New Edition of Sara Winchester Biography by Mary Joe Ignoffo

The house Sarah Winchester built before her death in 1922 is certainly a remarkable one. Most of her real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area sold quickly after she died. This house did not and within a very short time became a very successful tourist attraction. 

The stories that circulated about rifle heiress Sarah Winchester in Santa Clara county seem to have been the result of her reclusiveness. She lived in an age when newspaper reporters--given little real information--would just make up things in order to sell newspapers. Imagine that. 

Railroads Once Powered Work and Life in the West

Two commuters wait for the Southern Pacific railroad in Los Altos, California circa 1963. Service ended very soon after that with the construction of Foothill Expressway. The photograph was taken by Greg Gnesios. 

A friend of mine from Los Altos High School found me on the internet and sent me a photo he had taken one morning long ago of two men waiting for the railroad train--very near the end of the era when Los Altos commuters could easily get back and forth to work that way. 

His message made me ponder how important the rails were to our families, when I was young, and in the life and settlement of the West. And led to this column in my "Santa Clara Valley Lives" series for the local newspaper.  Click the link for the story: 

Railroads and Santa Clara Valley Lives

Famous Writer's Widow Owned Santa Clara Valley Retreat

Robert Louis Stevenson's wife Fanny was not conventionally beautiful, but the writer told friends when he met her in France in 1876 he fell in love at first sight. After RLS dies, Fanny built a home in the foothills above Gilroy, CA, above right. Originally a small cottage, it was extensively remodeled in the 1930s.

Here's a story that came to late too late to be included in my new book. I think you will enjoy it:    

The tools of the Industrial Revolution carried the stories of Robert Louis Stevenson all around the globe, which, along with his talent, helped to make the author of "Treasure Island" and "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" one of the 19th century's best-loved authors. When he died in Samoa in 1894, his widow, Californian Frances "Fanny" Van de Grift Stevenson, inherited his copyrights and became a very wealthy woman.

CLICK FOR THE REST OF THE STORY

Look for "Valley of Heart's Delight" in SC Valley Media

You can go to the web site of the Palo Alto Daily Post for Saturday 7/30/22 and read a higher resolution version of this (which I converted from a PDF). l have links below and excerpts for other articles about the book. 

My new book about the San Francisco Bay Area came out on July 25, 2022, and one thing I can say for certain: it is easier to get coverage for a third book, than it is for the first one. As a writer, I now have a track record with two other books and reporters know the work is credible (and, I like to think, likable as well). This has helped my new book gain attention more quickly. 

Here's the first review I received, which arrived on the publication date, thanks to veteran journalist Craig MacDonald at See California: Valley of Heart's Delight Review

Here's a brief piece in the Los Altos Town Crier: Los Altos Town Crier Article

Here's what award-winning columnist Sal Pizarro had to say in the San Jose Mercury News on Friday 7/29/2022. (Since their web site charges for membership, I've just excerpted it):

"The Valley of Heart's Delight" Gets its First Review!

"The Valley of Heart's Delight: True Tales from Around the Bay" is my new book from The History Press. Isn't that a dandy cover?

For many years I worked in daily journalism and my experiences in newsrooms was that they were a cacophony of noise and activity. Newsrooms were full of interesting, intelligent and talkative people: phones rang constantly, police radios blasted, news crews dashed in and out and reporters gabbed at each others' desks. Our deadlines were hourly and daily. Then we went home and came back for more the next day. 

Writing a book isn't anything like that. The deadlines are years, not days. The room I work in is quiet and I often feel isolated by the work. Sometimes I do something exciting and go to the library or an archive. Not noisy places, those. When the book is written, there are several more months of copy editing and then page proofs and covers to approve. By the time the book is finally published the writer wonders: do you suppose people will like it?

Today, after working on my new book for a long time, I received my first review. I wanted to share it with you. Thanks to Craig MacDonald of the popular "See California" web site for taking the time to read my book, care about California's many heritage stories and share his thoughts with you. 

CLICK HERE TO READ ROBIN'S FIRST REVIEW

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The Duvenecks: Disseminating Kindness at Hidden Villa

This photograph of Josephine and Frank Duveneck, founders of Hidden Villa summer camp, was taken in 1978 on the couple's 65th wedding anniversary. Josephine died 11 days later, shortly after completing her autobiography. Frank died in 1985 at the age of 99. Image courtesy of the Palo Alto Historical Association.

I was very surprised to read Hidden Villa was caught in the middle of a controversy about some Asian tiles on the side of the old Duveneck house. The tiles represent an ancient symbol in Asia and bear some resemblance to a swastika but are not exactly like the ones we associate with Germany. The controversy shut down the Hidden Villa children's camp this summer for the very first time.

I thought perhaps it might be a time to revisit the history of this forward-thinking couple, who made so many lives better during their lifetimes and beyond.

Here's a piece I published recently about them in the Los Altos Town Crier.

CLICK FOR ROBIN'S ARTICLE ON THE DUVENECKS

Lunch With the Queen: A Stanford Student Remembers

Stanford student Garin Veris look very shy as he shakes hands with Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain. His fellow student Raga Elim is on his right and Stanford president Donald Kennedy is at far left. HRH looks truly delighted to be meeting Mr. Veris. 

Nearly 40 years ago, Queen Elizabeth II came to California on an extended tour. I was working in Washington DC then, but I read about the visit as I researched an upcoming book. I decided to write a short piece for the local newspaper about the visit and looking for a quote for my piece, I realized many who met her then were no longer with us. Reviewing the list of Stanford students who met her, I came up with a winner.  Click the link for the rest of the story:

STUDENT MEETS THE QUEEN

Soldiers Battled Pandemic in Waning Days of World War I

Soldiers from Camp Fremont celebrate the end of World War I on University Avenue in Palo Alto.

Note all of the soldiers are wearing masks due to the 1918 pandemic. Photo courtesy of "The Story of Camp Fremont" and the Menlo Park Historical Society.

I'm working on a new book, which will be a collection of my articles so I'm going back and making sure they still hold up. When I first wrote about Barbara Wilcox's book in 2018, "World War I Army Training by San Francisco Bay: The Story of Camp Fremont," my article was mostly a promotion for an upcoming talk the author was giving. I grew up right down the road from Stanford and I had never heard about this vanished military base. 

When I re-read the book in 2021, I found its section on the 1918 pandemic absolutely fascinating for obvious reasons. So I wrote a new column for the local paper. Click the link for my report. 

The WW I Pandemic on the SF Peninsula

Alfred Hitchcock and his Northern California Connection

Director Alfred Hitchcock displays his famous profile at his estate above Saratoga. The outline was easily identified as it graced the opening of his popular television mystery program "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." Photo courtesy of UC Santa Cruz Special Collections & Archives and Tere Carrubba.

There is something absolutely fascinating about movie director Alfred Hitchcock, who was born in London in 1919 and died in California in 1980. His movies were unlike those of any other director. He became easily as famous as any of the stars he featured in his films. And he seemed to love the macabre. 

What most people in Northern California don't know is that he had a home in the mountains above the Santa Clara Valley that also looked down upon the California Coast and spent a lot of time there from 1940 through 1974 when Hitchcock grew frail and his wife Alma made arrangements to sell the home. 

Having a home in Northern California had a direct impact on "The Birds" one of his most famous films, due to an event on the California Coast Hitch learned about because he kept up on the local news. 

I've recently secured permission to use several interesting archival photos of him at the estate and though I have written about this before I felt the photos definitely added some fun to the tale. Click the link to read the column I filed about him in the Los Altos Town Crier for Halloween.

ALFRED HITCHCOCK AND HIS SCOTTS VALLEY ESTATE

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The Peninsular Railway: Electric Tech Ahead of Its Time

This rail car, from the Peninsular Railroad is Number 102 and shows a sign in the window that it runs from Los Altos to San Jose. It also sports a sign that says "Flyer," which means it was likely used for direct commuting. Photo courtesy of the Palo Alto Historical Association Archives.

This lovely map cover for the Peninsular doesn't even show a train: It was likely used to advertise the line's Blossom Special to tourists in a valley which then had the largest number of commercial fruit orchards the world had ever seen. Image courtesy of History San Jose Archives.

During the years I have done research on the San Francisco Bay Area I have seen a number of images of what looked like a small rail system that ran around the Santa Clara Valley. I always thought the lines were some branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad, which was the only rail I remembered from my childhood. 

Early in August, I attended a lecture by Ray Cosyn at the Saratoga Historical Foundation for the reopening of their museum, and the whole thing began to come into focus. And this led to a story of course. Click to learn more from my regular column in the Los Altos Town Crier: 

THE ELECTRIC PENINSULAR RAILWAY

A DC Reporter Looks Back After a Riot Shocked the World

     

Robin Chapman served as a reporter in Washington D.C. covering national and local news for WJLA-TV, the ABC affiliate. She later worked as national correspondent for Group W TV.  In photo right, Robin prepares to go live from the "swamp site" on Capitol Hill.

I still have a hard time processing what happened on Capitol Hill, January 6, 2020. I was lucky to spend some of my career there covering the news in what I have long considered a post-graduate course in how United States government works. I never live up to my own expectations and, looking back, often think how I should have and could have done so much during my years in the capital. 

After the riot that shocked the world there, I had to sit down and write about it--just to help myself process what happened. Here's what I wrote for hometown paper in Silicon Valley. 

CLICK HERE FOR ROBIN'S STORY IN THE TOWN CRIER

Surviving Covid? You May Need the Little Free Library!

           

 At far left, the book which helped me discover a talented relative of Robert Louis Stevenson, a book I found in a Little Free Library. At right, one of the Little Free Libraries in my neighborhood.

We are all missing lots of things that were once regular features of our lives before the recent pandemic. I often miss going to the local YMCA, where I had a set of "workout" friends I never saw in any other place. They were my gym friends. I miss going to restaurants and socializing. And, for many months I missed my local library, which is now open for online ordering and pickup only. What to read? Well, you just begin to look everywhere for books, and this, as it turns out brought me a treat. Click the link for my recent column!       

PRAISE FOR THE LITTLE FREE LIBRARY

Restoring a Bronze Tribute to a Local Leader in California

Walter Singer was able to view the bronze bust of himself commissioned by his friends in Los Altos, before his death in 1992. 

Holocaust survivor Walter Singer lived a remarkable life. Now a tribute to him lies gathering dust in a storage barn on the grounds of a California museum. What is his story. Click the link to learn more:

https://www.losaltosonline.com/news/sections/community/177-features/62996-santa-clara-valley-lives-restoring-a-displaced-bronze-tribute

Collings Foundation "Wings of Freedom" Tour on Hold Across America for 2020: Pandemic Not to Blame

At left is a photo of me with the "Witchcraft," a B-24 in which I won a ride last year.  Owned by the Collings Foundation is has been part of their "Wings of Freedom Tour" for many years.




Below, is a photo I took that same day of the "Nine-O-Nine" a B-17 that was also part of the tour. It was destroyed in a crash just a few months later.

In the spring on 2019, I won a ride in a B-24 from World War II. The iconic bomber was part of the Collings Foundation's "Wings of Freedom Tour." And though I admit I was apprehensive about flying in an aircraft that was older than I, as a reporter I felt I ought to do it.

There is more to the story, of course. I did not fly in the B-17 that day and I have no idea why, as I was told I could fly in any of the bombers and the B-17 "Flying Fortress" is arguably the most famous. Just a few months later, that same aircraft crashed in Connecticut, killing seven people and injuring seven others. The crash has left a lot of devastation in its wake. Click the link to read my column on the story:
WINGS OF FREEDOM TOUR ON HOLD: CLICK HERE FOR MORE

Lost Photo of Bing Crosby Uncovered After Sixty Years

Oscar winner Big Crosby poses, circa 1961, with a plaque created for him by the 

City of Los Altos, California. The photo is signed by Bing and appears to have suffered damage (to his nose and hand) from being left on the floor of a tool closet at a local community center. 

Photo courtesy of Jim Shattock.

Los Altos, California, is a small town on the San Francisco Peninsula, between San Francisco and San Jose. Since I uncovered a connection between singer-actor Bing Crosby and Los Altos--my hometown--I've been reading a lot about this very talented man, who was one of the most famous men of the 20th century. 

My first article about him prompted a call from another Los Altos native, who had some new information. Being a historian is a lot like being a detective. Click the link, for my article in the Los Altos Town Crier for more on Bing, his philanthropy, and what the photo (above) has to do with all of this.

CLICK HERE FOR BING CROSBY LOST PHOTO STORY

Crooner Bing Crosby & His Connection to a California Town

  

  A recent book about Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby claims he was color blind. That suit and tie he has on in this studio photo suggests he at least enjoyed mixing lively patterns. The headline above is from the January 12, 1961, "Los Altos News."

In a book published by the "Los Altos Town Crier" at the turn of the 21st Century, I noticed one sentence in a timeline at the back: "Bing Crosby pledges $10,000 to new Los Altos Youth Center." Though I spotted the phrase several years ago and didn't research it right away, I promised myself I would look into it one day.  

When I finally did so, the tale turned out to be just what I love: it was forgotten history with a twist. Here's the link the my recent article about this in my column in the Los Altos Town Crier: 
HOW BING CROSBY MADE BIG HEADLINES IN LITTLE TOWN 

Silicon Valley Celebrates 1939 at Historic Palo Alto Theater

Any film festival that includes "The Hound of the Baskervilles" is something worth considering.

If you would like a chance to step out of today and look at how the movies viewed our world eighty years ago, here is your chance to step into a Time Machine and whisk yourself away. A classic theater showing classic films is a wonderful place to find respite from the troubles of today.

The Origin of Alfred Hitchock's Classic Movie "The Birds"

Alfred Hitchcock in a vintage postcard promoting his 1963 film "The Birds."

Because of his television show (1955-1965), he became at least as famous as the stars of his movies.

Most fans of classic films love Alfred Hitchcock, and I am certainly among them. I do think he's a tad too corny at times. But I suppose corny can be a relief from the really scary things he does to us. The movie "Psycho," for example, is one of my favorite films. I don't want to like it: but each time it is on television, I can't seem to look away. 

Flying at Moffett (NUQ) with POTUS, Dad and Navy

My father and I at Moffett Field in 1987, 

getting ready for the only civil aviation flight I took with him.

Sometimes a single photograph in our lives will remind us of a tale about a day that had a sweetness to it. Glancing through an album in recent days, I came across the picture (above) taken on the only day I ever flew in a plane in which my father was the pilot. 

Rediscovering a Chinese-American Success Story: The Legacy of Thomas Foon Chew of Bay Side Cannery

Bay Side canned its products under at least seven different labels, something new we've learned since publication of Historic Bay Area Visionaries last October. 

At left, a portrait of a young Thomas Foon Chew who became a millionaire with his Bay Side Canning Company

When I published Historic Bay Area Visionaries (History Press 2018) last fall, I included a chapter about Thomas Foon Chew, whose story was well known during the early 20th century in the San Francisco Bay Area, but had almost been lost by the time I published my book. Historians new about it, most of the general public did not.

Since the book's publication, I've enjoying following the trail of new information relating to this improbable Chinese-American success story. Foon came to American from China at the age of 8 in 1897. A few years later, with his father, Sai Yen Chew, he founded Bay Side Canning Company, and became a multi-millionaire.