Tag archives: author

Riskin-g Memories
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 7, 2019

Montecito author and screenwriter Victoria Riskin will be on hand for a Carsey-Wolf Center Classics screening of one of her father’s beloved features, Meet John Doe (1941), another of writer Robert Riskin’s celebrated collaboration with famed director Frank Capra whose earlier teamwork produced It Happened One Night (1934) and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936). […]

Brilliant New Book
By Richard Mineards   |   November 7, 2019

Journal columnist Ashleigh Brilliant has published his first book in 20 years and the tenth in his series of original illustrated epigrams, known as Brilliant Thoughts based on his popular Pot-Shots newspaper series. The $25 soft cover volume, I Need More Time – And I Probably Always Will, has 400 of his epigrams in its […]

The Poet and The Prince
By Richard Mineards   |   October 17, 2019

Prolific Montecito author and former attorney Steven Gilbar has published his latest book, The Poet and The Prince: Stories of Forgotten Santa Barbara Writers. Steve, who has authored more than 20 books, including Literary Santa Barbara, and founded Speaking of Stories, which just ended a 25-year run this year, says his latest work is about […]

Piglet at Sea
By Richard Mineards   |   October 17, 2019

Montecito author Alicia St. John is bringing her award-winning children’s book Piglet Willy to film. The work, which I helped narrate some years back, won the CALM Celebrity Authors award the year it was published and was endorsed by Thomas Steinbeck, son of novelist John Steinbeck. Now Dan Goldbacher, director of the Dana Point Ocean […]

IN PASSING: Clark Malcolm Greene (1946 – 2019)
By James Buckley   |   October 17, 2019

Clark graduated from Jefferson High School in Monroe, MI in 1964, and five decades later, with Jack Mabe, co-founded the Raymond L. Kessler Scholarship fund, honoring its Principal. As a true “Renaissance Man,” Clark’s career encompassed being a Maker of Steel, Writer and an Educator. In the Steel Industry, while employed at Georgetown Steel Corporation […]

A&L Kicks Off
By Richard Mineards   |   October 10, 2019

The venerable Granada Theatre was the place to be when UCSB Arts & Lectures launched its latest season. Author and historian Tara Westover, 33, whose memoir Educated debuted at number one on The New York Times bestseller list, and was a finalist for myriad awards, including the National Book Critics Circle Award, spoke to a […]

Ulma the Elm
By Richard Mineards   |   October 1, 2019

Montecito artist Bill Dalziel, who lost his home in the mudslides, has published his first book Ulma, The Kidnapped Tree. The work, handsomely illustrated with his own pictures, tells of an architect’s dream in bringing an elm, an American Liberty Tree, from Virginia to a shopping center in Southern California. “It’s a heart-filled story of […]

Neighborly Discussions
By James Buckley   |   September 19, 2019

The first of Erin Graffy‘s almost always informative and often amusing talks, this time covering (and uncovering) the history of four different Santa Barbara neighborhoods has already taken place, but there are three more and they’re all worth attending. The neighborhoods are Samarkand, Hope Ranch, Montecito, and Hidden Valley, and Erin says her four-part series […]

Beverlye’s Bounty
By James Buckley   |   September 12, 2019

Telling us she is “shocked beyond belief,” and that it was the “most exciting honor I have ever received,” MJ columnist (“Aging in High Heels”) Beverlye Fead forwarded to us the following message she received recently: “On behalf of the Alliance for Aging Research, we applaud your inspiring career as an author, speaker, and activist. […]

In Passing: John Dean Caldwell
By Montecito Journal   |   September 5, 2019

John Dean Caldwell, respected defense analyst and noted national security scholar died unexpectedly following surgery to correct a previously undiagnosed ulcer in Torrance, California. He was born in Pittsburgh, PA on November 14, 1940 to Dr. David Caldwell, a thoracic surgeon and his wife Jean. In 1945 the family relocated to Santa Barbara where Dr. […]

Tales from the Fab Four
By Richard Mineards   |   August 22, 2019

Montecito author Mark Brickley, who wrote the music biography Postcards From Liverpool: Beatles Moments & Memories two years ago, has re-issued the book of Fab Four vignettes with five new chapters and two dozen new photos of the mop-topped rockers. The book’s new edition includes a chapter on how to collect, grade and value classic […]

Lunch & Learn in Santa Ynez
By Lynda Millner   |   August 1, 2019

Montecito Bank & Trust (MClub) Lunch & Learn gang traveled to Santa Ynez Valley to meet with the former and pioneer pop news pundit Rona Barrett at her Golden Inn & Village. Rona’s life changed when she left Hollywood and came to the Valley to have a lavender farm. Her father came too, and she […]

Chords for the Kids
By Richard Mineards   |   August 1, 2019

School students had to face the music at the Music Academy of the West. More than 300 youngsters from United Way of Santa Barbara County’s Fun in the Sun scheme attended a concert at Hahn Hall as part of the Up Close and Musical program, now in its eighth year. The fun event, a collaboration […]

A Man’s World
By James Buckley   |   July 25, 2019

Author Steve Oney will be dropping by Tecolote Book Shop in the upper village to celebrate the publication of his new anthology, A Man’s World: A Galley of Fighters, Creators, Actors, and Desperadoes. The reading and discussion will begin at 4 pm on Saturday, July 27. The book, we are told, features twenty profiles of men […]

The Girl from the Lighthouse
By Lynda Millner   |   July 18, 2019

Friends and fans gathered at the Tecolote Book Shop in Montecito’s upper village for a book signing of Willard Thompson’s latest novel, The Girl from the Lighthouse. His wife, Jo, had treats for us with rosé wine and finger sandwiches. This is not Willard’s first historical novel. He has written a trilogy with Dream Helper, […]

Lotus Love
By Richard Mineards   |   July 18, 2019

Lotus lovers were out in force as Lotusland, the delightful botanical paradise, celebrated its annual LotusFest! in idyllic weather. More than 20 wineries and breweries poured their products for more than 300 guests, as they explored the late opera singer Ganna Walska’s 37-acre floral nirvana. Among those having a blooming good time were Tom and […]

Surprise Summer Exhibit Features New Gifts
By Scott Craig   |   July 18, 2019

The Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art is showing off its newest treasures this summer in “The Recent Acquisitions to the Permanent Collections,” through early August. The museum is open Monday through Friday from 10 am to 4 pm and closed weekends and college holidays during the summer. For more information, please visit westmont.edu/museum or contact […]

A Woman of Our Times
By Beverlye Fead   |   June 20, 2019

To say that Barbara Greenleaf is accomplished is like saying Clark Gable was “cute.”  Barbara, the author of the blog Parents of Grown Offspring (POGO) is a whirling dervish and if you don’t look quickly you will miss her. She is one very busy woman with all interesting things going on and as far as […]

Irish Historical Society
By Lynda Millner   |   June 13, 2019

The American Irish Historical Society founded in 1897 is alive and well here in Santa Barbara under the leadership of Frank McGinity. They recently had a lecture and book signing for one Irish lady from New York, at Frank’s newly restored McCormick estate in Riven Rock. It’s hard to imagine a boulder as big as […]

My Random Death
By Richard Mineards   |   June 13, 2019

Santa Barbara author Myra Mossman, a federal criminal appeals attorney, has debuted her first book, My Random Death: A Memoir, a riveting true crime story with courage triumphing over evil, after rewriting it three times over the past 21 years. Mossman, who has appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court, took writing courses at City College […]