The Deetjen LegacyFor A couple million visitors each year, a trip to Big Sur is simply a two-or three-hour drive along a scary highway with lots of great views. To some, however, a journey down the coast becomes a life-altering event. For Anita Alan, the author of a new book, “Big Sur Inn: The Deetjen Legacy,” a trip to Big Sur was certainly more than just a scenic detour. One day in 1961, Alan (whose real name is Paula Walling) was driving south along the coast from San Francisco. Traveling with a couple friends, she had hoped to make it to the San Fernando Valley, where her mother lived. But apparently destiny had other plans. “I had this old Chevy that was running on four of its eight cylinders, and so was I,” recalled Alan. Thankfully, when Alan’s car broke down, the Big Sur Inn was just a short walk away. A rustic but charming collection of hand-crafted cottages tucked into a steep redwood canyon, the Big Sur Inn was built in the late 1930s and early 1940s by a charismatic and somewhat eccentric Norwegian named Helmuth “Grandpa” Deetjen. Deetjen was, by all accounts, quite a character. The inn he created is a cozy, funky Big Sur legend, where an overnight stay or a Sunday morning breakfast can be a memorable experience. “Getting to know Grandpa was difficult, but forgetting him was impossible,” Alan wrote. “Everyone could agree on that, whether you loved him or wished you had never met him.”

Shortly after arriving at the inn, Alan, who worked as a flight attendant, struck up a friendship with its grand patriarch. Deetjen was wary of the seemingly endless flow of young people who poured down the coast from the Bay Area in the 1960s. He even posted a sign at the inn that said, “No Beatniks.” But he liked Alan. “I was a young person with long hair, but I had a job,” she said. “Maybe that’s why he tolerated me.” For Alan, Deetjen was more than a gracious host. He became an important paternal figure in her life. “I lost my father and my grandfather when I was young,” she said. “The Big Sur Inn felt like home.” On that first trip, Alan and her friends ended up staying at the inn for a week. During that time, Deetjen gave them an introduction to the stark, isolated but alluring beauty of Big Sur. Alan, in particular, was struck by the wild community and its stunning natural backdrop. One day, she hiked up a hill and came across Big Sur’s newly constructed Captain Cooper School. She resolved to teach at the new school and make Big Sur her home.

Deetjen 1965A Big Sur initiation
Ten years later, Alan finally made good on her vow. After accepting a job teaching at the Cooper School and renting a cabin on Apple Pie Ridge, she looked forward to living in a place she had dreamt about for a decade. But instead of a warm welcome, Alan received a heavy dose of reality, Big Sur-style. First came the devastating Molera fire of 1972, which was followed by a winter of torrential rains and mudslides. Then her mentor, Helmuth Deetjen, died. “Welcome to Big Sur,” remembered Alan, shaking her head. Very quickly, Alan learned perhaps the greatest lesson about living in Big Sur. “The routine in Big Sur is that there is no routine,” she said. “You learn how to accept change.” For the next 25 years, Alan lived in Big Sur. She married, raised a son and became part of that far-flung but tight-knit community of fiercely independent souls that populates Monterey County’s south coast. Then one day, as quickly as Alan’s Big Sur odyssey began, she decided to move to Pacific Grove. “I was at Bookworks one evening,” she recalled. “It was raining very hard and the water was coming down the hill in such a torrent. And I thought to myself, ‘If I were living in town, I’d be home now.’” And just like that, Alan resolved to relocate to civilization. But Alan’s Big Sur journey wasn’t over. Once a stewardess and a teacher, Alan now wanted to be a writer. “I’ve been writing since I was a teenager,” she recalled. “I was the one who would write to prisoners in jail or to soldiers who needed someone to write to.”

Coming full circle
While she was still living in Big Sur in 1978, Alan became editor of a monthly newspaper, The Big Sur Gazette. Published by Coast Gallery owner Gary Koeppel, the Gazette only lasted a couple years, but the experience inspired Alan to keep writing, eventually leading her to write the book about the Big Sur Inn. While writing it, Alan was struck by how much the inn meant to so many different individuals. “It was so wonderful to meet people whose feelings about the place mirrored mine,” she said. “I was overwhelmed by those feelings on almost a daily basis.” Big Sur Inn: The Deetjen Legacy is more than just a tribute to a charming old inn and its builder. Not only are its pages filled with historical images from Deetjen’s personal archives, but Kodiak Greenwood of Big Sur has supplied a wealth of stunning color photographs depicting the natural beauty of the area. “There is somewhat of a scrapbook nature to the book,” Alan explained. “I found these pieces of information like Grandpa Deetjen would find pieces of building materials for the inn. When I was writing the book, it was just one fortuitous find after another.” Alan will present a talk on Deetjen and the Big Sur Inn at the Monterey Public Library Saturday, Oct. 7 at 2 p.m. A book signing will follow. Admission is free, but reservations are required. For more information, call (831) 646-3949.

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