California chronicles Kevin Starr’s enduring contributions to California’s culture help define the Golden State BY BRUCE FARR C ALIFORNIA HAS HAD its share of bona fide heroes. Men and women whose selfless contributions to the state’s growth and
Life’s mission In the simplest of terms, Starr was an American historian, best known for his multi-volume series on the history of California, collectively called “America and the California Dream.” The first of the eight-book series was published in 1973, and was notable because it looked beyond California’s material development to closely examine the state’s cultural growth and heritage. Starr himself described it thusly: “It adds to the cultural history of California and how California expanded itself. I looked at the moments in which personal, social and imaginative experiences intersected in California with lasting results.” But it was Starr’s single-minded focus on California—its legend, its culture and its people—that truly set him apart from other state chroniclers.
well-being place them in an elite pantheon of leaders. People whose vision, sense of purpose and sheer grit have helped the Golden State grow into itself as the unique cultural touchstone it is today. That leadership A-list includes everyone from William Randolph Hearst and Cesar Chavez to George Lucas and current Vice President Kamala Harris. But alongside that distinguished group, there’s a smaller, unassuming cadre of California’s “unsung” heroes. They’re pivotal leaders in their own right, whose work also elevated and advanced the state, often in ways that ran under the radar and out of the glare of headlines. One of them is Kevin Starr.
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IN YOUR CORNER ISSUE 16 | 2024
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