I read to be taken out of myself, to become ecstatic.
Henry Miller
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The four years with the Big Sur Gazette and later, Coast Gazette, constitute such a saga that they seem more like forty years than four. They certainly represent the longest four years of my life, years with the least sleep, the most stress--and several splendid moments, as well. Those were years marked by turmoil and triumph for Big Sur people (1978-81), and in trying to report events that made the times turbulent, I experienced a taste of the stigma every journalist feels. Coverage, I discovered, is in the eye of the beholder. In the same week you're accused of having a liberal bias, you're accused of being an ardent conservative, a firebrand this or that. Same article. Different eyes. I learned that no opinion counts except that of the reader, and that no two readers have the same opinion, all of which makes reporting news, especially news someone doesn't want to hear--an unattainable goal, an illusion.
When you publish, when you allow your byline to appear, it becomes both an award, and a target. Great job! Kill the messenger! Extremes reign because people usually refuse to part with their opinions or be persuaded by the beliefs of another, no matter the logic. Facts appear skewed based on the reader’s allegiance. I believe we are defined by what we are willing to forgive. Once people strongly declare a belief, they become willing to tolerate otherwise intolerable human behavior for the sake of sustaining that ideology. Right and left aren't just opposite sides of a coin. For me, they exist only in relation to one another, much like those spinning “I LOVE YOU” charms. One side says I O E O, the other L V Y U, and neither side makes sense unless the disk is kept in motion. The press, at its best, allows us a glimpse at both sides. These days the media so frequently offer a different kind of spin that they have all but lost the public trust. They (and we, the readers) need to remember the Joseph Pulitzer admonition: “Our republic and its press will rise or fall together.”
During those Big Sur Gazette years, depending on how much time I could devote to writing, I worked as Executive Editor, Community Editor, Editorial Writer, reporter, photographer, and columnist, sharing those duties mainly with Publisher, Gary Koeppel. Our efforts were adored and hated. Without question, they were effective. They gave a large voice to a small community. Our thoughts were heard on every level of government. And we allowed both sides of the spinning charm, keeping space open for opinions we felt were detrimental, even disastrous, to our community's survival. I seldom wrote without tears. What happened in Big Sur and many rural areas of the United States constitutes this generation's own Trail of Tears. As with any such upheaval, the full telling will take many years, and must be left to other writers, using the references we left behind. For my part, it remains too painful to relate in this, or perhaps any, format. Unless you lived it, there is no way to adequately explain the pressure we, and our community, felt. You need to devote a few weeks to perusing one of the heavy, bound volumes, of The Big Sur Gazette, available in the reference rooms of the Monterey City Public Library, Harrison Memorial Library in Carmel, the Big Sur Branch of the Monterey Public Library, or the California State Library in Sacramento. This list covers some, but not all, of the articles and/or photographs I had published, with and without a byline, during those years.
Editorials:
Nuclear Plants and Earthquakes
Education, Entertainment, and Busing
Polls Leave Few Election Surprises
Will Big Sur's History Survive?
The Unification of Big Sur: By Design or Decree?
The Adams Machine: What Makes Ansel Click?
Where is Big Sur? A Bill of Rights For Tourists
An Unspoken Word
A Bill of Goods: Hard Sale Techniques to Take In Confused Constituents
A Special Editorial Message
Influence Buying Takes a New Twist
Advice From Uncle Remus: Song of the South (Coast)
Articles/Photographs/Columns:
Fire! Fire! Celebrates Fourth Year HarryDick Ross: Half a Century of Sign-Making
Big Sur Historical Society Forming
Plane Crash in Wilderness Kills Passengers, Starts Wildfire
Birth of a Newspaper
Scenic Highway School Bus Driver
Captions for all historical photos 78-81
Captain Cooper Carnival
Endsley's Happy Ending
Hotel Idlewild: Esther Ewoldsen Remembers Turn-of-the-Century Hotel
Hans Ewoldsen photo/caption
All birth announcements
Eric Barker at Thunderbird
Carnival promotion
Nepenthe Halloween Party
Captain Cooper Carnival Delights All Ages
Bixby Creek Bridge Turns 46 this Month
1979 Big Sur Kindergarten Calendar Published
Smokey Bear Visits Captain Cooper School
Kindergarten-First Grade Thanksgiving Feast
Construction of Highway One
Big Sur Children Celebrate Christmases Past
Flying Low for AT & T
South Coast Residents Block USFS Rock Removal
A Pacific Sailing Adventure
Children Carol for Parents
The Great Groundhog Day Pumpkin Roll
CPOA Phone List on Sale
Folk Art Comes to Captain Cooper
Did the Sierra Club Bargain With the Devil at Diablo?
Walker Fire Suppression Cost Set at $10,000
Apple Pie Opening
Big Sur Booths at Monterey County Fair
Page from a Big Sur Scrapbook—Thompson & Farrow
Bill Bates: Comic Relief Comes to Big Sur
Geological Society of France Visits Big Sur
Children Beat the Heat
Hot Air Balloon at School
Children's Day at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park
New Big Sur Kindergarten Calendar
Ross Awaits Arrival of Students
Alan Cranston in Big Sur
National Park Service Director Speaks to CAC at Grange
Two Big Sur Firsts at Captain Cooper Carnival
Big Sur Kindergarten Calendar Receives Anonymous Gift
Tomi Kay Lussier Autograph Party
President Carter in Big Sur
McQueen Resigns from Big Sur Foundation
CPOA Hosts Forum on Federal Takeover Plans
Exchange Student Goes to Argentina
Hayakawa in Big Sur photos/captions
Friends' Valentine Day Fundraiser Nets $11,000
Big Sur Children Spend Day In Town
Captain Cooper Bus Driver to Drive for High School
CAC Leaders Spew Smoke and Ash:
Congressman Panetta Big Sur Bill Erupts
Paul Gann photos
Arbor Day Event
Eighth Annual Spring Sing
Big Sur Celebrates Independence Day
Captain Cooper Opens
Tomi Kay Lussier Seriously Injured
Friends of the Big Sur Coast at Monterey County Fair
Tuesday Night At Post's
Sur Seas: Luau Draws Capacity Crowd
For Alan Cranston: Ansel Adams to Host $20,000 Fundraiser
Art Auction Raises Whopping $8,600
The Coast Waltz
Slow and Steady: Highway One Unicyclist
Bixby Bridge Repaired
Highland's Inn Thanks Artists Who Donated Works for Friend's Auction
Eight Paws, Eight Wheels: Walking the Coast Without Touching the Ground
For Tomi...With Love!
Friends of Big Sur Sponsor Barbecue at Harlan Ranch
News from Captain Cooper
Fire Prevention, Hard Work...and Chicken Pox
Hayakawa Fact-Finding photos
Bob Douglas is New Mid Coast Fire Chief
Minou-Bates Mural Underway in Carmel
Captain Cooper Carnival Revisited
Three Benefits Raise $3,075
Arsenic and Old Lace
Historical Society at Jardine Barn
Luis Wolters and the Carmel Fire Station:
Pumpkins and Fire Hats on October Field Trip
Nine Fundraisers Raise $95,000!
Friends of the Big Sur Coast Mark First Anniversary
1980--Year of the Roast...and the Tostada and the
Kahlua Pig and the Hamburger Barbecue and the
Chicken and the Duck (and Other Specialties)
To Cook A Lame Duck's Goose
Big Sur Postmaster Receives Promotion
The Halloween Parade
Big Sur Kindergarten Calendar Sale Benefits Library
1980 Christmas Sing a Big Success!
Friends of the Big Sur Coast Honor Local Lobbyist Jim Josoff
Something for Everyone: A Stormy Week in Big Sur
Tracy Trotter Chosen Foreign Exchange Student
Fairfields Honored By Community
Valentine's Day 1981: Big Sur Honors Senator Hayakawa
to be continued...
