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Features
Midcentury Marvel
An ode to L.A.’s legendary Dodger Stadium on its 60th birthday. By Matt Jaffe • Photos by Matthew Smith
Buried Histories
San Francisco’s Legion of Honor museum and Lincoln Park Golf Course sit atop the grave sites of thousands of immigrants and indigent people. Their stories—and some of their remains—are coming to the surface. By Beth Winegarner
Miracle on the Mountain
Deep in California’s Trinity Alps, two firefighters battling a fast-moving blaze were gravely injured by a falling boulder. Their best option for survival: a four-person Coast Guard team adept at sea rescues. By Julian Smith • Illustrations by Mark Smith
Five Men, Six Days, and 34 Miles Across the Sierra Nevada
In which Alta Journal commissions an expedition to retrace the first east-to-west crossing of the Sierra Nevada by non-Native people. In 1833, the journey was marked by blizzards, frostbite, and near starvation; 189 years later, the wintry conditions are not terribly different. By Robert Roper • Photos by Tod Seelie
Made in California
Stirring the Pot
A Q&A with Tung Chiang, who keeps things spinning as studio director at the legendary Heath Ceramics. Interview by Robert Ito • Photos by Christie Hemm Klok
The Mochi Miracle
Combining ice cream with gummy rice for a dessert treat had its risks. But the payoff has been sweet. By Robert Ito • Photos by Andrea D’Agosto
Bumper Crops
Watch your fall garden grow with a little help from these seed purveyors. By Joy Lanzendorfer • Photos by Andrea D’Agosto
Guitar String Hero
Using metal wires, nylon threads, and everything in between, Gabriel Tenorio keeps axes taut—and in tune. By Gustavo Arellano • Photos by Christina Gandolfo
Paper Pusher
The clean, crisp pages of a handmade journal help a writer puzzle out her thoughts. By Lynell George • Photos by Christina Gandolfo
Heads Up
A Q&A with Gladys Tamez, whose handmade hats top the noggins of everyone from Lady Gaga to LeBron. Interview by Steffie Nelson • Photos by Christina Gandolfo
Golden Drams
Tap the barrels of the state’s finest whiskey purveyors. By Joy Lanzendorfer • Photos by Andrea D’Agosto
Old-World Sage
For four decades, Claudio Mariani has been restoring—or re-creating—furniture with design techniques that reach back centuries. By Jessica Zack • Photos by Penni Gladstone
Who Knew?
The story behind some surprising products born in the Golden State.
Wheels of Fortune
A Q&A with George Powell, whose engineering mojo led to a revolution in skateboard design. Interview by Robert Ito • Photos by Christina Gandolfo
Jam Session
Enjoy a little California sunshine—right out of the jar. By Lydia Lee • Photo by Andrea D’Agosto
Flour Child
A Q&A with Rachel Britten, who’s growing wheat in Northern California—not North Dakota. Interview by Lydia Lee • Photos by Penni Gladstone
A Time to Buy
An obsession with James Bond leads to another obsession: divers. By Ajay Orona • Photo by Andrea D’Agosto
Seeing the Light
During dark times, Ray Howlett’s sculptures offered a mother some hope. By Monica Corcoran Harel • Photo by Christina Gandolfo
Books
Keeping Place, Memory, and History Alive
By Natalia Molina
Why You Should Read This: A Place at the Nayarit
By David L. Ulin
An Acceptable Degree of Coherent Narrative
By Kim Stanley Robinson
Why You Should Read This: The Gold Coast
By David L. Ulin
Because Every Quixote Needs to Pick a Damn Windmill and Charge
By Jaime Cortez
Why You Should Read This: Gordo
By David L. Ulin
She Was Not a Food Writer
The words of M.F.K. Fisher—one of 2oth-century America’s best, if overlooked, voices—describe a magnificent feast of ritual, meaning, and life. By Jim Lewis • Illustration by Thomas Ehretsmann
AN M.F.K. FISHER PRIMER
Get your bases covered with these must-reads from the famed author. By Jim Lewis
Marion Davies on Her Own Terms
A new biography of the famous actress reveals her to be far more than the mistress of William Randolph Hearst. By Will Hearst
The Dark Season
John Gregory Dunne’s Vegas is an epic of displacement. By David L. Ulin • Illustrations by Steve Carroll
Dispatches
“I’d Like a Catholic Diaphragm, Please”
Raised with all the freedom of a man, at 19 I faced my first decision as a woman. By Pia Hinckle • Photos by Marissa Leshnov
Sí Se Puede
Orange County political leader Ada Briceño harnessed the power of protest to help the conservative bastion flip from red to blue. Her next test: the 2022 midterm elections. By Gustavo Arellano • Photos by Larry Hirshowitz
Trailblazer: Nicole Martin
Securing reproductive care. By Jessica Klein
Culture
A Vineyard in San Francisco’s Black Belt
Christopher Renfro’s 280 Project gives a community reason to go back to the farm. By Sydney Love • Photos by Penni Gladstone
Bernice Bing Steps into View
San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum celebrates the work of a queer Chinese American artist with a long-overdue retrospective. By Emily Wilson • Photo by Carolyn Fong
Why This Art: Utopian Elation in Julie Mehretu’s HOWL, eon (I, II)
By Court Lurie
Poetry: “Qualifying Animacy” and “grief logic #6”
By Crystal AC Salas
The Real Worlds of Alexis Smith
A retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego provides the first chance in 30 years to see an overview of this seminal California artist’s collages. By Hunter Drohojowska-Philp
Now Open: The Big Orange
By Hunter Drohojowska-Philp
Poetry: “A Brief History of Pomona House Parties”
By Michael Torres
Alta Picks: Our Binge List
By Jessica Blough, Elizabeth Casillas, Anita Felicelli, and Ajay Orona
Cities in the Sky
The design for a Los Angeles high-rise stacked multiple buildings, verticalizing neighborhoods into a single structure. It was not built, but it casts a long shadow. By Joseph Giovannini
Fiction: “My Chicano Heart”
By Daniel A. Olivas • Illustrations by Victor Juhasz
In Every Issue
Publisher’s Note: Living Treasures of the American West
By Will Hearst