HarborTown Histories

Short Histories of Coastal Towns blog gallery books about the author about the artist

Over a quarter of a century ago, while teaching history at Arapahoe Community College, I wrote my first history, Wet Mountain Valley. Amazingly, this short history of the valley between the Wet Mountains and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Colorado is still in print twenty-eight years later!

I earned my doctorate at the University of Denver while raising my children, Bryce, Kendra, and Ross, now in their twenties. When my husband and publisher, Howard, and I moved to California, we looked for short histories of the California towns we loved, and found none. It was then that a dream was born: As soon as I could retire, I would begin writing short, comprehensive histories of the towns we love. To make this dream a reality, Howard gained computer graphic and publication skills while I began researching and writing about our favorite towns.

Wonderful things have been happening in the past 15 months! Howard and I have published four HarborTown Histories: Catalina Island, Santa Barbara, Cambria, and Newport Beach. I have retired from my position as Dean at Santa Barbara City College, and we are preparing to leave on our sailboat, ANU, to explore harbor towns, beginning with those in the Sea of Cortez.

Photo by Cynthia Gaganis

Until then, we are loving life in Santa Barbara, enjoying Britta (our Portuguese Water Dog), and preparing to build our home on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia. I can be reached at harbortownhistories@yahoo.com.