Tag archives: books

From Africa to Montecito
By Dalina Michaels   |   June 13, 2019

Fleurie Leclercq grew up in a little village in Cameroon, in Central Africa.  A village where she walked two miles each way – each day – to school. A village where she walked to the river to get water for her family. A village where her grandmother raised her ‘til she was 10 years old, […]

Lunch & Learn
By Lynda Millner   |   May 16, 2019

Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, and Joan of Arc were the subject of discussion at the Montecito Bank & Trust Lunch & Learn MClub event with author Victoria Shorr. She has a book called, Midnight: Three Women at the Hour of Reckoning. She calls it creative non-fiction. One of the blurbs reads, “I finished Victoria’s book […]

Harbor of Spies
By Lynda Millner   |   May 16, 2019

The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum (SBMM) recently had author Robin Lloyd for an evening to tell us what Havana, Cuba was like in the mid-1800s. That would be in our Civil War era. This is chronicled in Lloyd’s book, Harbor of Spies: A Novel of Historic Havana. This historical novel is set at the height […]

Pollan on Psychedelics: a Spiritual Skeptic Meets Psilocybin
By Steven Libowitz   |   April 18, 2019

Michael Pollan’s blockbuster books The Omnivore’s Dilemma, The Botany of Desire, Food Rules, and Cooked have had major impact on the how people view food, gardening, and cooking. But his latest bestseller, How to Change Your Mind, which documents his investigation into the medical and scientific research in the world of psychedelic drugs as beneficial, […]

Marilyn Horne Song Competition Winners Recital
By Steven Libowitz   |   April 18, 2019

Also on the horizon before the opening of the Music Academy’s impressive eight-week 2019 Summer Music Festival in mid-June is the recital featuring the 2018 Marilyn Horne Song Competition Winners mezzo-soprano Kelsey Lauritano and pianist Andrew Sun at Hahn Hall on May 24. The singer joined the Oper Frankfurt studio last September two months after […]

Book Bash
By Richard Mineards   |   April 11, 2019

Tony twosome Jerry Jacobs and Angela Perko celebrated the opening of Montecito’s latest lively literary lair, Lost Horizon, in the upper village with a bijou bash. Dozens turned out for the fun fête at the San Ysidro Road store, which shares space with Diane Stewart‘s fine art emporium. Among the bibliophile bunch were Mahri Kerley, […]

New Book ‘Reimagines Your Love Story’
By Scott Craig   |   April 4, 2019

Relationships are complicated. Andrea Gurney, Westmont professor of psychology and a practicing clinical psychologist, has written a book born out of a desire to help create and maintain healthy, intimate connections that honor and glorify God. Reimagining Your Love Story: Biblical and Psychological Practices for Healthy Relationships was released March 26 and is available at […]

Lost Horizon Finds New Home
By Richard Mineards   |   March 28, 2019

Bucking the trend of bookstores closing, our rarefied enclave has welcomed another bibliophile bastion, Lost Horizon, to our Eden by the Beach. Owners Jerry Jacobs and Angela Perko have set up shop on San Ysidro Road, just a tiara’s toss from Richard Gunner‘s development, sharing store space with friend Diane Stewart‘s fine art store. Lost […]

Genova’s Unforgettable Journey
By Steven Libowitz   |   March 14, 2019

Lisa Genova graduated valedictorian, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Bates College with a degree in Biopsychology and earned a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Harvard University. But it wasn’t all that long before she took a left turn, employing her scientific knowledge in service of writing fiction in an effort to humanize brain diseases […]

Riskin & Wray: A Hollywood Memoir
By Steven Libowitz   |   February 21, 2019

Victoria Riskin’s life would be plenty worthy of an autobiography. The 30-year Montecito resident, who is married to filmmaker-writer-producer David W. Rintels, has had a storied career as a practicing psychologist, screenwriter (My Antonia, The Last Best Year) who served as president of the Writers Guild of America West, and director of Human Rights Watch, […]

Whimsical Writings
By Richard Mineards   |   December 13, 2018

A former colleague from my days as a columnist on the News-Press a decade ago, Kathy Jean Schultz, an accomplished medical science writer, has written her first book, The Pudd Tale and Other Short Stories. “They are nothing like my medical research articles,” says Kathy. “They are quite the opposite – fictional, light hearted satires. […]

BenShea Bakes Another Level in Staircase for the Soul
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 15, 2018

Noah benShea created Jacob the Baker, a simple but wise character whose plainspoken wisdom and common-sense approach to life are delivered as parables with both compassion and humor. Until recently, there were just three books in the series that have provided solace and support for millions of people (and been translated into 18 languages) dating […]

No Shame in Her Game
By Richard Mineards   |   November 8, 2018

It seems ironic that Santa Barbara author Nicole Black, who has just published her first book, Fat Shame, is the ex-wife of top pastry chef Renaud Gonthier, who has just opened his latest outpost on Coast Village Road. The pilates teacher, massage therapist, and certified rolfer, describes herself as a survivor of body image and […]

Classified Information
By Richard Mineards   |   October 25, 2018

Nearly a decade ago, writer David Wilk placed a classified ad in the Montecito Journal offering to use his talents to write biographies of local residents. Now, 10 books later, he is celebrating his 10th anniversary of a successful new career. “Advertising with the Journal has certainly been productive for me,” says David. “Back then, […]

Never Mind Chain Stores, Here’s Chaucer’s Books!
By Jon Vreeland   |   March 15, 2018

In 1974, a little more than 100 years after the publication of Arthur Rimbaud’s poem “A Season in Hell” – the same year Stephen King terrified America with his first thrilling novel, Carrie – Mahri Kerley opened Chaucer’s Books, a Santa Barbara business that continues to draw the same loyal customers, 12 hours a day, […]

Cover to Cover
By Richard Mineards   |   February 8, 2018

Czech children’s author Petra Malinova has won the silver medal in the annual Illumination Book Awards with her first book, Birth of an Angel. Petra, who works for Montecito art and car collector Michael Hammer, beat out hundreds of other entries in the competition honoring Christian books. “In a time of Nones, the award medalists […]

Sing and Cook
By Lynda Millner   |   November 9, 2017

Longtime friend Andy LoRusso just came out with a new book, Sing & Cook with Andy LoRusso The Singing Chef. It’s the 25th anniversary of his career singing and cooking. Friends and fans met at Tecolote bookstore for his book signing. With the tome you not only cook, you can sing along at the same […]