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BajaAnthro
Junior Nomad
Posts: 29
Registered: 2-20-2012
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Tom Miller bio info?
I am doing some research about some of the earliest folks who traveled down to the Baja peninsula, and am wondering if anyone knows if any
biographical info has been published about "Baja Book" writer Tom Miller? I have read the standard book bios about him, but am wondering if anyone if
there's any more info about his life and writings here in Baja. Thanks in advance for any info.
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thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3754
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
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Mood: muy amable
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David K will have some info
grab him when he gets back from Cabo
I met Tom, does that count?
nah, probably not
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tiotomasbcs
Super Nomad
Posts: 1837
Registered: 7-30-2007
Location: El Pescadero
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Hang tight, many here knew him. Have you searched archives? I know one Nomad, or more, who knew him well! Mention of his name will bring them
onboard! I bought/ used all his books. Let us know what you come up with. Tio
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bajagrouper
Senior Nomad
Posts: 964
Registered: 8-28-2003
Location: Rincon de Guayabitos, Nayarit, Mexico
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Mood: happy and retired
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I would google " Tom and Shirley Miller"
I hear the whales song
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tiotomasbcs
Super Nomad
Posts: 1837
Registered: 7-30-2007
Location: El Pescadero
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Search an article I remember here. Someone from Punta Banda knew him well and wrote re his life and passing. PB? Anyone else remember the posting?
Tio
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BAJA.DESERT.RAT
Senior Nomad
Posts: 980
Registered: 11-5-2009
Location: BAJA SUR
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for years, he wrote in the weekly sports paper the WESTERN OUTDOOR NEWS for years.
perhaps you could contact them and they may be able to point you to where you can get the info you're seeking ?
BIEN SALUD, DA RAT
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65410
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Tom was a great guy... loved helping Baja through his writings. W.O.N. (he replaced Ray Cannon (who passed away) doing the Baja articles there). His
'The Baja Book' was about the first guide to Baja with the new Transpeninsular Highway completed. He published several updated editions and other
books on Baja (fishing, eating, etc.). I am on Shari's computer, but once I get home I can show you all his books. We camped with Tom and Shirley
Miller at Laguna Manuela in the early 1980's and at Posada Don Diego in Colonia Guerrero with other members of the Mexico West Travel Club.
Tom was big on 4WD Subarus and convinced me to get a Subaru 4WD wagon to replace my Jeep in 1977... Subaru of America hired Tom to write a newsletter
for 4WD Subaru owners (Subaru West 4x4)... Tom's license plate read 'Sr. Baja'... He was the Mr. Baja of the 1970's and 1980's!
After Tom and Shirley divorced, Shirley continued to operate their Mexico West Travel Club and eventually sold it. Shirley came over to help Hugh and
Carol Kramer start their new Discover Baja Travel Club... which continues to be the #1 Baja travel club today, years after Tom and Shirley have
passed away.
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Ken Bondy
Ultra Nomad
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Mood: Mellow
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I never met Tom but I did meet Shirley on a Laguna San Ignacio whale trip when she was with Discover Baja. Sorry to hear she is gone, que lastima.
carpe diem!
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Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8088
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
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You might try reaching out to these people:
"Miller is survived by his widow, Carol, of Huntington Beach; a son, Thomas E. Miller of Fountain Valley; a daughter, Diana Johnson of Buckeye, Ariz.,
and a brother, Chuck Miller of Costa Rica"
http://articles.latimes.com/1993-02-12/local/me-1276_1_tom-m...
He was a frequent speaker on the Fred Hall Sportman's Show in the winter where he promoted fishing in baja. I spoke to him a couple of times at his
booth.
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BajaAnthro
Junior Nomad
Posts: 29
Registered: 2-20-2012
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Thanks for the responses everyone, I really appreciate it. Thanks also for the suggestions. The first book about Baja that I ever bought was
Miller's "Baja Book III." That was back in the late 80s and early 90s when I was a teenager from North San Diego County who went on lots of surf
trips in northern Baja. Now I am doing a research project here in southern Baja, and trying to look into some of the histories of the early waves of
Americans and Canadians who came down here. And Miller's name comes up a lot.
@tiotomasbcs: good idea about search the archives of this forum. Thanks.
@BAJA.DESERT.RAT: Great idea about contacting WON. I should look through his work for them as well. I am hoping to find more information about his
travels, but also what life was like in Baja in those days.
@DavidK: Wow, thanks for the info. If you have time it would be great to talk to you more about your experiences with Miller. Do you know if there
are any biographies that have been written up about him? I am also trying to learn more about his life and work in the southern part of the peninsula
(cape region). He mentions in the Baja Book that he had a "palmthatched ramada on a remote beach south of La Paz" and I am trying to find out more
about that time period.
@Skipjack: Another good idea about contacting family members.
Thanks, everyone.
[Edited on 7-26-2012 by BajaAnthro]
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Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8088
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
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You could also get in touch with Gary Graham. Those two were close at one time.
bajafly@bajafly.com
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65410
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: | Originally posted by BajaAnthro
Thanks for the responses everyone, I really appreciate it. Thanks also for the suggestions. The first book about Baja that I ever bought was
Miller's "Baja Book III." That was back in the late 80s and early 90s when I was a teenager from North San Diego County who went on lots of surf
trips in northern Baja. Now I am doing a research project here in southern Baja, and trying to look into some of the histories of the early waves of
Americans and Canadians who came down here. And Miller's name comes up a lot.
@tiotomasbcs: good idea about search the archives of this forum. Thanks.
@BAJA.DESERT.RAT: Great idea about contacting WON. I should look through his work for them as well. I am hoping to find more information about his
travels, but also what life was like in Baja in those days.
@DavidK: Wow, thanks for the info. If you have time it would be great to talk to you more about your experiences with Miller. Do you know if there
are any biographies that have been written up about him? I am also trying to learn more about his life and work in the southern part of the peninsula
(cape region). He mentions in the Baja Book that he had a "palmthatched ramada on a remote beach south of La Paz" and I am trying to find out more
about that time period.
@Skipjack: Another good idea about contacting family members.
Thanks, everyone.
[Edited on 7-26-2012 by BajaAnthro] |
I would be happy to help... I have maybe every issue of Tom and Shirley's Mexico West Newsletter (how we stayed informed about Baja before the
Internet!)... Their home was in Cabo Pulmo, and a hurricane (Kathlene?) in '76(?) damaged it.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65410
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Tom Miller Books
After Tom passed away, Ginger Potter published:
Here is a photo of Ginger and Chuck Potter, next to her dad, Mike McMahan:
Tom also wrote a small Baja restaurant guide called 'Eating your way through Baja'...
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thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3754
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
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Mood: muy amable
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I told you so!!!
Didn't I say "wait til David gets back"
You have more info than you can likely use
always count on DK for the right answer, maybe several of them
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65410
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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BajaAnthro, there are many other authors who traveled and wrote about Baja before Tom Miller published the Baja Book series. Let me know how far back
or what kind of travelers you are interested in. I have a pretty decent Baja book collection and I am happy to share them online, since they don't
leave my home!
Howard Gulick, Walt Wheelock, Erle Stanley Gardner (yes, the Perry Mason creator), Ray Cannon, Arnold Senterfitt, Bruce Berger, Joseph Krutch, etc.
have published one or more great books on traveling in Baja.
Still alive are Harry Crosby, Greg Niemann (a member here), Graham Mackintosh (a member here), and others...
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DavidE
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3814
Registered: 12-1-2003
Location: Baja California México
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Mood: 'At home we demand facts and get them. In Mexico one subsists on rumor and never demands anything.' Charles Flandrau,
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Who remembers the "purple panaderia"?
Did you actually stop there? I chuckled when I saw it in his guide book. The baker made the best polvorones I've yet tasted. That was sometime in the
1970's, my memory fades.
Shirley adopted Costa Rica. The insurance company that funded the Mexico West newsletter, went on a very brief sojourn with "The Mexico Monthly Travel
Report".
Tom built a home in Barra de Navidad Jalisco.
David K, do you have an issue of the Mexico West newsletter with an article entitled "Night Of The Camarones"?
A Lot To See And A Lot To Do
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65410
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: | Originally posted by DavidE
Who remembers the "purple panaderia"?
Did you actually stop there? I chuckled when I saw it in his guide book. The baker made the best polvorones I've yet tasted. That was sometime in the
1970's, my memory fades.
Shirley adopted Costa Rica. The insurance company that funded the Mexico West newsletter, went on a very brief sojourn with "The Mexico Monthly Travel
Report".
Tom built a home in Barra de Navidad Jalisco.
David K, do you have an issue of the Mexico West newsletter with an article entitled "Night Of The Camarones"? |
Give me the year (and month too if you can), and I will look!
The Purple Panaderia was just north of Colonet, and business must have been too good, because the owner painted it another color some time after Tom
gave it that name!
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DavidE
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3814
Registered: 12-1-2003
Location: Baja California México
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Mood: 'At home we demand facts and get them. In Mexico one subsists on rumor and never demands anything.' Charles Flandrau,
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Too long ago for me to remember which issue or what year David late 80's perhaps. The original color of the panaderia was impossible to describe.
Fuchsia? The place was repainted with whatever color his cuñado had left over from the ferretería in Ensenada, BTW*. Tijuana to San Lucas, to Puerto
Vallarta was my route in those days. Nine dollars for a cabina**
and Fourteen for la camioneta.
*I asked him. "Why no sign other than 'panaderia'? "Well, everyone knows this place"
**The "Especial" toward the bow.
A Lot To See And A Lot To Do
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BajaAnthro
Junior Nomad
Posts: 29
Registered: 2-20-2012
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David K:
"I would be happy to help... I have maybe every issue of Tom and Shirley's Mexico West Newsletter (how we stayed informed about Baja before the
Internet!)... Their home was in Cabo Pulmo, and a hurricane (Kathlene?) in '76(?) damaged it. "
Thanks so much for your responses--and the photos of Miller's books. Very cool. Did Miller ever write much about his place in Pulmo?
"Let me know how far back or what kind of travelers you are interested in. I have a pretty decent Baja book collection and I am happy to share them
online, since they don't leave my home!"
Right now I am focusing on some of the early travelers to the Cape Region, especially the East Cape. I am trying to get a good idea of the history of
this area, including the expats and others who started coming down here in the 1950s or so (or earlier?). I have borrowed a copy of the book about
Ray Cannon, and have read Niemann's chapter about the East Cape in his book "Baja Legends." There is also another good chapter about the East Cape in
CM Mayo's book "Miraculous Air." I started looking into Miller because some folks have mentioned that he had a place down here on the East Cape
somewhere. It's interesting to read through all of the stories of people who have traveled and lived down here.
Any other suggestions for some of the histories of the East Cape?
Thanks for your help!
-Ryan
PS: Do you happen to know Greg Niemann's username here? Might be interesting to contact him as well.
PPS: What part of San Diego are you from? I grew up in North County--in Carlsbad!
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65410
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: | Originally posted by BajaAnthro
David K:
"I would be happy to help... I have maybe every issue of Tom and Shirley's Mexico West Newsletter (how we stayed informed about Baja before the
Internet!)... Their home was in Cabo Pulmo, and a hurricane (Kathlene?) in '76(?) damaged it. "
Thanks so much for your responses--and the photos of Miller's books. Very cool. Did Miller ever write much about his place in Pulmo?
"Let me know how far back or what kind of travelers you are interested in. I have a pretty decent Baja book collection and I am happy to share them
online, since they don't leave my home!"
Right now I am focusing on some of the early travelers to the Cape Region, especially the East Cape. I am trying to get a good idea of the history of
this area, including the expats and others who started coming down here in the 1950s or so (or earlier?). I have borrowed a copy of the book about
Ray Cannon, and have read Niemann's chapter about the East Cape in his book "Baja Legends." There is also another good chapter about the East Cape in
CM Mayo's book "Miraculous Air." I started looking into Miller because some folks have mentioned that he had a place down here on the East Cape
somewhere. It's interesting to read through all of the stories of people who have traveled and lived down here.
Any other suggestions for some of the histories of the East Cape?
Thanks for your help!
-Ryan
PS: Do you happen to know Greg Niemann's username here? Might be interesting to contact him as well.
PPS: What part of San Diego are you from? I grew up in North County--in Carlsbad! |
Yes, Tom Miller wrote about their place on Cabo Pulmo, in the 1970's and maybe after a bit. Tom and Shirley divorced and he was with Carol Hoffman
after. I never met her.
Do a search on 'Chopy', El Surfo Loco (ESL) who was the legal owner of land at Cabo Pulmo. A Mexican citizen born to American parents (Crawford), who
were part of the Cabo development, including building the Finisterra hotel. He was murdered (died mysteriously) after waging a fight against the
squatters on his land. He was 'silenced', not far from his home in San Jose del Cabo. We all met Chopy in 2002, and he was dead just a short time
after this September BBBB event: http://www.vivabaja.com/bbbb4/page8.html
'GregN' is Greg Niemann's Nomad name.
I am now in Oceanside, I lived also in Vista, spent many yerars near Escondido (1970-1994), also as a kid in Rancho Santa Fe and Del Mar. I graduated
from Orange Glen High, in Escondido, in '76.
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