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May 15, 2007
Anita Alan: “Pictorial Writing: Marrying Image and Text”

Our own Anita Alan shared her passion and described her journey of creation for, Big Sur Inn: The Deetjen Legacy (Gibbs Smith, September 2006). The history of Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn is interwoven with Anita's life and this magnificent testimony shines with a light that could never have been lit without her hard work, brilliant eye and pen, and her undying love for the people and the place. Anita will put into understandable terms the magnitude of the job of creating a photographic and narrative history of our treasured Big Sur Inn.

Anita related the story of the Inn as it evolved from the Deetjen's favorite campsite to a landmark worthy of inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. Her experiences and insights will prove invaluable to anyone contemplating writing graphic history on any scale. Anita 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.

Accompanying Anita with inspired readings from the poetry of Robinson Jeffers was Anita's friend and "smart eyes" proofing and editing partner, Lisa Meckel. Lisa's readings added an extra layer of beauty to an extraordinary evening.

Thank you Anita and Lisa for a charming evening!

--Ken Jones, President of Central Coast Writers Branch of California Writers Club

Writing and Photography by Ken Jones

Big Sur Inn: The Deetjen Legacy won the 2007 Independent Publisher Book Awards first place gold as the Best Non-Fiction book in the West-Pacific Region. Congratulations Anita!