The Golden Shore California's Love Affair with the Sea

by Helvarg, David

• ISBN13: 9780312664961
• ISBN10: 0312664966
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2013-02-19
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books

Summary

Part history, part travelogue, part love letter, The Golden Shore tells the story of California's majestic coastlineFrom the first human settlements to the latest marine explorations, The Golden Shore tells the tale of the history, culture, and changing nature of California's coasts and ocean. Helvarg takes the reader on both a geographic and literary journey along the 1,100-mile Pacific coastline from the Oregon border to the San Diego/Tijuana international border fence and out into its whale, seal, and shark infested offshore seamounts, rock isles, and kelp forests. The Golden Shore captures the spirit of the Californian coast, its mythic place in American culture, and its role in a state whose ongoing natural disasters and unremitting sense of renewal are intimately linked to its deep connection with an ever-changing sea.

Author Biography

David Helvarg is founder and Executive Director of the Blue Frontier Campaign, a Washington, D.C.–based organization working for ocean and coastal conservation. An award-winning journalist, he has written for the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Smithsonian, National Geographic, Popular Science, Sierra, and Parade, and has produced more than forty documentaries for PBS, the Discovery Channel, and others. His previous books include Rescue Warriors and Saved by the Sea. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Table of Contents

“Boy, I loved this book. As a Californian who's spent much of his life talking about and fighting for more protection for our oceans I really enjoyed reading about my fellow Golden Staters' multi-faceted salt water passion. David Helvarg captures, in a really readable way: the insane, quirky and head-over-heels love we have for our seas.”

—Ted Danson

“We've gotten used to thinking of California's jammed freeways, or its tech riches, or its Hollywood excess. But David Helvarg's splendid account reminds us that those are transitory--in the beginning and the end, the golden state is the place where North America meets the mighty Pacific, a coast of unvanquishable splendor and unforgettable history.”

—Bill McKibben, author of Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet

“The Golden Shore is about more than one man’s love affair with California’s iconic coast. It’s the history of an environmental consciousness that has been impressed upon people around the globe. This is a vital story that will help inform future generations of how and why we work so diligently to protect and preserve California’s majestic coast. I applaud David Helvarg for this great work.”

—John Laird, Chair, California Ocean Protection Council