Buttermilk, Bloomers and Beaches

About the Book

This memoir paints the journeys of four generations, set in motion in 1846 when Sharon’s great grandmother, Jennie, was launched on top of feather beds to begin a covered wagon journey to the West. Jennie’s daughter, Alice, lived in Siam during the reign of Prince Chulalongkorn. Her son, Henry, searched for gold in Alaska. Sharon’s grandfather, James, sailed clipper ships around the Horn. Her aunt, Dorothy, was born in San Francisco during the 1906 earthquake. California shaped their pathways. Motion caused them to question their lives. This memoir is about the West Coast before television, when families described their own adventures. Sharon grew up listening to the family stories about sailing ships and the ‘Red Car’, of a baby left in a basket and about cooking rice and curry. Out of these stories emerged this memoir--a hundred years of living in California when it was a ‘star struck’ beach-playful place.

About the Author

Sharon is a Professor Emeritus at California State Polytechnic University. Her book Landscapes for Learning was published in 1997. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with her husband and they spend part of their time in their home in Aguadulce, Spain where she writes and paints.