In the luxuriance of a bowl of grapes set out in ritual display, in a bottle of wine, the soil and sunshine of California reached millions for whom that distant place would henceforth be envisioned as a sun-graced land resplendent with the goodness of the fruitful earth.
Kevin StarrIf the Pilgrims had landed in Santa Monica Bay rather than Boston, we'd have six states out here!
Kevin StarrI don't reverberate to victimhood, probably because of my own life. I refused to become a victim myself, so it's not one of my big stories.
Kevin StarrI've always tried to write California history as American history. The paradox is that New England history is by definition national history, Mid-Atlantic history is national history. We're still suffering from that.
Kevin Starr