Shortly following Starr’s death in 2017, Sexton and his colleague William F. Deverall, a history professor at the University of California, launched a project that brought together scores of historians, social scientists and theologians to investigate Starr’s eight-volume “Americans and the California Dream” series. The project was called “The California Dream in Interdisciplinary Perspective: Revisiting Major Themes in Kevin Starr’s California.” It ran for two years and delved into 10 major themes of Starr’s work. Recently, Sexton published a new collection
A short bibliography of Starr’s most significant book publications listed chronologically.
of essays exploring what drove Starr’s devotion to the Golden State. Entitled “Redemptive Dreams: Engaging Kevin Starr’s California,” the book was just released this past fall. “The ‘California Dream’ series is the most ambitious literary account of California that’s ever been given and probably ever will be given by one single author. Kevin’s passing is, in a sense, the end of an era of that kind of chronicling of California,” says Sexton. “Very few people have read all of Kevin Starr; I think Kevin would
“Americans and the California Dream, 1850-1915” (1973)
“The ‘California Dream’ series is the most ambitious literary account of California that’s ever been given and probably ever will be given by one single author.” Jason Sexton Honors Program Lecturer, Cal State Fullerton
“Land’s End” (1979)
“Inventing the Dream: California Through the Progressive Era” (1985)
“Material Dreams: Southern California Through the 1920s” (1990)
“Endangered Dreams: The Great Depression in California” (1996)
“The Dream Endures: California Enters the 1940s” (1997)
“Embattled Dreams: California in War and peace, 1940-1950” (2002)
have appreciated that we’re not just excavating his work, but taking the themes and bringing them into conversation with our various disciplines and other concerns in California today. I hope the research we produce will provide some tools for reckoning with California, its 40 million residents and others around the world who count it such a special place.” If what’s past is prologue, there’s more greatness ahead for California. No other state comes close to the sweeping grandeur of our geography, or the universal impact of our economy and culture. But to truly understand where the Golden State is headed, you must know its history, and the books of Kevin Starr are an indispensable resource for building that knowledge.
“Coast of Dreams: California on the Edge 1990-2003” (2004)
“California: A History” (2005)
“Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance, 1950-1963” (2009)
“Golden Gate: The Life and Times of American’s Greatest Bridge” (2012)
“Continental Ambitions: Roman Catholics in North America: The Colonial Experience” (2016)
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IN YOUR CORNER ISSUE 16 | 2024
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