John Vonderlin: Opinions on Beach Closures and He Meets Author Rob Tillitz

Story by John Vonderlin

Email John ([email protected])

Photo by John Vonderlin

[Image below: Author of “Bootlegger’s Cove” signs books in Pescadero recently.]

RobT

Hi June,

Budget problems have caused there to be threats of closure of every level of Parks. Arnie threatened to close more then half of the State’s.  San Mateo will be hurting too, and may close County Parks. For locals it may be a two-edged sword. While less people will come out to the beach parks if they are chained shut, more people will create there own routes to the beach, vandalism may increase at shuttered sites, problematic parking will increase, and with no trash service, littering will for sure. I’m sure business people are scared about the decline in visitors and the cash they bring. Whether this all happens is up in the air, but nothing should happen until the Fall.

I went to Rob’s booksigning at the Country Store in Pescadero. Town was jammed, something I usually try to avoid encountering. But, it was nice to sit and talk with him and his girlfriend (?) Barbara. He has deep local roots obviously, given some of the folks  that stopped, talked and got a signed copy of his book. Being an outsider, I only knew of most of them, but he’d worked with, for, or grew up with them all. I’ve attached a few pictures I took. As you can see I was battling the bright sun behind him.

While he was enjoying himself, I couldn’t help but think how flacking a book could get tiring real fast. After you’ve touched in with family, friends, associates, and their communities it’s on to: serail strangers in serial strange places. The sameness would contrast poorly with the uniqueness of the creative actions to bring your work into existence. But money and success are powerful lures. Enjoy. John —

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