Upcoming Events For Historic Bay Area Visionaries

Author Robin Chapman at a book signing with author Jan Batiste Adkins at Recycle Bookstore in Campbell, California in November.

The book signings and book talks have been going well since the publication of Historic Bay Area Visionaries in October and they have been keeping me very busy. In addition to the scheduled events below I will be doing some impromptu signings at retail outlets in the region that are carrying the book. And there are quite a few. 

Upcoming Events for Robin's Historic Bay Area Visionaries

Historic Bay Area Visionaries was published October 15, 2018 by The History Press.

The book is now out and for sale on The History Press web site and on Amazon.

Historic Bay Area Visionaries (History Press 2018) has now been published and we are getting lots of requests for events. I am keeping an updated list on my Author's Page on Amazon (see below for link) and I will also keep an updated list here

Wednesday, November 14: Los Altos History Museum, "Catch the Spirit," 1:30 p.m. Writer Robin Chapman will moderate a panel of local authors and the panel will be followed by a book signing. The address is: 51 S. San Antonio Road, Los Altos, CA 94022: 650-948-9427

Thursday, November 15: The Union Presbyterian Church and the Northern California Congregational Librarians' Luncheon, 12:00 to 3:00 p.m. Author talk and book signing. 858 University Avenue, Los Altos, CA 94022. Cost: $15. For reservations contact Patty Grimm at pgrimm1@pacbell.net or call Carol Campbell at 408-859-7488. 

Juana de la Briones: A Self-Invented California Pioneer

Most of the land owned by Juana Briones--more than 4,000 acres--became the town of Los Altos Hills. But the house she built about 1845 ended up in the city limits of Palo Alto. It was finally razed in 2011. Photo courtesy of the Palo Alto Historical Association Archives.

I've recently written a new book called Historic Bay Area Visionaries, which includes the stories of six people from California history I know you will want to meet. They include an Ohlone Indian named Lope Inigo, California pioneer Juana Briones, poet Robert Louis Stevenson, heiress Sarah Winchester, immigrant millionaire Thomas Foon Chew, and silent film star Charlie Chaplin.

California's Juana Briones and the Mystery of a Photograph

Descendants of Santa Clara Valley pioneer Juana Briones believe this photograph to be Juana.

Only available through the Point Reyes National Seashore Archive, it may not be used without their permission.

I am working on research for a new book about some exceptional people in California. There have been so many who have lived and worked in the region of the San Francisco Bay Area, long before Silicon Valley. While researching this group, I've uncovered lots of interesting stories.

One of them, Juana Briones, had family who came with the first Spanish-speaking civilians to settle in the San Francisco Bay Area. Juana's mother came to California as a four year old, with Juan Bautista de Anza, settling with her parents in the first pueblo of California, the pueblo of San Jose.