 | The Left Coast: California on the Edge Subjects: California -- Description and travel; Coasts -- California; California -- History; Natural history -- California; Fradkin Philip L. -- Travel -- California; Fradkin Alex (Alex Leon) 1966 -- Travel -- California; "Coastal California is easy to imagine, hard to hold, and impossible to fully describe." The Left Coast unites California historian Philip Fradkin (Wallace Stegner and the American West) and his son, photographer Alex Fradkin, in an homage to the beautiful scenes and varied uses for the land of coastal California. The text and photographs create two different, complementary views of the coast. Chapters address the coast's different personalities: wild (Sinkyone Wilderness), agricultural (Point Reyes Peninsula), residential (San Mateo County), tourist (Monterey), recreational (Los Angeles County beaches), industrial (Port of Los Angeles), military (San Diego harbor), and political (Bolsa Chica wetlands). Historian Fradkin intertwines history, geology, memories, and anecdotes in flowing, poetic text that meanders through time. Photographer Fradkin presents photographs in both color and black-and-white, with subjects that clearly demonstrate the many qualities of the coast as well as its people, from the enormous Santa Monica Pier to an old-growth redwood forest. Readers will learn about the varied topics including the exploration efforts of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, California's ports, and the historical politics that led to the current politics. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. Fradkin Philip L. : Philip L. Fradkin is the author of eleven books, including A River No More, The Seven States of California, Magnitude 8, Wildest Alaska, The Great Earthquake and Firestorms of 1906 , and Wallace Stegner and the American West , all available from UC Press. Alex Fradkin is a fine art photographer whose work has been widely exhibited and is held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Photography, and the Portland Art Museum. His work also appears regularly in print and online publications around the world. |
