For nearly 16 years HJ argued for lower property taxes before proposition 13 became law in 1978; it was not a quick and easy task. Those who would work for any similar change may learn something from his story. From 1942 to 1991 about 25% of the Federal Defense budget was spent in California. This created a growing economy, even if it drained funds from the northeast states.

Since 1945 land prices and property taxes were booming in California. After his 1962 retirement, HJ began his involvement with the United Organization of Taxpayers. [A movement needs a cadre of dedicated workers.] It then affiliated with other organizations, and thousands of volunteers from all over the state. [The movement must be represented in all counties.] It is very important to have unity and loyalty to the group. [Fragmentation, petty quarrels, and demoralization should be avoided.] They experienced many defeats. [Expect to lose many battles before final victory.] Proposition 13 cut property taxes in half (p.9)! This set an example for the other states (p.10). It could never have been achieved without the Initiative & Referendum law in Calif. But an organization can pass around a petition and get tens of thousands of signatures. Even if it has no legal effect it will impress and scare elected officials. Calif. passed an initiative and referendum law in 1911, an extension to the right of petition. This allows the people to write a law and bypass corrupt state politicians. Without the right to petition, Proposition 13 would not have been passed.

Chapters One thru Seven tell of the work by this movement. 64,000 tax-exempt corporations and 18,000 charitable trusts paid no property taxes. Most of them were set up to get a tax break! Towns would raise assessments one year, then the tax rate the next (p.28). The enormous increases in property taxes priced young couples out of the market. And older people had lowered incomes.

Chapter 8 is his autobiography. He was born and raised in Utah. His father was a carpenter who studied law and became a judge. HJ studied law at the University of Utah by day and worked at a mill by night. He taught boxing in college, and fought as a professional. HJ also played semipro baseball for a copper mill (p.209). He had a varied and interesting life as a newspaper publisher, and then as a manufacturer. Pages 256-7 tell of his legal experiences with the patent on radio push-button tuning; they lost out to big corporations due to high level political decisions. He was part of the group that ran an ad for a Congressional candidate - they decided on "the guy in the sailor suit" (p.263).

Chapter Nine lists his political ideas. He advocates elimination all property taxes, and using income taxes (ability to pay), sales taxes (with some exemptions), and "other forms of taxes". HJ would encourage more public participation in the public business of government. He recommends limiting the size of government to limit the power of politicians. Public schools should be overhauled to create a better product. HJ wants more personal savings to replace the Social Security system. He also wants the US to have the most powerful military in the world, but doesn't want foreign entanglements.

In this book, Howard Jarvis tells his story. Mainly, the book deals with the victorious anti-tax movement in California in the beginning of 70's, but Mr. Jarvis also shares much more of his rich life experience with us. Among other, we'll learn how Mr. Jarvis successfully fought the trade unions' sabotage during WWII. The different subjects are in approppriate proportions and presented in a very interesting style. Even though I'm rather ignorant and uninterested of US inner politics, I found the book really fascinating.

I have just one advice to the readers of this book. The idea of forcing the hated clique of parasite politicians and civil servants on their knees might seem very attractive to you. However, I read lately that both Howard Jarvis and Paul Gann got killed under mysterious circumstances shortly after their triumph with the tax proposal. I don't know if it's true or not, but my advice would still be to avoid confronting governments openly. (Read "How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World" by Harry Browne to learn more about this subject.)

We purchased this book in Yosemite and talked with Stephen Botti at length. He is a conscientious student, and now master, of Yosemite plants. Before our hike, we studied his book and were rewarded on the trail with plants he described. The book is full of color pictures; a nice reminder of what we saw in Yosemite this summer on those cold days back home in winter.

this long awaited nature book, although expensive, is worth every single penny. AS a long time lover of yosemite I thought I had fairly well explored its flora wonders---wrong. For the last two months I have consulted its index, made lists and notations, and dreamed about next spring.

This is an excellent book, not only for tourists and visitors to the Monterey Peninsula, but also for those considering relocating there (like me). I wanted a book about the region that describes the neighborhoods and towns in order to get a general feel for the area (information pertinent to those contemplating a move), and this book does just that. It is amazing how much information the authors have managed to jam into each page, and they have included a good deal of local history. The book is written in a witty, engaging, almost conversational style. Unlike many books of this genre, the blurbs about restaurants, inns, and everything else are written descriptively, rather than subjectively or from the authors' personal points of view (which may differ from the reader). In short, this is a very well-written book from two people who clearly love the peninsula on which they live!

This book was invaluable to our trip to this beautiful area. A very informative, fun read and a great way to learn about where to go, what to see, and what's available. I highly recommend this book.

It seems that the cases Lew Archer takes on are rather straight forward looking at the outset and startlingly complex as he gets into them. This one ranks among the best of the series because of the characters involved. This time, he's hired first by a runaway daughter's father and runs into a plot against the father's employer. A subsequent kidnapping and threat of murder gets him also "hired" by the intended victim's mother. The alert reader will figure out aspects of the whole picture before the revelation, but chances are that reader will run into a few surprises.

The puzzle is definitely an important part of the total story, but it's the depth of character and the implicit tragic developments that make a Ross MacDonald story the rewarding experience that it is.

Sandy Sebastian was only a kid-a lost, lonely, unhappy young girl who ran away with another equally lost kid called Davy Spanner. One was a homicidal killer. Both were kidnappers, and Lew Archer was hired to stop them before anyone got hurt. Archer had followed bloody trails before-but never one as bizarre and terrible as this...The Instant Enemy.

Steven Barnes has a been personal favorite of mine ever since I read "Streetlethal". Barnes is an avid Martial Artist and student of eastern philosophy whose considerable knowledge in both of these subjects shows in his stories. If you are interested at all in either of these subjects you will definitely enjoy this book. On a story level, Barnes' plots are usually not too complex; however he is a master at characterization and he really makes you care what happens to his characters. I loved this book and have already pre-ordered a copy of "Lion's Blood".

Steven Barnes has written alot of good, solid science fiction over the years -- and he uses that experience here to build a contemporary mystical fantasy adventure that entertains, intrigues and engages you completely. Iron Shadows makes forays into the darkly mystical world of cults & sexual magic, while maintaining a James Bondian plotline and reaching deep into the frailties of human interactions. The erotic tension and gripping issues make this a hard book to put down. My only amazement is that in all the explorations of human sexuality -- the only character that crosses over the standard straight stereotypes is the "evil" villain. Trite, but it doesn't destroy the quality of the remainder of the novel. Highly Recommended.

As you would imagine, this is a lovely book. The paper is nice, the colorwork is great. And it is a sweet way to introduce (or reinforce) the beauty and diversity of the alphabet. The endpages show an upper- and lowercase alphabet and each letter pair is associated with a word. Aa with Artist, Bb with Bumblebee, etc. Once inside, you'll find facing 8-inch square pages for each letter -- on one side beautiful large letters ("U is for umbrella") and on the other a full-page color plate of a detail from one of the Museum's artworks (an umbrella from Degas's 'Waiting'). Small print on the text page gives you the artist's name, nationality and lifespan, and the work's title and date. The book ends with small representations of the entire works from which details were taken. The three features -- letter pairs with word, word with painting detail, and letter with full picture -- complement each other in a way that also makes this a book ripe for play. This is the kind of resource I would like to see more of from this country's artistic community -- educational, thoughtful and fun. Thanks, Getty!

The illustrations in this book are beyond wonderful.(Duh) Because, of course , they are reproductions of masterpieces. The alphabet letters are huge and displayed on a large negative space.Is also fun for the child to "find" the thing being represented by the letter. Very educational and a joy not to always have to look at the simplistic primary color illustrations in many of the childrens books. My 2yr. old grandchild loves this book and I purchased 3 others for my other granchildren of various ages. It is humorous ,elegant and charming. The"grape", "skull" and "umbrella" are favorites!!!

One of the best journals of the early gold rush that includes a series of letters written by Doble before and during the Civil War. Poor spelling, no punctuation as Doble recorded his day-to-day experiences as a miner. His descriptions of life and times, of bonanza and borrasca, of the wagon trains arriving, and especially his description of his cabin, are classic. I have lived in Volcano, and spent many hours searching out the places described. After reading of his anguish over the death of his good friend, I went to the cemetery and found the tombstone placed there by him.

Living history as many of the places described in the book remain, but written from a perspective long lost.

My father and I got excited when we ran across this book documenting the exploits of John Doble in the gold country of Pine Grove, California.

Doble's Journal documents his search for gold specifically in the Pine Grove, Jackson areas. One could take this journal and retrace Doble's steps to find the best areas to prospect.

I definitly would add this one to my prospecting reference library.

A great writer writing about great things - you'll feel like you're in the middle of the Sierra yourself. Endlessly enjoyable.

In a world brimming with wonderful volumes of the work of John Muir, here is the one edition in which you may find virtually everything you seek. To find it in such a handsome, handy, easy to negotiate book makes this a must for all lovers of Muir's writing. Eight inches tall by six wide and two inches thick, it is a durable and willing partner for excursions through the wilderness. Created for long life among library shelves and scholarly studies, this sleek little friend stows away quite comfortably in backpack or oversized coat pocket. Those who don't know Mr. Muir will meet the great lover of wildness (and perhaps history's most influential advocate of preservation) presented in a lovingly researched volume which includes informative notes on the evolution of Muir's field journal entries into published pieces, a chronology of his life and literary career, and all of the major writings for which he is known. A generous selection of his published essays and magazine articles reveal many previously unsuspected jewels of poetic prose. As a lifetime devotee of the works of Shakespeare, the Bible, and the immortal Scottish bard Robert Burns, Muir could recite extensive passages from all. Likewise, his writing breezes through the imagery and lessons drawn from these potent sources. Coffee table books brimming with Ansel Adams photography, biographies of Muir, and collections of his correspondence are all aspects of any comprehensive Muir collection. The words themselves, however, simple and elegantly bound, are where the journey might well begin.

Thirteen-year-old C.J. Jackson lives in the Oklahoma Panhandle where the Dust Bowl has affected everyone's lives. Years with drought have caused crops to fail and C.J.'s family can hardly keep up. Many of their close friends have already moved on west, to places where they hope there is better opportunites. For C.J.'s family the dust storms that come almost every other day makes things even worse. When C.J.'s Grandpa dies of dust pneumonia the family finally has to leave their farm and move to the San Joaquin Valley in California. As the C.J., his parents, two sister, Olive and Belle, and two brothers, Lester and Dalton travel on Route 66 they face many troubles but are finally rewarded when they reach the rich fields of California. Little do they know the hardships ahead as they find themselves working as migrant workers and scraping for every penny they can get. Will C.J.'s family survive their new environment?

This book captures the spirit of the plains and the perilous journey that confronted Dust Bowl migrants who headed for California. Route 66 comes to life. The characters are real, and the voice of the narrator is convincing.