanuel Macron about "wars, pandemics, and liberations"

Janet Chapman

I recommend Citizens of London by Lynne Olson. It's a fascinating story of several key Americans, Edward R Murrow, Averill Harriman, and US Ambassador to Great Britain Gil Winant, and how they helped foster the fabled 'special relationship' between Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt. These men arrived in London prior to World War II and each developed a fierce love for London and admiration for the British, while trying to influence Roosevelt and thwart American isolationist factions to get the USA into the war and save the world from Hitler. This non-fiction work illuminates this period of history and provides a different perspective from what we Americans thought we knew about the war. Janet Chapman

Janet Chapman is the author of two delightful little walking tour guides: Berninis & Bellinis – Art Walks in Romeand Palladio & Prosecco – Art Walks in the Veneto. The later was just published and her book launch, which was scheduled for earlier this month has been postponed until we can properly celebrate La Dolce Vita!

Diana Dempsey

I am a fan of a certain type of ghost story, in which the heroine is smart and skeptical and never once wanders stupidly into a basement; and the ghost, while terrifying to us living beings, has very good reason still to be wandering the earth. 

That’s why I so enjoy The Haunting of Maddy Clareby Simone St. James. Sarah Piper—poor, intelligent, and melancholy—is a compelling heroine. She’s resourceful enough to survive on her own in 1920’s England, yet she’s neither cynical nor hard-edged. She longs for a better life, and alongside her we hope she finds it.

Ghost Maddy Clare had a terrible life, and came to a terrible end, and even though she’s dead she means to do something about it. One of the best things about this novel, in my opinion, is that Maddy’s manifestations are extremely powerful, and terribly frightening, and yet just ordinary enough that you can imagine them really happening. 

In 2013, The Haunting of Maddy Clarewon the RITA award for “Best First Book” from the Romance Writers of America (an award for which my Falling Starwas nominated but did not win). The award is well-deserved. The romance in this novel is heartfelt and believable. The lovers are both solitary, wounded people in need of a fellow understanding soul.

I will admit to some dissatisfaction with the end of the novel. The reader is left to imagine more than I would like. Still, that detracts little from the story’s powerful impact. Moreover, this book has nothing to do with viruses, which makes for the lovely respite of escapist reading. Diana Dempsey

Based in Sausalito, Diana Dempsey was an Emmy-award winning news journalist who now pens romantic fiction. She is known for her Beauty Queen Mystery Series as well as 6 other novels.

Mike Denney 

The talented Mike Denney (MD, PhD, Musician) has lived many lives including as a writer. His most recent book is Nobody’s Boy, a Medical Memoir. Mike lives in Sausalito with his lovely wife Leonie and is celebrating his 90th birthday today (April 28th). He was inspired to write the following.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

I wonder if I’ll ever write another book. At this advanced age, could I always trust myself to follow even basic grammar – present tense, past tense, future tense – present perfect, past perfect, even future perfect?

If I did write another book, I would want it to be inspirational, a story that would transcend the ordinary and lead my readers to new horizons; a book like those that fascinated, mesmerized and inspired me to overcome my troubled youth during the great depression and World War II.

These books are recommended reading and as relevant now as they were for me then. In Sans Famille, by Hector Malot, the little orphan, Remi, learns music from a street performer, and that leads the boy to find his mother and her love. In the novel, Blessed Are The Meek, by Zofia Kossak, through benevolence and perseverance, St. Francis of Assisi is granted access to the Holy Sepulcher. In the book Green Mansions, by W.H. Hudson, the first-person narrator tells of how. through sheer determination and bodily exhaustion, he fulfills his promise to a dying woman. And, in the novel, Magnificent Obsession, by Lloyd C. Douglas, a carousing young man discovers that his mentor, Doctor Hudson, has spent his life not only healing others as a neurosurgeon but also secretly serving the needy with good deeds.

Seeking to travel the wending path toward those ideals – caring for family and others, unselfish benevolence, determination and hard work, good intentions, and loving kindness -- I mended my wayward adolescence and endeavored to live a meaningful life. So, in this final chapter of my life, will I write another book? Perhaps a short poem will suffice:

FUTURE PERFECT

When death’s foreboding mystery,
Brings dread and longing deep within,
Future perfect is the tense for me,
For when I die, I will have been.

Thank you Dr. Denney… and Happy Birthday!

Susan Griffin

Right now, I am reading two books. One by Elaine Sciolino called The Seine: The River that Made Paris. Last year I read her book about the rue des Martyrs, called The Only Street in Paris, and loved it. Drawn again and again to Paris for many years, I especially like the way she captures the sense of community on this street, which. like many quartiers, or neighborhoods, is like a small village within the city. In this new book, once more, she weaves history and storytelling into an irresistible tapestry of the meanings in our lives that are articulated only too rarely. 

I am also reading a book that has been in print for a long time, Frederick Morton's Thunder at Twilight, an account of the years 1913 and 1914 in Vienna. I got fascinated with Vienna when I read The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal and after that Morton's earlier book on Vienna A Nervous Splendour. Thunder renders a gossipy yet relevant picture of how World War I began. 

Other recent reads: Rebecca Solnit's superb memoir, Recollections of My Non-Existence, an account of how she came to be a writer, woven with her struggle against the misogyny that threatened, in one way another, as it does all women, to annihilate her in body and soul. Also, Carolyn Forché's gripping memoir, What You have Heard Is True, about the time she spent in Salvador in the eighties, where she witnessed the atrocities that led to her stunning, now famous book of poems, The Country Between. Susan Griffin

The amazing Susan Griffin is a radical feminist philosopher, essayist and Emmy award winning playwright and a poet. She has written 21 books, including works of nonfiction, poetry, anthologies, plays, and a screenplay. Her work has been translated into over 12 languages. Woman and Nature: The Roaring Inside Her (1978) has sold more than 100,000 copies and helped launch the “ecofeminist” movement. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1993 for A Chorus of Stones: The Private Life of War.

Jane Kriss

How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, by Jenny Odell, was published a little over a year ago and is perfect for our current pause mode. It questions contemporary society’s assumptions about productivity and describes how periods of contemplation, observation, and “deep listening” are critical to healthy intellectual and emotional lives. A much-needed alternative to the single-goal, to-do list oriented, tech-driven forces at work in our Bay Area culture – especially now that the world, as we know it, is suddenly drastically different. You will feel as if you’re on a first-name basis with the author as you read this book. I have passed my copy on to loved ones, so I may need to buy another! Jane Kriss

A talented Sausalito artist, Jane Kriss is also the author and illustrator of the best-selling children’s picture book “Next Stop Sausalito”.

Jacqueline Kudler

I had started reading Richard Power's The Overstory before the shelter-in-place policy came down and very much enjoyed sinking into it through the first weeks of our new reality. I think it's a fine book to read as we try to maintain our sanity through these unsettling days. Around 500 pages long and beautifully written, its complexity demands a fairly intense focus – just what I needed to while away the long hours at home. The lives of nine vividly drawn separate characters, eventually coming together as the book unfolds making for the novel's complexity. As do the lives of the trees that surround these people – “characters” which summon forth some of Power's most lyrical passages. This is not just a book for tree-huggers though, the book transported me into the magic of the natural world, a trip most welcome right now. After finishing, I went back to the opening chapter just to check something out and ended up re-reading it through a second time with great pleasure—can't think of a better way of recommending it. Jacqueline Kudler

Jacqueline Kudler is a poet who lives in Sausalito. One of the founders of Sixteen River Press, her collections of poetry include The Sacred Precinct and Easing Into Dark.

Kimberly Lovato

I have so many books piled up on the bedside table, coffee table, and bookshelves that were waiting for me to “have the time” to read. Well, here I am with all kinds of time. As a travel writer, who can’t travel my work has come to a crashing halt, so I am traveling through words, and going through these unread tomes one by one. The 2019 autobiography, Me by Elton John was at the top of one pile. Elton John is a longtime favorite of mine whose music transports me back to simpler days with childhood friends. His was one of the first concerts I ever went to; also, one of the last concerts I went to -- in San Francisco last fall. I’m only a few chapters in, but so far, I love it.

A book I read recently, that is the ideal salve for this crazy moment in time is the The Thank-You Project (2019) by Oakland author Nancy Davis Kho. Written with great humor and poignancy, the book tells us about the pen-and-paper journey of gratitude the author takes to write 50 thank-you letters to those who’d touched and shaped her life in some way—friends, family, co-workers, ex-friends. Her personal story is intertwined with guidelines on how to start your own letter-writing project, and what better time than now? Plus, who doesn’t love to get real mail?! I know I do! The book also makes a lovely “appreciation” gift. Kimberley Lovato

The author of Unique Eats & Eateries of San Francisco and Walnut Wine and Truffle Groves, Kimberley Lovato’s most recent book is 100 Things to Do in San Francisco Before You Die.

Elizabeth Monnet

I recently read An Old Man’s Game: An Amos Parisian Mystery by Andy Weinberger. It’s a fast-paced murder mystery set in today’s Los Angeles involving a no-nonsense retired Jewish private eye, who reluctantly agrees to investigate the death of a popular but controversial rabbi. Written in the first person, Amos Parisian hilariously describes his interaction with the other characters to perfection, even when his life is in danger. If you like mysteries with a lot of humor, this novel will meet your expectations. Elizabeth Monnet

Elizabeth Monnet is the author of a Vintage Year for Insider Trading a courtroom comedy drama introducing Sidney the Sheepdog. Once it’s safe to come out of hiding, we look forward to rescheduling an event with Elizabeth to celebrate publication of her latest novel A Vintage Year For Libel And Slander

Donovan Moore

I'm in the business of writing non-fiction, so my shelter-in-place daytime "work" reading, if you will, is current non-fiction titles. I recently finished The Body by Bill Bryson. I promise that you don't really know that sack of skin you live in (the sub-title of the book is "A Guide for Occupants") until you read this book. For instance: you blink your eyes 14,000 times a day; if your lungs were stretched out, they would cover a tennis court; you have a lifetime total of roughly 1.6 billion heartbeats. Who knew?  

Every page is crammed with offbeat facts, presented with wit and humor. It will help entertain others sheltering in place with you because you’ll constantly be calling out fascinating factoids to them. When an author exercises complete control over his or her book, and you're glad about that, you have a great read in hand. This is one of those books.  

My "night" reading is the opposite. When I'm off the clock, I need to escape. I need fiction. I'm now halfway through The Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian. So far, it's holding me; I look forward to picking it up at the end of the day. I also bought -- from Sausalito Books By The Bay (!) -- one of the writer's earlier books, The Flight Attendant. My wife grabbed it before I could squirrel it away. She doesn't want it to end!  So there you have it. Donovan Moore

Sausalito writer Donovan Moore just published his first book, What Stars are Made Of, a fascinating biography of astronomer Ceclia Payne Gaposchkin – a remarkable woman who made one of the most significant scientific discoveries ever and broke through a male bastion of resistance. We were proud to host his wonderful book launch party…our last event of the pre-pandemic era! 

Bethanie Murguia

I’m reading The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia. From the first paragraph, I was transported to ranchero life in Mexico in the early 1900s—a welcome bit of travel and diversion at this point. I’m completely enchanted by the riveting characters, superstitions, a setting that stimulates the senses, and a touch of magical realism. Coincidentally, parts of it take place during the Spanish Flu of 1918. If you’re a fan of Luis Alberto Urrea, this book is for you. (And if you haven’t read any of his books, now would be a great time to start. I adore The Hummingbird’s Daughter.)

I recently finished American Wolf by Nate Blakeslee, starring the wolves of Yellowstone and the people who observe them. I was captivated by the wolves’ personalities and their pack rituals. Much of the book was drawn from Rick McIntyre’s intimate and moving notes, collected during daily observations over the course of many years. The dramatic political battle being waged around the wolves’ reintroduction created a tense backdrop for a book that took me on a rollercoaster of big emotions. Bethanie Murguia

Sausalito resident Bethanie Murguia is a prolific and popular children’s picture book author and illustrator. Her 16 books are all delightful; titles include Do You Believe in Unicorns?The Too Scary Scary, Toucans, Too and Zoe’s Jungle.

Jim Nisbet

Carol and I have passed many a sheltered evening of late keeping company with Hilary Mantel's Tudor Trilogy – Wolf Hall, Bring Up The Bodies, and The Mirror and The Light.

The trilogy centers around the story of the son of a blacksmith, Thomas Cromwell (1845-1540), who became Henry VIII's fixer until Henry fixed him, between Queen No. 4 and Queen No. 5.  Also in the mix are the biggest schism in Christian history (The Reformation), the sport of jousting (which almost got King Henry killed) various cardinals, bishops, lords, ladies, and commoners, any of whom might lose their head at the whim of Henry. Many did, including Queen No. 2, Ann Boleyn. 

There is also great reference to the English sweating sickness which took its victims from perfectly healthy to perfectly dead in four to eight hours, with no discernible pattern as to age, gender, state of health, or social status. To this day, nobody knows what it was. I'd never heard of it until I read Mantel; the point being these books are full of this kind of stuff.  

This is historical fiction at its finest. The text is literary, intelligent, funny, and breathtaking throughout the three books. The first two volumes each won a Booker Prize, England's highest literary award, an unprecedented feat. Mantel took eight years lucubrating the third volume – it's just been published – and the wait was entirely worth it.  

As it happens, Carol had a copy of Holbein in England on hand which is a great complement to Mantel’s Trilogy. Hans Holbein (1467-1543) made drawings and oil portraits of many of the historical figures in all three books and is actually a character in the novels. Jim Nisbet

Jim Nisbet and his canine companion Dexter Brown Jr. are regulars at our bookshop. One of our local Sausalito authors, Jim has penned thirteen novels including the acclaimed Lethal Injection and five books of poetry. His most recent book was Snitch World. He has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize three times, shortlisted for the Hammett Prize, and published in 13 languages.

Richard Polsky

I am currently reading former Sausalito resident Matthew Geyer's new book Atlantic View. It showcases the writer's gifts for storytelling with a world view — while maintaining his West Coast sensibility. He deftly weaves a tale that spans decades — from World War II through the Obama years — with great visceral appeal. Sometimes you feel like you're sharing a barstool with a soldier during the war, while hoisting a pint at a classic pub in Dorsett. At other times, you're ensconced with the protagonist enjoying his morning coffee in Sausalito, during present days. But ultimately, this is a book about relationships that can be sticky at times, but ultimately satisfying — just like all of ours. I recommend Atlantic View if you're looking for a satisfying read that makes you think a little and reflect on your family's history — and how it becomes your history too. Richard Polsky

Richard Polsky is a private art dealer as well as an accomlished writer. He is the author of five books including I Sold Andy Warhol (too soon) and The Art Prophets: The Artists, Dealers & Tastemakers Who Shook the Art. When he isn’t writing or authenticating art, he’s walking the streets of Sausalito in his Stetson hat. He specializes in postwar, and pop art but has a special affinity for the American Southwestern genre as well. 

Peg Alford Pursell

I’m always fascinated by human behavior, the brain, the mind and consciousness. This time of shelter in place allows for time to indulge in reading and thinking with less interruptions. Two books I’m reading and highly recommend for readers similarly fascinated, or curious. Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind by Annaka Harris and Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst by Robert M. Sapolsky. A handful of poems from Ruth Stone’s What Love Comes To is in order any time. Peg Pursell

Peg Alford Pursell is the author of  A Girl Goes Into the Forest (2019) -- shortlisted for the Northern California Booksellers Golden Poppy Award for Fiction -- and Show Her a Flower, A Bird, A Shadow – the Foreword Indies 2017 Book of the Year for Literary Fiction. She is the founder and publisher of WTAW Press. (http://www.wtawpress.org/)

Dean Rader

As per normal, I seem to be immersed in three different books. On one end of the spectrum is Colson Whitehead’s Zone One—a thrilling apocalyptic novel that pretends to be about zombies but is really about survival and history. On the other is Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror and the Light, purportedly about Thomas Cromwell (but might also be about zombies of a different kind) and is most definitely about survival and history. However, I’m most engrossed in the late poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, especially the Duino Elegies and Sonnets to Orpheus. Everyone on this planet should be reading his eighth Duino Elegy—one of the most joyous and ecstatic love letters to the Earth. Right now, it is exactly what we need. Dean Rader

Dean Rader is a prolific, award-winning poet and also a popular professor of English at the University of San Francisco. His debut collection of poems, Work & Dayswon the 2010 T.S. Elito Poetry Prize.  His most recent book of poetry is Self-Portrait as Wikipedia Entry (2017). He has also penned scholarly texts and a best-selling book on writing and popular culture The World is a Text. If space allowed, we would include his moving poem Meditation on Transmission that was published April 8, 2020 as a “Letter to the Editor” the SF Chronicle. Check it out.

Barbara Sapienza

Love in the Time of Cholera (1985) Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Loving Kindness, The Revolutionary Art of Happiness (2002) Sharon Salzberg are two books that suit my mood during these times of sheltering. With love in their titles I explore my own heart.

Marquez writes about love sickness, cholera being the metaphor; Salzberg teaches about compassion. Marquez explores Dr. Juvenal Urbino’s marital love and Florentino Ariza’s unrequited love for the same woman. Marquez, a classic story-teller, illuminates a world with exquisite details, shedding light on love.  I find myself laughing at the old doctor and his shadow parrot. 

Salzberg helps us to understand our deep longings to be loved and connected and offers us a path toward reuniting with ourselves and others. She offers lovely explanations of Buddhist concepts. A gift during this time of social distancing.

I recently finished Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann (2009) a novel set in New York City in 1974, when a daring man in real time set up cables between the twin towers and walked across, dazzling New Yorkers below. McCann creates the vivid excitement of this great city and its people, reminding us that New York can get through anything, even Coronavirus. I loved Tillie, the prostitute, and her prostitute daughter Jazzlyn, and Corrigan, an odd priest.

Another suggestion: The Eye of the Elephant, Delia Owens (Where the Crawdad’s Sing) and Mark Owens explore their time in Africa in the eighties doing research on lions. They discovered how the Zambians used poaching as a viable income to feed themselves, killing thousands and thousands of elephants. They spent years trying to teach the people the value of a living elephant over a dead one. Also on my shelf are The Dutch House, Ann Patchett; Apeirogon, Colum McCann; American Dirt, Jeanine Cummins. I look forward to delving in. Barbara Sapienza

Barbara Sapienza is a talented artist and retired clinical psychologist who enrolled in the SFSU graduate program of Creative Writing at age 66.  Since then, she has authored Anchor Out, a novel set in Sausalito (where she lives) and her latest novel, The Laundress, which publishes May 19th and has already garnered rave reviews. With luck we will be hosting Barbara’s book launch party May 30th… but it may be via Zoom! Meanwhile, you can order copies of her new book from us.

Gail Stark

Just out in paperback – Inheritance by Dani Shapiro. I Could Not Put This Book Down, nor can I stop talking about it. Fascinating. Mind-Opening. Game Changing. She recently spoke to a sold-out San Francisco Jewish Community Center audience. Who could imagine where an innocent sperm donation for $20 would end up fifty years later. 

I am grateful to Cheryl Popp for inviting me to Jenny Offill's reading of her new book, Weatherat a lovely Poggio luncheon here in Sausalito recently.  I came to really care about and root for the gently, exquisitely created characters in this thoughtful novel. Gail Stark

A resident of Sausalito, Gail Stark is a successful residential real estate agent who has turned her talents to writing and will be publishing her first book next month – Creating a Life of Integrity: In Conversation with Joseph Goldstein.  While we planned to host her book launch party May 9th it will now be a virtual event which you can register for online. Meanwhile, we can take advance orders for her book which publishes May 5th. 

Ciji Ware

Under our current shelter-in-place directives I’m reading almost a book every-other-day – evenly split between research materials for my work-in-progress and reading for pleasure. Since my next book is set in France during WW II, here is a partial list I’ve read “for work” in the last month:

A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purcell about the amazing American secret agent, Virginia Hall; Sister, Secrets and Sacrifice – A True Story by Susan Ottaway; Citizens of London -The Americans who stood with Britain in its darkest hour by Lynne Olson; Avenue of Spies by Alex Kershaw.

I find that to keep my sanity I also seek “fun” and “distracting” fiction which I tend to read at night. Favorite authors include: Donna Leon’s Venice-based mysteries; Rhys Bowen Her Royal Spyness series about an impoverished young woman 34th in line for the throne who must live by her wits to get by and stay in favor with the British crown; Paula McLain’s wonderful biographical fiction, including The Paris Wife, Love and Ruin, Circling the Sun.

As the weeks roll by, it’s more obvious than ever that Reading Is Essential!  Thanks to Cheryl and the crew at Sausalito Books by the Bay for making it possible to secure not only books, but fabulous puzzles, cards and gifts of cheer to send to friends and family. They will even deliver to your door! Ciji Ware

Sausalito resident Ciji Ware is a New York Times best-selling author of both fiction and non-fiction. The former Emmy award winning television producer and journalist is the author of 15 books, including her most recent novel which was published last October – Landing by Moonlight - A Novel of WW II.

Jim Wood

More time to read has been an upside to the current stay-at-home mandate. My first book was An Imperfect Union by NPR anchorman Steve Inskeep – a fascinating read about John C. Fremont and his wife Jesse Benton Fremont (daughter of Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton) and their adventuresome 1850s life. It crisscrosses America from Washington DC to St Louis and on to California with many stops in the Bay Area including Marin. It was Fremont who came up with the name Golden Gate for the opening to San Francisco Bay. Why? You’ll have to read the book! My other indulgence, of a different sort, was Woody Allen’s Apropos of Nothing. What a fun and at times informative read. It’s like Woody’s inside the book talking to you about his life for at least 36 hours! My wife Nikki and I read it simultaneously and ended each day by watching one of Allen’s movies – Annie Hall, Match Point, Blue Jasmine, etc. We found we understood and appreciated the movies more after better understanding Woody Allen. He’s one-of-a-kind and definitely authentic. Jim Wood

Jim Wood is the founder and former publisher of Marin Magazine where he penned “Looking Back” the magazine’s longest running feature. His recent book The Best of Looking Back in Marin County is a compilation of the historical vignettes from his magazine column, offering a terrific snapshot of Marin’s colorful history.

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