More than a half-century following her greatest triumphs as an artist, Mary Blair, whose genius placed her personal stamp on many of Walt Disney’s most celebrated films and amusement-park attractions, is finally getting the global recognition that was denied her during a lifetime of personal tragedy and despair. Posterity has a way of evening things…
Articles by Geoffrey Dunn
How Kiwi Gardner Became a Fan Favorite
It’s standing-room-only once again at the Kaiser Permanente Arena in downtown Santa Cruz, and the atmosphere inside is decidedly high voltage. The hometown Santa Cruz Warriors are taking it to the visiting Reno Bighorns in an NBA Development League battle, up by 15 points in the final minutes of the third period.
Gianna’s Gift
Santa Cruz remembers the local high school graduate, who died one day before her 23rd birthday.
Santa Cruz’s Most Notorious Lynching
Wild, wild West—Geoffrey Dunn uncovers a part of Santa Cruz’s dark history.
Secrets: History as Fiction
“This story, then, is our secret—yours, mine, my mother’s and my Aunt Francesca’s. And so, I ask, that it remain.”
The Holdup Play Catalyst’s Costume Ball
Formed in 2008 around a group of friends from San Jose, the Holdup quickly developed an ardent fan base throughout the Bay Area and forged a unique sound that bears traces of hip-hop, reggae and pop influences.
Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish
Although Geoffrey Dunn tried to cling to his Underwood typewriter, the Santa Cruz author eventually surrendered to Apple’s user-friendly technology. That wasn’t the only way Apple co-founder Steve Jobs changed his life.
Palin’s Opus Might be More Fiction Than Fact
IT’S BEEN a rather tawdry week of Sarah Palin mania as the former governor of Alaska and Republican vice-presidential nominee has taken to the Lower 48 to promote her highly anticipated memoir, Going Rogue, which was written with evangelical co-author Lynn Vincent—though you won’t see that rather significant fact included anywhere on the cover or even on the book’s title page. It’s actually buried deep in the book’s acknowledgements, well after Palin thanks herself.
Palin’s Resignation No Surprise
It’s been a helluva Independence Day weekend in the Last Frontier. Wow! First the Governor resigns, then she allows no questions, no open media coverage, provides no serious explanation and expects no one to wonder why in the world she would step down from the only platform from which she can claim any political legitimacy.
Elegy for James D. Houston
Where does a writer begin a story? My friend James D. (“Jim”) Houston, a mentor and colleague, a literary father figure and cultural signpost—for Santa Cruz and California, for the entire Pacific Rim—is no longer here to answer that question, a circumstance that at this moment remains difficult to grasp.
