“... Hardscratch Press of
Walnut Creek, a small publishing house known for its fine-crafted
books ...” ―
The Independent (Livermore, Calif.)
... and, to celebrate
our 20th year, not only a fine-crafted calendar (see UPDATE for
details) and two new books, but three awards from the Bay Area
Independent Publishers Association (BAIPA):
"Best Memoir," for
Autumn Loneliness: The
Letters of Kiyoshi and Kiyoko Tokutomi;
"Best Cultural History," for The
Life Story of Henry Ramsey Jr.;
"Best Regional History" for
Family After All: Alaska's
Jesse Lee Home (see
below for all three).
NEW:
Homesteaders in the Headlights:
One family's journey from a Depression-era
New Jersey farm to a new life in Wasilla, Alaska,
by George Harbeson Jr. (ISBN: 978-0-9789979-8-4, 6x9, 312 pages,
many photographs, index of names, $21.50).
"George Harbeson's
life--cut short at age 64--is the perfect illustration of how one
person can make a difference in the life of a community.
Congratulations to George Jr. for writing this meaningful tribute to
both his parents." —From the Introduction by Katie Hurley.
NEW:
Vasco's Livermore, 1910: Portraits from the Hub Saloon,
by Anne Marshall Homan
and Richard W. Finn,
is a collection of
hundred-year-old portraits by Australian
caricaturist Vasco Loureiro, with stories
about each of the early
Livermore residents pictured (ISBN: 978-9789979-7-7, $24).
"Spotlights
on community members ranging from an oil man to the ice man," says
Linda L. Ivey,
asst. professor of history at Cal State East
Bay. And Sam Viviano, art
director of MAD Magazine, writes, "Loureiro manages to make each figure
individual and unique,
which is no small feat."
All of Anne Marshall
Homan's books, including the two detailed below, can be ordered direct
from the author at 925/443-9440 or
annemarshall_2000@yahoo.com.
THE 2010 AWARD-WINNERS ...
The
Life Story of Henry Ramsey Jr.,
of Rocky Mount,
N.C., and Berkeley, Calif., is 6x9 inches, 600 pages, soft-cover,
with many photographs and a full index; $25.
ISBN: 978-0-9789979-3-9.
Henry Ramsey's "frank and eloquent account of the journey from Jim Crow childhood to
a life of activism, public service, and high achievement will be
familiar to some, a revelation to others. The challenge he issues is
for all: Never forget our past. Never stop
working for our future. Always cherish our children.”
—Benjamin
Todd Jealous,
president and CEO, NAACP.
Autumn
Loneliness: The Letters of Kiyoshi & Kiyoko Tokutomi, July-December
1967,
translated by Tei
Matsushita
Scott and Patricia J. Machmiller, is 368 pages, 6x9 inches, soft-cover,
with many photos, two glossaries, and an index of names; $27.50.
ISBN: 978-0-9789979-4-6.
"A
story of healings, border crossings, cultural cross-breeding ... in the form of letters that are an intimate and moving
portrait of a marriage, as absorbing and delicate as a Japanese
novel or a film by Ozu.”
—Robert Hass,
professor of English, UC Berkeley;
U.S. poet laureate, 1995-1997.
Family After All: Alaska's
Jesse Lee Home (see
UPDATE and CATALOG for cover images, ISBNs, and other details)
has been honored with the Alaska Historical Society's "Contributions
to Alaska History" award as well as the BAIPA recognition. Volume II of Family After All was also nominated for the Alaska Library
Association's “Alaskana Award.”
From the Qutekcak Native Tribe
of Seward: Family After All
“is a testament to the survival and persistence
of today’s Alaska Native elders. [It] has brought history to life for our children. …”
NOTE: The Puyallup Tribe of
Washington state hopes to hear from people, including Alaskans, with
experiences in boarding schools and other vital history for tribal
archives. Details at
www.puyalluptribalnews.net/article/732,
or call Amber Santiago at 253/573-7965.
^ ^ ^
About Anne Marshall Homan's earlier books:
Historic Livermore,
California: A-Z,
already in second printing, is a generously illustrated and
impressively researched encyclopedia of facts, photos and artifacts.
"What a pioneering and useful work of scholarship she has
produced!” says Kevin Starr, professor of history at the University
of Southern California. In 2008, the Bay Area Independent Publishers
Association chose
Historic Livermore A-Z
as “Overall Best
Book” (a tie)
plus “Best Interior”
− well-deserved honors for author Anne Homan and designer David
Johnson. Anne Homan's
The Morning Side of Mount Diablo:
An illustrated history of the San Francisco Bay Area's Morgan
Territory Road
is also in second printing.
Morning Side
is $28.50, 256 pages, ISBN: 0-9678989-2-7;
Historic Livermore
is $34.95, 584 pages, ISBN: 978-0-9789979-8-9; both are 8x9 inches,
with full indexes.
^ ^ ^
This is not to forget two
remarkable nonagenarians (see CATALOG for cover images, ISBNs, and
other details):
Any Tonnage, Any Ocean: Conversations with a resolute Alaskan:
Walter Jackinsky Jr. of Ninilchik, Alaska, signed on at age 47 as an
ordinary seaman for the 1963 launch of the M/V Malaspina,
first of Alaska's famed marine highway ferries. Thirty-four years
later he retired as senior captain and honorary commodore of the
entire fleet.
Any Tonnage, Any Ocean
melds Alaska Native
history and family drama, zest for travel and deep roots in the home
place.
In
Fin, Fur & Fiber: The life and [fishing] times of a New England textile man,
antiques and art dealer Nelson F. Getchell tells his part of “a
broad stretch of history” with extraordinary recall and dry,
sometimes mordant New England wit, offset by the loving homage paid
his parents and grandparents. “My father saw the last days of
sailing ships; I am experiencing the last days of the American
textile industry,” he notes with regret.
"Each of the memoirs published since Hardscratch's
founding
in 1990 is handsome and meticulous in detail, illustrated with
carefully chosen photographs and hand-drawn maps. ... They ask
to be
picked up and leafed through."
–
Contra Costa Times
[ home ] [ order ] [ catalog ]
