Currently doing indie work with her band in Los Angeles and creating new health recipes with her organic chocolate line, Lover Organic Chocolate, superstar Rochelle Vincente Von K is a source of inspiration for us in the lockdown. Her natural creative drive moved her through multiple careers that most would be happy to have one […]
Michael DeVorzon grew up in Montecito, with a great family lineage in music, and carved his own way in film and TV. Still working actively during the lockdown, he is polished in defining the narrative of the hard work it takes to stay in the game, do it like a pro, and always with kindness. […]
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My generation needs to be taken down a peg. Those born after 1995 are known as “internet natives” and navigate the digital world with appropriate instinct. It is this same instinct that causes us to giggle when a professor has a hard time working their PowerPoint presentation or, more often these days, struggles to use […]
Where in the World is Richard Mineards? Our favorite society columnist, Richard Mineards, is missing. Well, his column “Montecito Miscellany” has been missing from our pages, which in itself feels like a big loss. After several months of wondering, Where’s Richard?, I connected with Mr. Mineards via telephone to see what’s shakin’. Right off the […]
Jason Feinberg and I had known each other for almost three years before a chance conversation revealed that we were related. You see, Jason’s mother’s cousin is my half-sister-in-law’s father – and you wonder how we didn’t figure it out sooner! There’s no blood between us, which would be obvious to anyone comparing his towering […]
Ziyad Marcus is a world music musician with a diverse background and education. Recently appointed as a music educator for the Santa Barbara Charter School, he draws upon Sri Lankan and Jewish cultural roots in order to share an unfiltered view of the world with youth, something he cherishes and takes seriously. At 27, his […]
What Do You Love Most About Montecito? “I think, especially after the last three years with the disasters, it’s the amazing sense of community. It’s always been here, but the true spirit really came out then. More looking after one another, being available to other people, the sense of family. So many people I’ve talked […]
Tell Us About Your Time at Bellosguardo I am one of the last people alive to have known Anna E. Clark and her youngest daughter, Huguette (of the Clark estate, Bellosguardo). My father worked for the Clarks and we lived on the property in a home they built for our family. The Clarks were from […]
As my fingers tap the keyboard I’m reminded of an observation about coping in the world of the new normal: “Somehow it feels like we’re building the airplane while it’s in the air.” How true that is, not only now but possibly for the foreseeable future. Santa Barbara’s Fiesta parade, as an example, reimagined and […]
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Managing this column, I’ve been put back in contact with quite a few individuals I used to look up to back in my elementary school days. This week we’re hearing from Montecito Union alum and New York University grad, Julia Kupiec. Second grade Stella had myriad compelling reasons to hold Julia in high regard; she […]
It’s not every day you open your email to find that the young woman who used to sell your family Girl Scout Cookies is now a grown adult in charge of building the new Air Force One Hangar. Enter Meredith Urschel, daughter of Carissa Smith and Ted Urschel, a Cornell alum and concrete enthusiast. Before […]
As schools around the country start to reopen and older students begin the migration back to college life, I worry about the safety of teachers and pupils alike. But a smaller, less socially conscious voice in the back of my head quietly cheers for the small freedom of leaving home. Some of us may have […]
“I’m not really from here. I come from a city called Vallejo. It’s about thirty minutes north of San Francisco. It’s not a nice area; we don’t even have a community college there. Coming down here, it gives me the motivation to work hard. I see people living in this nice area and I want […]
As I write the introduction for today’s letter, I’m doing something I usually don’t do while I write and edit: listen to music. I’m listening to a funky, young album called The Deep End produced by a composing duo who recorded the whole thing in only two weeks. Today we’re hearing from rising artist, Clay […]
