Here's what hooked me: "Men to Match My Mountains"

It was probably the first book I ever read that had more than about 200 pages. It was a gift from an out-of-town guest who wanted to thank me for giving her and her husband the late-night tour of Los Angeles that my friends would later call "Don Ray's L.A. Dazzle Tour." It was a bit sarcastic because there was no dazzle at all to my tour. It was a journey to secret spots I'd discovered over the years --- places that had their own unique stories or histories or characters or architecture. They were places that, when combined in a single experience, told the story of how an unlikely place became Los Angeles.
She knew I'd be hooked on "Men to Match My Mountains" by Irving Stone. She was right.
It's the amazingly well-written saga of the pioneers, traders, pilgrims, trackers, soldiers and explorers who challenged and survived the mighty Rocky Mountains and made their way to California. Names of winners and losers --- John C. Fremont, Kit Carson and the Donner Party. It's about Treks of survival and tragedy that played out in Death Valley. It's a story that's more fun and more tragic than fiction.
And when you've read this masterpiece, you'll not want to sleep on your way to Las Vegas or Reno or Salt Lake City. Instead, you'll marvel at the men who matched our mountains.

It wasn't Gold that brought people to Southern California -- It was "Ramona."

If you had been alive 150 years ago, it's likely that you would have gotten your first mental glimpse of Southern California from reading Helen Hunt Jackson's Ramona. It was to books what Star Wars was to films. It was Jackson's romantic descriptions of Southern California in the days before Mexico gave it up to the United States that filled the hearts and minds of romantics everywhere.
It's a Romeo and Juliet story of the beautiful, young Ramona embroiled in a forbidden and impossible romance with Alessandro at a time when Mexicans were not allowed to fall in love with Indians.
Even though the story was complete fiction, people flocked to Southern California to visit the real locations where they believed the fictional romance really took place. And the people already living here were more than willing to take advantage of the frenzy. "Ramona Slept Here" was an all-too-common sign in front of inns and hotels. There were Ramona dolls and maps to where Ramona and Alessandro romanced. There were streets and highways named after the two. If you haven't already guessed it, the town of Ramona got its name from the romantic legend. Isn't it time you knew the story behind what's some consider to be the origin of all of the product marketing and hype that accompanies feature films today? You deserve to have your own original copy of Southern California's most important piece of literature.

By the way, it was Helen Hunt Jackson who coined the term "Southern California, An Island on the Land."

A Southern California Classic -- "And Island on the Land."

Even if you were born in and spent your entire life (so far) in Southern California, you probably don't appreciate this amazing place. Why is it that we capitalize the "S" in Southern California? It's because in so many ways, it's a distinct and unique region --- like very few other places in the world. But not every place in the southern part of California qualifies as Southern California. Bakersfield, El Centro, Victorville, Palm Springs and Santa Maria cannot use the term. Santa Barbara can. Ventura can. Newhall and Escondido can as well.

So what defines this "Island on the Land" and how who drew the lines? It turns out that the boundaries are natural and distinct. Southern California is bounded on the west by the Pacific (as in "peaceful") Ocean, by the Tehachapi Mountains on the north, the Mexican border on the south and the San Gabriel Mountains and other ranges that protect the area from the Mojave Desert.

Nobody better tells the story of this paradise than Carey McWilliams did clear back in the 1940s.

If you've ever entertained visitors from "back East" or "down south" or "up north" or "across the pond," you should have read this book first. And if you live in the rest of the world and you've visited Southern California, you should have read this book first. And if your idea of Southern California is defined by pop culture or Disneyland or Universal Studios or even Venice Beach, you're misinformed. You've been cheated.
If you've read it --- or when you read it --- please add your comments to this review.