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.
Born on a farm in Colorado in 1913, Evelyn Mason moved to California with her husband in 1941 to work at Douglas Aircraft. "I was Rosie the Riveter," she told us. She made her contribution to the war effort, happy to be of service, then humbly stepped aside when the soldiers returned. "Some boy could have my job."
"I've tried to be a cowboy," Jake Copass told us, "and I've tried to be a good one." A wrangler for many years at the Alisal Guest Ranch in Solvang, he also made quite a name for himself as a cowboy poet. Our Dunn Middle School students interviewed Jake in the year 2000. He had the grace and integrity of a man doing the work he felt was right for him.
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.
Michael Giorgi was born on July 7, 1968 and began his childhood at his family's ranch at Nojoqui Falls, Gaviota. In all of his wanderings, he has always found solace in nature and growing things. Today he works as a gardener and landscaper and lives on the beautiful land he knew as a boy. Here he shares his insights about the magic of the world, finding balance, and nurturing life.
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.
A poet, artist, therapist, and educator, Dorothy Jardin has touched many lives. She was a well loved teacher at Dunn Middle and Upper Schools in Los Olivos, and is now a counselor and group facilitator. She has published a book of poems called Light's River and is preparing for a local exhibit of her paintings. Graceful as a dancer and creative to her bones, Dorothy has never stopped learning and exploring. Everything inspires her, and she in turn inspires.
Recalling projects requiring jigsaws in the hands of grade schoolers, the discovery of darkroom magic, the hikes where we girls surmounted the giant sandstone rocks using the ropes the boys in our very own class had carried and secured for our safe climb, camping trips, hot air balloon flights, poetry of place names and articles published in a real grown-ups' newspaper, I wondered what experiences shaped a teacher who revered adventure, nature, the finer points of language and even magic. And what had caused him to successfully ignite in his students the desire to do the same? Bruce gives us a glimpse of the exceptional characters who raised him, 'law breaking' adventure, wild backpacking trips and the insatiable curiosity that made him the exceptional teacher I know him to be.
Please accept this invitation from his student of nearly 30 years ago and pull up a seat near the dancing campfire flames to listen to the warm, earthen voice of a master teacher and storyteller weave the tales of his own creation.
The dream of rural living that Jeanne Walker once shared with her husband became hers to fulfill alone in the aftermath of tragedy, and she is legendary among all who know her for her one-woman industry, creativity, and inspiring resilience. In this interview Jeanne spoke about her years at the Hollister Ranch, her new life at Sea Ranch, and the wisdom she has accrued in the course of her journey. Her thoughts on grief, learning, and wonder are eloquent and profound.
A well known surfer from the Malibu days of the 1960s, Ray earned the nickname "The Enforcer" for the way he steered younger surfers from drugs and trouble and stopped conflict in its tracks. He continued surfing and exploring throughout his life, including California, Hawaii, Tahiti, and Nova Scotia, and formed enduring friendships everywhere he went. “Think of a good life,” he said, “Think of yourself becoming something.” Ray did exactly that.
A beloved physician in the Santa Ynez Valley, the legendary Dr. Netzer was also instrumental in the creation of the Family School, Friendship House, Country Medical Clinic, and the Side Street Café. Then, at an age when most people think about retiring, he moved to a remote village along the Amazon in Bolivia and founded the Rio Beni Health Project. Lou spoke to students and teachers at Dunn Middle School in 2001, shortly before he was diagnosed with the cancer that was to claim his life on October 10, 2002.
Jean Jacoby has a reserved, soft-spoken demeanor, but possesses an admirable kind of strength and self-acceptance. A child of the Depression, she has early memories of sledding down the deserted streets of Jamestown, New York on winter nights. She met her husband Dick at St. Lawrence University, and they have been a team ever since, working, traveling, raising two children, and now living in Lompoc. In this interview, she muses about the value of friendship, the sense of freedom and autonomy she still feels on a bicycle, and her gratitude for a fortunate life.
We visited Sally Jones at the Pork Palace, her Gaviota homestead. Sally beams with pride and joy as she reminisces about life with her husband George and their four sons here and in the Santa Ynez Valley. “I was a homemaker,” she says, “and I worked hard at it, and it was a joy.” In later years she found pleasure and solace in walking, and most recently in painting and drawing.
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
A math and science teacher at Dunn School in Los Olivos, California, Donna is one of those people who seem able to do anything. But when a horrific automobile accident left her paralyzed at the age of sixteen, she was told she would never walk again, and the life she has led since defies all the odds. Hers is an extraordinary story of determination and faith.
An inventor since childhood, Richard Cunningham’s irrepressible spirit and stunning creativity have led him through colorful adventures involving airplanes, motorcycles, bicycles, horses, journalism, bad guitar playing, and plenty of pain and ecstasy in the great outdoors.