Starr Treatment for the 31st State
USC College Professor Kevin Starr's new book, "California, a
History," goes on sale Oct. 4. The renowned historian has his own
spirited past.
By Pamela J. Johnson
Sept. 2005
Raised in a Catholic orphanage, Kevin Starr found comfort in books.
At 13, Starr used paper-route money to buy his first book, Carl
Sandburg’s “Life of Lincoln” — one in a six-volume series. The worn,
dog-eared book was his refuge.
“I basically raised myself,’’ Starr said. “I was the kid of two
dysfunctional parents looking out into the world. I looked around at
opportunities. ‘How am I going to design my life?’ And that’s what I
did. I designed my life.”
Starr says this without a trace of self-pity, or chip on his
shoulder,
but in the straightforward manner of a historian. Starr, arguably
California’s leading historian and state librarian emeritus,
is in his element when speaking of times past. The USC College history
professor has completed his 12th book about the Golden
State. Published by Random House, “California, a History"
goes on
sale October 4.
Although Starr has written more than a million words about the
mercurial 31st state, he clearly has not lost his passion for the
subject.
His latest work describes California in vivid detail from 1533, when
Spanish explorers landed on what they mistook for an island. A few
years later, they named it California after the mythical gold- and
gem-laden island Garci Ordonez de Montalvo described in his 1510
romance bestseller, "Las Sergas de Esplandian."
Starr’s one-volume history ends during another watershed moment for the
El Dorado state. The events end in May, when Los Angeles City
Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa was elected the city’s first Hispanic
mayor since Cristobal Aguilar left office in 1872.
A journey through California modern life under the jurisdictions of
Spain, Mexico and the United States, the book arrives at no
authoritative conclusion. Rather, it gives readers a bird’s-eye
perspective of the chain of events leading to present-day in the
diverse, polyglot state — the first ever to reach a trillion-dollar
economy in gross state product.
“It’s a 100-yard dash through California’s history,” Starr said of the book.
Land of Milk and Honey
Currently, he’s working on the last of his seven-volume history of the
“Americans and the California Dream” series, published by Oxford
University Press. That one will describe the state from 1950 to 1963,
ending, Starr said, “just before the civil rights movement when the
world changed.”
For a history buff thirsty for knowledge, but who doesn’t want to read
volumes, “California, a History” is a tall glass of water — or glass of
milk and honey if you wish. Throughout the 342-page book, Starr doesn’t
try to mask his enthusiasm. He’s relieved, for example, when the
Spanish Crown in 1765 finally makes a decision about Alta California
after mulling it over for 70 years.
Nor does he pull punches when describing the first Spanish settlers’
violence against the culture and human rights of the indigenous people.
He also doesn’t shy from addressing the early Spanish soldiers’ sexual
exploitation of Native American women.
“As a historian,” Starr said, “you have got to tell the truth.”
He approaches his own life with the same intensity and sense of wonder.
Inside his office at USC, Starr sat behind a large desk wearing a Navy
blue-and-white pinstriped shirt and a signature red bowtie. Rather than
world-weary, his eyes reflected conviction and a soft heart. Raising
his bushy brows for emphasis, he talked about his early tumultuous
years and how he ended up at the boys’ orphanage.
A Personal Sense of History
Called the Albertinum, the orphanage was nestled in the tranquil,
pastoral Northern California town of Ukiah. There, Dominican nuns
raised him and gave his chaotic life stability.
“The sisters were wonderful,” Starr said. “Best thing that ever
happened to me. The nuns showed me a world of order. They taught me to
have dignity and high standards.”
Born September 3, 1940, Starr lived with his parents and younger
brother in San Francisco, where his father was a production machinist.
When Starr was three, his father developed a brain tumor and lost his
sight. The stress took its toll on the young couple and they divorced.
Raising two young sons alone during WWII, Starr’s mother suffered a
breakdown. Kevin and his brother were shuffled from grandmother to aunt.
“We moved around from place to place,” Starr said. “We became a burden
on my grandmother and aunt. They weren’t prepared to take us in.”
The boys were placed in the Albertinum, founded in 1903 by Dominican
sisters. In Ukiah, 18 miles from the rugged coastline and surrounded by
redwoods, the young historian in the making was captivated by his new
world.
He remembered the nuns draped in black robes and white habits, and the
priests who conducted Mass in the mornings donning long, black
cassocks, white surplices and birettas topped with pom-poms. He can
still smell the incense as he lit candles at the altar during Mass when
he was an acolyte.
He remembered his “housemother,” Sister Maritia, whom he befriended
until her death in her 90s. He recalled Sister Maritia’s soothing voice
as she read “Robinson Crusoe,” “Swiss Family Robinson” and “Lives of
Saints” at night. Afterward, the boys said their prayers. Then it was
lights out. In the mornings, he awoke to the murmur of sisters chanting
the divine office.
“The nuns were firm, yet kind,” Starr said. “They were strict, but never cruel.”
Although she was ill, Starr’s mother tried to reunite the family. She
took her boys out of the Albertinum and went on welfare to keep a roof
over their heads.
“She really tried to make a home for us,” Starr said. “But she never
really recovered from her nervous breakdown. She couldn’t pull it
together.”
The boys returned to the Albertinum. At 11, Starr resolved never to be poor.
“I saw what it was like,” Starr said. “I didn’t like that culture. I knew I didn’t want to ever live that way.”
A stalwart child, Starr looked older than his years. By age 11, he was
working as a paperboy and printer’s helper. He bought his own clothes
and books. He spent free time at the Albertinum’s library and the
bookshop in Ukiah. He took in matinees like “Samson and Delilah,”
“Gigi” and the 1952 “Moulin Rouge.”
“I was building a world for myself,” Starr said. “I was building a sense of history.”
Starr earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of San Francisco
before serving in the military in Germany. He then earned a master’s
and a doctorate from Harvard University, and a Master of Library
Science degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
While an 18-year-old freshman, he spotted a pretty young woman sitting alone watching the sunset.
Smitten on Lone Mountain
Sheila Gordon was 17 and a student at the San Francisco College for Women.
“I was walking along the street in San Francisco and saw an absolutely
beautiful girl,” Starr said. “So I went up to her and introduced
myself. I asked her if I could call on her.”
Sheila remembers the day.
“Kevin was walking along a street,” she began. “I was sitting at the
top of a hill, called Lone Mountain, where the college was located. I
was watching the sunset over the Golden Gate Bridge. Kevin climbed up
the hill to talk to me.”
They eventually married and had two girls, Marian and Jessica. In June,
the couple celebrated their 42nd wedding anniversary with their
daughters and six grandchildren.
In the late 1970s and early ’80s, Starr wrote a daily column for the
San Francisco Examiner and became a Vatican correspondent for Hearst
Newspapers. As a correspondent in Rome, Starr covered the elections of
John Paul I and John Paul II. In 1978, Starr met Karol Wojtyla, the
year Wojtyla became John Paul II. Starr called the charismatic John
Paul II, who died in April, “the rock star pope.”
“At one time he was an athletic skier and canoeist,” Starr said. “He filled the room with the physical vigor of an athlete.”
Starr also met Joseph Ratzinger years before he would become Pope
Benedict XVI, who replaced John Paul II. The two popes had strikingly
different styles.
“The current Holy Father is much more quiet and more of a scholar,”
Starr said. “He doesn’t fill the room with physical valor. But
sometimes it’s good to tone down the charisma. He brings his own gifts
to the papacy.”
A devout Catholic who believes in evolution, Starr plans to write a book of essays about the Catholic experience in America.
At 65, he will not retire anytime soon.
“If I retired, I’d do the same thing I’m doing now,” Starr said. “Besides, who’d teach my students?”
Starr, who’s also a regular contributor to the Los Angeles Times
editorial page, said he would never tire of writing about California.
He and Sheila enjoy tracing California’s history when they travel to
Mexico and Spain.
“I’m grateful to almighty God for my life,” Starr said. “I’m
overwhelmed by the mystery of life. I’m filled with wonder and awe. And
I have deep gratitude.”
He dedicated his newest book to USC President Steven Sample and his wife, Kathryn.
“I felt comfortable doing that,” Starr said. “I’m grateful for the
culture he’s helped establish here at USC. The president and I, and my
wife and Kathryn, are friends. And I suspect there are hundreds and
hundreds of people who could say the same thing.”
So, what might someone say after discovering Starr’s latest work? One word comes to mind.
Eureka!
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