Tales of Santa Barbara: From Native Storytellers to Sue Grafton

by Steven Gilbar, Dean Stewart (Editor)

Richard Henry Dana, Stewart Edward White, Ross Macdonald, Margaret Miller, Michael Collins Richard Jarrell, Gertrude Atherton, Pico Iyer, Sara Teasdale, Robert Easton. Claire Rabe, Christopher Buckley, and others.... Famous for its beauty and climate, Santa Barbara has long been an inspiration - and a productive environment - for writers. This collection of stories, essays, and poems celebrate the astonishing richness and diversity of Santa Barbara's people, landscape, and history, from its Native American beginnings, through the Spanish colonial period, to the present.

Genres: Fiction

179 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1994

Reviews

[Laura Bang · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting anthology of nonfiction, fiction, and poetry set in and around Santa Barbara, largely focused on the 20th century. I found the depictions of the 1964 Coyote Fire — Margaret Millar's memoir and the fictional depiction in an excerpt by her husband, Ross McDonald — especially moving, not least because fires have only become more and more of a threat to California. It seems odd that there were no pieces about the 1925 earthquake, which dramatically changed the look of the town. My favorite was Kate Sanborn's "In Gala Dress," in which I learned that there used to be an annual "Floral Carnival" in April in the 1890s, and it made me wish we still celebrated that.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this collection of non fiction, fiction snippets, and poems. Have only been here once and would love to go back. Learned some surprising things about Santa Barbara history.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tales of Santa Barbara is a delightful regional collection of narratives beginning with myths of the Chumash Indians and ending with Pico Iyer an erudite local. I loved this little book that allowed me to relive the early California days when Santa Barbara was a dusty little cowboy town with Spanish descendants one with their ponies. Santa Barbara trails written at the turn of the century describing foot paths that are still there today was fun for me. Margaret Millar’s account of the Coyote Fire in 1965 that destroyed forests in Montecito was quite moving. Living in Southern California the threat of fire looms even higher than that of earthquakes. The reflections of local authors on my favorite stop on the California coast gave me renewed appreciation for its very special beauty.Lost Angel Walkabout: One Traveler's Tales

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost all of the stories in this book were written by Barbareños about their lives in Santa Barbara starting with the native Chumash. More than 2000 homes have burned since I've lived here, so I took special note of "The Coyote Fire" by Margaret Miller.