Dee Merian has authored four books. They are all non-fiction stories telling the reader about fellow Americans during the 20th Century. This is her second book of anthologies. Her first book American Mosiac was recommended by Forbes Readers for three years. She mixes stories about celebrities as well as private American citizens. Stories included are Sarah Vaughan, Gorgeous George, Louella Parsons, Sonja Heine, and Patrick Dennis. Other true stories depict Americans during the stressful times of three different wars. Merian's previous book FLYING HIGH is about TWA during the pre-jet years when Howard Hughes was their CEO.

InGhosthunting Southern California author Sally Richards takes readers on an eerie journey through the region on a series of paranormal investigations to historic locations marred by tragedy and unfortunate happenstance that have caused the dead to rise. This collection brings well-known paranormal researchers, history, and evidence collected with state-of-the-art equipment together for chilling non-fiction accounts of haunted Southern California. The stories leave readers with a sense of deep interest to find out what liesin the murky darkness beyond. Sally Richards, historian, paranormal investigator, and spiritualist medium brings history alive as she investigates locations with high-profile paranormal experts using state-of-the-art equipment, historians, and people who share a similar curiosity of the paranormal to bring you the latest on "haunted" locations throughout Southern California. From the Mexican border to Santa Barbara, readers find chilling accounts of paranormal activity. Whether readers are veterans of ghost hunting, paranormal neophytes, or armchair travelers, this book offers fresh information and a style that puts readers right into the paranormal action.

For 40 years, Bill Jennings' "On My Side" column in the Riverside Press-Enterprise was a fun, folksy, and often insightful look at the people, places, and history of the San Jacinto Valley, the Anza-Borrego Desert, the Coachella Valley, and the hills and mountains in between. Local historians Steve Lech and Phil Brigandi worked together to create this colorful compilation of some of Bill's most memorable columns that shed light on the region and the people and events that influenced his life and career.

The characteristic look of Southern California, with its red-tiled roofs, stucco homes, and Spanish street names suggests an enduring fascination with the region’s Spanish-Mexican past. In this engaging study, Phoebe S. Kropp reveals that the origins of this aesthetic were not solely rooted in the Spanish colonial period, but arose in the early twentieth century, when Anglo residents recast the days of missions and ranchos as an idyllic golden age of pious padres, placid Indians, dashing caballeros and sultry senoritas. Four richly detailed case studies uncover the efforts of Anglo boosters and examine the responses of Mexican and Indian people in the construction of places that gave shape to this cultural memory: El Camino Real, a tourist highway following the old route of missionaries; San Diego’s world’s fair, the Panama-California Exposition; the architecturally- and racially-restricted suburban hamlet Rancho Santa Fe; and Olvera Street, an ersatz Mexican marketplace in the heart of Los Angeles. California Vieja is a compelling demonstration of how memory can be more than nostalgia. In Southern California, the Spanish past became a catalyst for the development of the region’s built environment and public culture, and a civic narrative that still serves to marginalize Mexican and Indian residents.

REVIEWS: A well crafted, well thought out written work that incorporates a love story into a contemporary, true first amendment issue involving separation of church and state that is relevant not only to San Diegans but to Americans in general. Mr. Roach has "hit the nail on the head" with this insightful thought provoking piece of literature. Don't miss this one folks!!!... (trimmed) -----RICHARD J. BARTHEL JR., ESQ. Well done wordsmith! This work will touch many at fifferent levels of awareness. Spirit is always so "creative" in the way it chooses to open hearts and minds! -----JOYCE LYNN A.BORELL-HENKE ------Great book! Bring on the film. ------MATT MILNE -----Regarding the Screenpley: "Gripping", "Emotional" ! ----- BLACKWATCH PRODUCTIONS, INC. See Other Books By This Author and when finished, Click here to return to www.JPRoach.org