New Books

We received seven new books on local subjects through a generous donation from the Associated Students of College of the Redwoods Senate. Here is a description of each one beginning at the top:

 Medicine Trails: a Life in Many Worlds by Mavis McCovey and John F. Salter: an autobiography of a medicine woman of the Karuk Tribe. “If you want to understand the enduring, ancient life of one of California’s original people, this is the book, and these two are the guides.  Read this book and see what you have missed” Peter Coyote says of this book.

Sandspit: Book II A Redwood Northcoast Notebook by Francesca Fryer. This fascinating history of the Yurok, Tolowa, Hupa and Karok peoples and their intersections with Spanish and American influences in the northcoast. It is also about the terrain and history, salmon and redwood.

Lighthouses of the Golden State: California’s Shining Beacons by Kent Weymouth is the history of the lighthouse from the southern-most Old Point Loma to the Northern-most Point Saint George. Historic black and white images of the structures and major people illustrate this well-researched history.

Treasure at Battery Point by Helen Corbin is a novel about Brother Jonathan, a famous paddle wheeler which sunk while carrying a fortune in gold and the people who tried to find it.  Described as both a thriller and a dangerous love triangle, this novel has something for everyone.

Shadows in the Rain: A Tale of Old Klamath, California by R. Joe King was a 2008 Spur Award Finalist and tells the story of Klamath in 1964: right before the floods that almost destroyed it.

Indian Lore of the North California Coast by Austen D. Warburton and Joseph F. Endert  is a collection of stories, myths, historic images and anecdotes centered on the Tolowa, Yurok and their neighbors. Few of the photos are dated, unfortunately, but the memories and photographs are excellent.

Women who Kept the Lights: An Illustrated History of Female Lighthouse Keepers by Mary Louise Clifford and J. Candace Clifford tells the stories of 32 of the hundreds of women who have been lighthouse keepers. From the Atlantic to the Pacific, from maids to mothers, their stories come alive with photographs and first-person accounts.