An acclaimed architect and legendary surfer, Andy Neumann is also my long-time neighbor and friend. I interviewed him over the course of two visits in March of 2020 at his Hollister Ranch home.
I interviewed Aris Alexander at his Hollister Ranch home in Gaviota, California on November 15, 2016. A retired professor of psychiatry, Aris is erudite and thoughtful. He spoke candidly about life, priorities, and happenstance.
On a recent October morning, John Hollister Wheelwright (son of Jane Hollister Wheelwright and Joe Wheelwright) visited the ranch house in Gaviota where he had spent a portion of his childhood living with his grandparents. He reminisced and reflected with sensitivity and humor about the ranch life he knew, the changes he's seen, and feeling like a 19th century person in today's different world.
Sean Herzig has lived and worked at the Hollister Ranch for more than twenty years. Kind, perceptive, and capable, he’s one of those people you just feel glad to see, someone humble and decent, quietly contributing. Here he shares some thoughts about the importance of family, work, and community.
Hollister Ranch cowgirls Kathi Carlson and Sue Benech Field share their stories with humor and heart.
The Living Stories Collective is pleased to be able to share audio excerpts from a 1998 conversation with Jane Hollister Wheelwright and Joe Hollister, both then in their nineties and looking back on their extraordinary lives with humor and candor.
Kathryn Holcomb Dole was born into a pioneering family and had a pioneering way of living life. Married to the artist William Dole, Kate energetically managed his career and finances as well as their travel and social life while raising seven children. For nearly a decade in the 1950s and 1960s, the family lived in the old Hollister ranch house, filling it with life and laughter. She came back to visit in 1999 and shared memories from those wonderful years.
From the Hollister Ranch to the world and the cosmos, Lincoln Hollister's life has been one of discovery and exploration. In this interview he speaks enthusiastically about his work as a geologist and reminisces with love and insight about his roots.
Our students interviewed J.J. Hollister in 1997 when he and his wife Barbara were living in the old adobe at Arroyo Hondo. He talked about the history of the area, his family, and his childhood years at the Ranch. “In your daily routine you were one with nature and one with places where few people were.”
The 6th grade students of Vista de las Cruces School visited the Casa at Rancho San Julian in 1997 to interview rancher Dibblee Poett, who was then 90 years old.
A beloved musician, singer, and songwriter also respected for his activism and philanthropy, Jackson Browne sat down for an informal conversation with our students on a rainy day in 2002. The result is one of the most authentic, revealing, and touching interviews he has ever done.
A therapist, writer, and pilgrim of sorts, Doyle Hollister reflects in this interview on his deep connection to the land that is the Hollister Ranch, the lessons he has learned in his personal journey, and the need we all have for wilderness in our lives.
Bill Reynolds is a man who has reinvented himself many times, but through all of his endeavors there runs a creative spirit, a sense of authenticity, and a profound appreciation for the iconic cowboy culture and heritage of the American West.
Property and maintenance chief at the Hollister Ranch and a congenial presence around here for nearly forty years, Scott McIntyre sat down with us a few weeks before retiring and shared his reminiscences and thoughts about tending the land, the changes he's seen and the things that make him hopeful, and the unceasing wonder of being here.
An anthropologist with deep roots in the central coast region of California, Larry Spanne probably knows this part of the country as well as anyone. He worked for many years at Vandenberg Air Force Base, where his role was to help protect, interpret, and preserve cultural resources. In this interview he talks of boyhood memories, local history, archaeology, and making peace with the past.
Susan Brooks remembers her mother telling her, “It’s a big world out there, Susie. You should live and experience it.” And she certainly has. A self-described surfer girl who grew up in the Santa Ynez Valley, she started college at the age of fifteen and went on to a PhD in biochemistry and a career in cancer diagnosis. Now retired, she’s a naturalist and an artist who has never ceased to explore, learn, and appreciate.
An artist, builder, surfer, and friend who has lived for decades at the Hollister Ranch, Kit Cossart offered reflections about what it means to live in this remarkable part of the world. He talked about his early adventures surfing beyond the gate of Bixby Ranch, the paintings and sculptures he creates, and the faith that is his source of strength