A Thousand Steps

Acknowledgments

A thousand thanks to Greg Nichols, Richard Lewis, and Larry McQuirk for giving up their time and stories of Laguna in the sixties.

And to my Laguna Canyon friends from way back — Larry and Nina Ragle; John Parlett; and Kathy, Mike, Megan, and Hallie Jones.

And hundreds more to all the many friends, neighbors, and strangers who offered me their tales of Laguna in my twenty years as a citizen there.

Artist, author, poet, and historian Dion Wright not only gave me some of his cogent observations, he wrote a terrific book about California in the fifties and sixties, Tempus Fugitive. He didn’t just create art and write about that place and time; he lived them. He was it.

Also, many thanks to Nicholas Schou for his terrific account of the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love and Its Quest to Spread Peace, Love, and Acid to the World. His book is not to be missed by anyone interested in this fascinating and resonant time.

Fond gratitude to my good friends Rick and Debra Raeber, who have welcomed me into the Laguna home for over thirty years. You guys rock.

In memory of Mike Schwaner, waterman and story lover. You are missed.

A thousand thanks to my agents, Robert and Mark Gottlieb at Trident Media, and to my fine editor, Kristin Sevick, who shaped this book into what it is.

Last but not least, thank you, Laguna Beach, where I was delighted and shaped and learned to write. Always the place that formed me. I still love your Thousand Steps.