Carmel Serra Wine
Serra arrived in California in 1779, founding the San Diego Mission where the state’s first grapes were grown to make sacramental wine mostly for the Eucharist, and for medicinal purposes. In a small room with a tile floor the grapes were crushed by the feet of the natives that tended the vineyards. When Serra traveled […]
ESSELENE 1936 HISTORY PROJECT
In 1992 the third issue of Carmel’s paper “Freedom Of Speech”, as part of the town’s 75th anniversary published an article about a 1936 WPA Local History Project that interviewed people who claimed to have ancestors who were Esselen or Coastanoan. This effort had an office south of Ocean Avenue on Dolores, midblock on the […]
JAIME D’ANGULO Y MAYO
There is something more than enchanting about the sands of Carmel Beach, the sound of the breeze in the cypress boughs, and the cold currents in the bay. That undefinable something has a magnetic quality that somehow resonates with the neurology of unique individualists, and among all the free-spirited souls that are drawn here, Jaime […]
Slanderous Accusations About Serra y Los Indios
Anti Catholic efforts of the KKK and other groups here on California’s Central Coast intentionally misrepresent Blessed Serra as well as the native families he knew. These efforts peaked in the Twenties but continued into the Thirties, and included false accusations against both Serra and indigenous Catholics. Examination of the so called French “Scientific” Expedition […]
Turn-of-The-Century Feminist: Anne Martin
Anne Martin, an internationally respected suffragette and the first woman to run for the U.S. Senate was lured to Carmel in 1921 by Mary Austin, a local poet and playwright who dreamed of turning Carmel into a center for progressive writers and artists. Martin, whose works appeared in numerous magazines and papers, was a role […]
Aimee Slept Here?
The Jim Baker trial was a thoroughly entertaining media extravaganza that rivaled the most sensational trial in Los Angeles in the Roaring Twenties. The plight of 35-year-old Aimee McPherson, America’s premier woman evangelist of the 1920s, created headlines throughout America, and especially here on the Central Coast. Just as the news sensationalized Tammy Baker’s sit-com […]
Congnitive Linguistics & Esselen Language
Neural functions in the brain reflected in how coastal Esselen tribes communicated. In the COGLIN work of Prof. George Lakoff (UCB). Prof. Ivan Strang (Stanford) and Prof Paul Ekman (UCSF; expert on Detection Of Deceit) references include studies of languages used by indigenous tribal villages in the past. Among the Esselen, phonetic symbols (consonants & vowels) were not […]
Faces Of The Divine Feminine
Beauty can take so many forms in the human face, features that one doesnt see everyday on TV & films. A woman’s face can communicate expressions that can’t just be summed up in common words. Thus various artists attempt to capture just a hint of pensive awareness in their work. We wish to thank John […]
Murder By The Sea
The serene majesty of our coast was elegantly captured in the paintings of Mary DeNeal Morgan and Helen Smith. Especially enchanting are their depictions of Carmel’s summer fog as it brushed against the pines near the mouth of the Carmel River. The two women would set their easels next to one another there, furl their […]
John Thompson reviews Jack Kerouac’s Big Sur
Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) and other writers of the “Beat Movement” were drawn to Buddhist Teachings. Kerouac’s novels and essays often refer to his Catholic upbringing, his faith in the existence of God, and his fascination with the Dharma as taught by Guatama Buddha. Traditionally, devout Christians and Buddhists live in accordance with what Jesus spoke […]