A beautiful debut set around the creation of the world-famous Monterey Bay Aquarium--and the last days of John Steinbeck's Cannery Row In 1940, fifteen year-old Margot Fiske arrives on the shores of Monterey Bay with her eccentric entrepreneur father. Margot has been her father's apprentice all over the world, until an accident in Monterey's tide pools drives them apart and plunges her head-first into the mayhem of John Steinbeck's Cannery Row. Steinbeck is hiding out from his burgeoning fame at the raucous lab of Ed Ricketts, the biologist known as Doc in Cannery Row. Ricketts, a charismatic bohemian, quickly becomes the object of Margot's fascination. Despite Steinbeck's protests and her father's misgivings, she wrangles a job as Ricketts's sketch artist and begins drawing the strange and wonderful sea creatures he pulls from the waters of the bay. Unbeknownst to Margot, her father is also working with Ricketts. He is soliciting the biologist's advice on his most ambitious and controversial project to date: the transformation of the Row's largest cannery into an aquarium. When Margot begins an affair with Ricketts, she sets in motion a chain of events that will affect not just the two of them, but the future of Monterey as well. Alternating between past and present, Monterey Bay explores histories both imagined and actual to create an unforgettable portrait of an exceptional woman, a world-famous aquarium, and the beloved town they both call home.

Anyone who has ever stood on the shores of Monterey Bay, watching the rolling ocean waves and frolicking otters, knows it is a unique place. But even residents on this idyllic California coast may not realize its full history. Monterey began as a natural paradise, but became the poster child for industrial devastation in John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row,and is now one of the most celebrated shorelines in the world. It is a remarkable story of life, death, and revival—told here for the first time in all its stunning color and bleak grays. The Death and Life of Monterey Bay begins in the eighteenth century when Spanish and French explorers encountered a rocky shoreline brimming with life—raucous sea birds, abundant sea otters, barking sea lions, halibut the size of wagon wheels,waters thick with whales. A century and a half later, many of the sea creatures had disappeared, replaced by sardine canneries that sickened residents with their stench but kept the money flowing. When the fish ran out and the climate turned,the factories emptied and the community crumbled. But today,both Monterey’s economy and wildlife are resplendent. How did it happen? The answer is deceptively simple: through the extraordinary acts of ordinary people. The Death and Life of Monterey Bay is the biography of a place, but also of the residents who reclaimed it. Monterey is thriving because of an eccentric mayor who wasn’t afraid to use pistols, axes, or the force of law to protect her coasts. It is because of fishermen who love their livelihood, scientists who are fascinated by the sea’s mysteries, and philanthropists and community leaders willing to invest in a world-class aquarium. The shores of Monterey Bay revived because of human passion—passion that enlivens every page of this hopeful book.

From fishermen to farmers to business leaders, the Japanese on the Monterey Peninsula have played a vitally important role in making Monterey what it is today. After the United States imposed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, the number of Japanese immigrants to the West Coast increased in large numbers. In 1895, one of those immigrants, Otosaburo Noda, noticed the incredible variety of fish and red abalone in the bay. He developed the first Japanese colony on what is now Cannery Row. At the end of salmon season in August 1909, the Monterey Daily Cypress reported that there were 185 salmon boats fishing the bay, of which 145 were Japanese-owned. By 1920, there were nine Japanese abalone companies diving for this tasty mollusk, supplying restaurants and markets throughout California and across the country. Prior to World War II, 80 percent of the businesses on the Monterey Wharf were Japanese-owned.

"Healthy oceans are critical to the future of all life on Earth, yet by and large the underwater world remains hidden to us, unknown and mysterious. The mission of the Monterey Bay Aquarium is to inspire conservation of the oceans, and this series of books is intended to further that goal. By helping people discover their connection with the natural world, we hope to foster a lifelong commitment to learning about and caring for the oceans on which all life depends."--Julie Packard, Executive Director, Monterey Bay Aquarium

The perfect companion for explorers of California's beautiful central coast has been completely revised and updated to include 16 helpful maps and 32 illustrations.

From the building of Hotel Del Monte in 1880 to the completion of the Pacific Coast Highway in 1937, connecting the peninsula to the redwood forests of Big Sur and San Simeon beyond, the history of the Monterey Peninsula is the story of the development of a collection of coastal communities-each with its own unique character. Captured here in over 200 vintage images is the heritage of these seaside communities and their role in the peninsula's history. The Monterey Peninsula is home to some of the most famous (and most photographed) shoreline in the world. Pictured in this book is the peninsula's golden era, explored through images that document the growth of Carmel, Pacific Grove, Monterey, Pebble Beach, Point Lobos, and Big Sur. Here you will find rare photographs of Cannery Row, the mission at Carmel, the bathhouse at Lover's Point, the bridges of the Pacific Coast Highway, the cottages of Carmel, the adobes of Monterey, and the cypress trees of Pebble Beach. Included in these pages are images from the author's collection as well as from the Monterey Public Library and Carmel's Harrison Memorial Library. Many of these have never been published.