Journal of Alta California

Featuring great stories, in-depth reporting, beautiful photography, smart thinking — Alta is the magazine and website that bring you everything California.

CONTRIBUTORS

Journal of Alta California

Living Treasures of the American West

‘I’d Like a Catholic Diaphragm, Please’ • Raised with all the freedom of a man, at 19 I faced my first decision as a woman.

MIDCENTURY MARVEL • An ode to L.A.’s legendary Dodger Stadium on its 60th birthday.

A Vineyard in San Francisco’s Black Belt • Christopher Renfro’s 280 Project gives a community reasonto go back to the farm.

BURIED HISTORIES • San Francisco’s Legion of Honor museum and Lincoln Park Golf Course sit atop the grave sites of thousands of immigrants and indigent people. Their stories—and some of their remains—are coming to the surface.

Bernice Bing Steps into View • San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum celebrates the work of a queer Chinese American artist with a long-overdue retrospective.

Utopian Elation in Julie Mehretu’s HOWL, eon (I, II)

Miracle on the Mountain • Deep in California’s Trinity Alps, two firefighters battling a fast-moving blaze were gravely injured by a falling boulder. Their best option for survival: a four-person Coast Guard team adept at sea rescues.

Sí Se Puede • Orange County political leader Ada Briceño harnessed the power of protest to help the conservative bastion flip from red to blue. Her next test: the 2022 midterm elections.

POETRY

FIVE MEN, SIX DAYS, AND 34 MILES ACROSS THE SIERRA NEVADA • IN WHICH ALTA JOURNAL COMMISSIONS AN EXPEDITION TO RETRACE THE FIRST EAST-TO-WEST CROSSING OF THE SIERRA NEVADA BY NON-NATIVE PEOPLE. IN 1833, THE JOURNEY WAS MARKED BY BLIZZARDS, FROSTBITE, AND NEAR STARVATION; 189 YEARS LATER, THE WINTRY CONDITIONS ARE NOT TERRIBLY DIFFERENT.

SPECIAL SECTION

STIRRING THE POT • A Q&A with Tung Chiang, who keeps things spinning as studio director at the legendary Heath Ceramics.

THE MOCHI MIRACLE • Combining ice cream with gummy rice for a dessert treat had its risks. But the payoff has been sweet.

BUMPER CROPS • Watch your fall garden grow with a little help from these seed purveyors.

GUITAR STRING HERO • Using metal wires, nylon threads, and everything in between, Gabriel Tenorio keeps axes taut—and in tune.

PAPER PUSHER • The clean, crisp pages of a handmade journal help a writer puzzle out her thoughts.

HEADS UP • A Q&A with Gladys Tamez, whose handmade hats top the noggins of everyone from Lady Gaga to LeBron.

GOLDEN DRAMS • Tap the barrels of the state’s finest whiskey purveyors.

OLD-WORLD SAGE • For four decades, Claudio Mariani has been restoring—or re-creating—furniture with design techniques that reach back centuries.

WHO KNEW? • The story behind some surprising products born in the Golden State.

WHEELS OF FORTUNE • A Q&A with George Powell, whose engineering mojo led to a revolution in skateboard design.

JAM SESSION • Enjoy a little California sunshine—right out of the jar.

FLOUR CHILD • A Q&A with Rachel Britten, who’s growing wheat in Northern California—not North Dakota.

A TIME TO BUY • An obsession with James Bond leads to another obsession: divers.

SEEING THE LIGHT • During dark times, Ray Howlett’s sculptures offered a mother some hope.

Keeping Place, Memory, and History Alive

An Acceptable Degree of Coherent Narrative

Because Every Quixote Needs to Pick a Damn Windmill and Charge

She Was Not a Food Writer • The words of M.F.K. Fisher—one of 20th-century America’s best, if overlooked, voices—describe a magnificent feast of ritual, meaning,...