Author Anita Alan’s newest work Big Sur Inn: The Deetjen Legacy (Gibbs Smith, September 2006) travels back in time to reveal the history, legends, and storied past of a California institution. In 1990, the Department of the Interior recognized Big Sur Inn and its distinctive vernacular architecture by listing it on the National Register of Historic Places. Alan traces the Inn’s history from the poetic inspiration that compelled Helmuth Deetjen to journey from his native Norway to fulfill a lifelong dream—to make his home in the California redwoods. With his wife, Helen Haight Deetjen, he created an intimate refuge, not just for two, but also for travelers, artists, writers, and celebrities worldwide. Color and vintage photographs from the Inn’s beginning to the present guide you through its natural surroundings, cozy rustic rooms, and enchanting restaurant. Deetjen’s kitchen shares coveted recipes with the reader. The poetry of Robinson Jeffers frames each chapter in this book—a volume designed to bring the warmth of Deetjen’s hearth into your home. Alan writes free-lance fiction and non-fiction, including children’s stories & songs. She attended The New School in New York City, graduated from the University of Southern California, and received a Masters degree from Monterey Institute of International Studies. Alan has her home office on the Monterey Peninsula where she (Paula Anita Walling) taught kindergarten through third grade in Big Sur and Carmel, and freshman English in Pacific Grove, California. Anita Alan joined the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators in 1990, and serves as Hospitality Chair for the Central Coast Writers Branch of the California Writers Club. She worked as a reporter, photographer, columnist, and editor for the Big Sur Gazette and The Coast Gazette.

To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself.
Soren Kierkegaard

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