| Pages:
1
2 |
SFLowTide
Junior Nomad
Posts: 30
Registered: 5-6-2010
Location: Elk Grove, CA/Km 31
Member Is Offline
Mood: Waiting On The Sun
|
|
Erle Stanley Gardner and Others
I just finished watching a show (California's Gold) about Erle Stanley Gardner and it just reminded me that it's always been interesting that most of
us (Baja Nomads) have lives outside of Baja, but might just define ourselves though Baja. Just as, like myself as a child, there may be some of the
nomad family that never read a "Perry Mason" mystery, but fell in love with another one of his writings like "The Hidden Heart of Baja" or "Hovering
over Baja" or "Hunting the Desert Whale". One thing that most of us have in common with E. S G. is that Baja has transformed our lives in some way,
and I thank the pioneers and writers that took us "Into A Desert Place"...
|
|
|
DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
|
|
Yeah....his stuff is some of the first that I found way back when. It was like a magnet.
I'm one of those who never read any of his novels.
|
|
|
John M
Super Nomad
Posts: 1924
Registered: 9-3-2003
Location: California High Desert
Member Is Offline
|
|
Gardner in the Southwest
ESG also wrote two great books about the Southwest, particularly Arizona in Hunting Lost Mines by Helicopter and introduces another real desert rat,
Ken Wilhelm in a book largley focused on the California desert, The Desert Is Yours. 1965 & 1963 respectively.
John M
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65282
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
1968
On the back of Erle's 'Mexico's Magic Square':
|
|
|
Barry A.
Select Nomad
Posts: 10007
Registered: 11-30-2003
Location: Redding, Northern CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: optimistic
|
|
----and then there is, "THE LAND OF SHORTER SHADOWS" 1948
and, "NEIGHBORHOOD FRONTIERS" in 1954
-----all of which I have and have read several times. Great stuff!!!!!
Barry
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65282
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
I am lucky to have seven of Gardner's travel/ adventure books...
1948:
(missing the cover jacket)
1960:
1961:
1962:
1963:
1967:
One of my all time favorites... mom bought for me when I was 10! The other Gardner books were collected over the past 25 years. One was a gift from a
Baja Nomad couple.
1968:
Erle's last book that included Baja was 'The Host with a Big Hat' 1969 (I think)... Erle passed away in 1970. My parents and I missed meeting him when
we went to his Temecula ranch home... He was in Baja!
|
|
|
sancho
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2524
Registered: 10-6-2004
Location: OC So Cal
Member Is Offline
|
|
Good subject, for me it started out in the 70's surfing
San Miguel, just no. of Ensenada. You know, being
able to buy beer before you were 21,and throwing up
on your buddy. Early 80's
saw a copy of 'Peoples Guide to Mex', that really got me
started with Mex. Tom Millers 'Baja Book III',
G Kiras 'Baja Catch' I wore that thing out. Drove the
Peninsula a few times, fond memories of Requeson
southern end of Conception Bay. I don't have any
friends or aquaintances that will drive across
the Border, and I live only 75 mi no. of San Ysidro.
They will fly down for a week to Vallarta, but
won't cross by land. To me this board is the
only input I can get re; Baja
[Edited on 12-10-2010 by sancho]
|
|
|
Barry A.
Select Nomad
Posts: 10007
Registered: 11-30-2003
Location: Redding, Northern CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: optimistic
|
|
I have all those too, David, plus 2 more. My 'shorter shadows' book is the only one without a dust cover, also.
Most of these I got from Norm Cristy (sp?) many years ago----the rest thru ABE books, and I inherited two from my Aunt, who was a huge Baja traveller
back in the '50's and on until her death about 15 years ago.
Barry
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65282
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by sancho
Good subject, for me it started out in the 70's surfing
San Miguel, just no. of Ensenada. You know, being
able to buy beer before you were 21,and throwing up
on your buddy. Early 80's
saw a copy of 'Peoples Guide to Mex', that really got me
started with Mex. Tom Millers 'Baja Book III',
G Kiras 'Baja Catch' I wore that thing out. Drove the
Peninsula a few times, fond memories of Requeson
southern end of Conception Bay. I don't have any
friends or aquaintances that will drive across
the Border, and I live only 75 mi no. of San Ysidro.
They will fly down for a week to Vallarta, but
won't cross by land. To me this board is the
only input I can get re; Baja
[Edited on 12-10-2010 by sancho] |
Tom Miller was a really nice guy... We talked often and camped together at Laguna Manuela and Posada Don Diego. Here's his first 'The Baja Book' 1974:
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65282
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by Barry A.
I have all those too, David, plus 2 more. My 'shorter shadows' book is the only one without a dust cover, also.
Most of these I got from Norm Cristy (sp?) many years ago----the rest thru ABE books, and I inherited two from my Aunt, who was a huge Baja traveller
back in the '50's and on until her death about 15 years ago.
Barry |
Norm is a Baja Nomad 'rockman'... sold his Punta Final home and is in Loreto (I think) and Washington State, as you know.
We traded my 1974 published road guide (which was on his want list) for the Howard Gulick El Camino Real notes and maps.
|
|
|
bajamedic
Nomad
Posts: 392
Registered: 12-5-2008
Location: Northern California
Member Is Offline
Mood: Just waitin for baja
|
|
David, what is the mobile contraption on the cover of Off The Beaten Path In Baja, looks like tractor tires on a possible dune buggy or ??? JH
|
|
|
Barry A.
Select Nomad
Posts: 10007
Registered: 11-30-2003
Location: Redding, Northern CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: optimistic
|
|
They called it a "butterfly", and it was invented by JW Black of Paradise, CA specifically for Uncle Earle S. Gardner, as I understand it.
It was one of many contraptions that Black came up with over the years.
Barry
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65282
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by bajamedic
David, what is the mobile contraption on the cover of Off The Beaten Path In Baja, looks like tractor tires on a possible dune buggy or ??? JH
|
That is called the Butterfly... invented by J.W. Black of Paradise, CA. I think Honda stole the idea and created the ATC from it after the book came
out!
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65282
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
LOL... Barry and I were almost stepping on each other with the answer... I might add that J.W. Black lives/ lived near Pompano (Roger) at Concepcion
Bay... Been there ever since Erle took the gang to the spot in the 1960's.
Have a look at several original photos of the Gardner team in photos given to me by one of the team members, Choral Pepper: http://choralpepper.com
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65282
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
From ChoralPepper.com
Baja Air Service's Captain Francisco Munoz has a chat with Uncle Erle
(seated in one of J.W. Black's off road inventions, the 'Butterfly').
J.W. Black, the mechanical genious who created the
Grasshopper, Butterfly, Pak Jak, and Burrito off road vehicles.
|
|
|
SFLowTide
Junior Nomad
Posts: 30
Registered: 5-6-2010
Location: Elk Grove, CA/Km 31
Member Is Offline
Mood: Waiting On The Sun
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by David K
| Quote: | Originally posted by sancho
Good subject, for me it started out in the 70's surfing
San Miguel, just no. of Ensenada. You know, being
able to buy beer before you were 21,and throwing up
on your buddy. Early 80's
saw a copy of 'Peoples Guide to Mex', that really got me
started with Mex. Tom Millers 'Baja Book III',
G Kiras 'Baja Catch' I wore that thing out. Drove the
Peninsula a few times, fond memories of Requeson
southern end of Conception Bay. I don't have any
friends or aquaintances that will drive across
the Border, and I live only 75 mi no. of San Ysidro.
They will fly down for a week to Vallarta, but
won't cross by land. To me this board is the
only input I can get re; Baja
[Edited on 12-10-2010 by sancho] |
Tom Miller was a really nice guy... We talked often and camped together at Laguna Manuela and Posada Don Diego. Here's his first 'The Baja Book' 1974:
|
This is the first book I ever tried to read on my own (I was 5 yrs old in 1974). Thank goodness it has some great illustrations. My parents bought
it and put with all of our camping gear in the back of our 1970 Ford Econoline E-300. I'm not sure they ever saw it again until they cleaned out my
room when left for college. It is still in my house south of San Felipe.
But David, I thought you of all people would rose to the "Into A Desert Place" bait. I feel as though we will be talking about our contemporaries in
the same light as we do these fabulous pioneers of the past.
|
|
|
ElFaro
Nomad
Posts: 231
Registered: 9-16-2007
Member Is Offline
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by David K
Tom Miller was a really nice guy... We talked often and camped together at Laguna Manuela and Posada Don Diego. Here's his first 'The Baja Book' 1974:
|
What years specifically did you "talk often" and "camp together" with him? And was this with your parents or by yourself?
I met Miller in 1975 when he was peddling his Baja Book I guide at local fishing tackle stores in San Diego. His claim to fame was being the 1st book
with satellite photos of Baja (new gimmick) sections and the roads drawn over them. The photos were horrible...no detail. Virtually all the info. in
that book (which wasn't much) was already in LCG. It just keyed off the new asphalt highway.
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65282
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by ElFaro
| Quote: | Originally posted by David K
Tom Miller was a really nice guy... We talked often and camped together at Laguna Manuela and Posada Don Diego. Here's his first 'The Baja Book' 1974:
|
What years specifically did you "talk often" and "camp together" with him? And was this with your parents or by yourself?
I met Miller in 1975 when he was peddling his Baja Book I guide at local fishing tackle stores in San Diego. His claim to fame was being the 1st book
with satellite photos of Baja (new gimmick) sections and the roads drawn over them. The photos were horrible...no detail. Virtually all the info. in
that book (which wasn't much) was already in LCG. It just keyed off the new asphalt highway. |
I knew Tom and Shirley from the late 70's to 80's. Then Shirley, after the divorce when she continued the Mexico West Travel Club without Tom. Camped
with them in 1982 I think, and a couple times in '84.
There is no comparison between The Baja Book and the Lower California Guidebook... not even close. Tom's book was just well marketed and I did cringe
at the way he drew in the highway and dirt roads on the satellite maps... I wish I could have had a hand in that! The fourth edition published after
Tom died by Ginger Potter-McMahan still had mistakes in cartography. No photos, just drawings...
Yes, the maps were a gimmick of sorts... I agree. However, the book was a huge success with 4 editions and multiple printings... The only real good
Baja guides after the Lower Ca Guidebook and its updated Baja Ca Guidebook were Jim Hunter's 'Offbeat Baja' and Walt Peterson's 'The Baja Adventure
Book', in my opinion. All other guides only cover paved and some graded roads... boring!
Tom's promoting of the (then) 4WD Subaru is how I came to own them (3 in all) starting in 1977. Tom published a Subaru West 4x4 newsletter, as well as
his Mexico West newsletter (I wrote articles in both for him).
[Edited on 12-11-2010 by David K]
|
|
|
wilderone
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3879
Registered: 2-9-2004
Member Is Offline
|
|
"...the way he drew in the highway and dirt roads on the satellite maps.. I wish I could have had a hand in that!"
David, you've already mapped Tecate to Laguna Manuela with tons of great maps. Continue what you've been doing, print in color, bind, and voila! Get
Sunbelt Publishers to do the publishing. Your book could more specifically be routes to particular places, with the GPS points. "David K's Guide
to100 Secret Baja Spots".
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65282
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by wilderone
"...the way he drew in the highway and dirt roads on the satellite maps.. I wish I could have had a hand in that!"
David, you've already mapped Tecate to Laguna Manuela with tons of great maps. Continue what you've been doing, print in color, bind, and voila! Get
Sunbelt Publishers to do the publishing. Your book could more specifically be routes to particular places, with the GPS points. "David K's Guide
to100 Secret Baja Spots". |
Thanks Cindi, all those are the AAA maps with Mike's route highlighted. I have drawn my own maps over the years... mostly in the '80s of the area
south of San Felipe.
Your idea of a guide of routes to special places is one I have already considered and would like to do. Baja Angel agrees... said I should be busy
working on it while I am out of irrigation jobs.
Until the economy springs back and people are not scared of Mexico, the book wouldn't do very well, I think. Until then, we have Baja Nomad where you
can get all my travel data for free (and everyone else's too).
My special places guide would include all the missions and many visitas, petroglyph/ rock art sites, old mines, palm canyons, beaches, etc.
Right now, I have made a 'tours' web page that has links to my photos and info on dozens of sites, grouped around various detinations in Baja... link
is in my signature, below.... http://vivabaja.com/tours
Thank you for your input... I seriously think all Nomads could write a book about their trips or adventures in Baja!
|
|
|
| Pages:
1
2 |
![[*]](images/xmbforum/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
