Big Sur
—  Region of California  —
The Big Sur Coast at Bixby Creek Bridge
Map of Big Sur Map of Big Sur
Big Sur Location in California
Coordinates: 36°06′27″N 121°37′33″W / 36.1075°N 121.625833°W / 36.1075; -121.625833
Country	United States
State	California

Big Sur is a sparsely populated region of the Central Coast of California where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. The name "Big Sur" is derived from the original Spanish-language "el sur grande", meaning "the big south", or from "el país grande del sur", "the big country of the south". The terrain offers stunning views, making Big Sur a popular tourist destination. Big Sur's Cone Peak is the highest coastal mountain in the contiguous 48 states, ascending nearly a mile (5,155 feet/1571 m) above sea level, only three miles (4.8 km) from the ocean.^[1]

Although Big Sur has no specific boundaries, many definitions of the area include the 90 miles (140 km) of coastline from the Carmel River south to the San Carpoforo Creek, and extend about 20 miles (32 km) inland to the eastern foothills of the Santa Lucias. Other sources limit the eastern border to the coastal flanks of these mountains, only three to 12 miles (19 km) inland. Another practical definition of the region is the segment of California State Route 1 between San Simeon and Carmel.

The northern end of Big Sur is about 120 miles (190 km) south of San Francisco, and the southern end is approximately 245 miles (394 km) northwest of Los Angeles.

History[link]

Native Americans[link]

Three tribes of Native Americans—the Ohlone, Esselen, and Salinan—were apparently the first people to inhabit the area now known as Big Sur. Archaeological evidence shows that they lived in Big Sur for thousands of years, leading a nomadic, hunter-gatherer existence.^[2]

Few traces of their material culture have survived. Their arrow heads were made of obsidian and flint, which indicates trading links with tribes hundreds of miles away, since the nearest sources of these rocks are in the Sierra Nevada mountains and the northern California Coast Ranges.

They followed local food sources seasonally, living near the coast in winter to harvest rich stocks of mussels, abalone and other sea life, and moving inland at other times to harvest oak acorns. The native people hollowed mortar holes into large exposed rocks or boulders which they used to grind the acorns into flour. These can be found throughout the Big Sur region. The tribes also used controlled burning techniques to increase tree growth and food production.^[3]

Spanish exploration and settlement[link]

The first Europeans to see Big Sur were Spanish mariners led by Juan Cabrillo in 1542, who sailed up the coast without landing. Two centuries passed before the Spanish attempted to colonize the area. In 1769, an expedition led by Gaspar de Portolà were the first Europeans known to set foot in Big Sur, in the far south near San Carpoforo Canyon.^[4] Daunted by the sheer cliffs, his party avoided the area and pressed far inland.

Portolà landed in Monterey Bay in 1770, and with Father Junípero Serra, who helped found most of the missions in California, established the town Monterey, which became the capital of the Spanish colony Alta California. The Spanish gave Big Sur its name during this period, calling the region el país grande del sur (the Big Country of the South) which was often shortened to el sur grande, because it was a vast, unexplored, and impenetrable land south of their capital at Monterey.

The Spanish colonization devastated the Native American population. Most tribe members died out from European diseases or forced labor and malnutrition at the missions in the eighteenth century, while many remaining members assimilated with Spanish and Mexican ranchers in the nineteenth century.^[5]

Ranchos and homesteads[link]

Along with the rest of California, Big Sur became part of Mexico when it gained independence from Spain in 1821. On July 30, 1834, Mexican governor José Figueroa granted the 8,949-acre (36 km²) Rancho El Sur in northern Big Sur to Juan Bautista Alvarado.^[6]:21[7] Alvarado later traded his Rancho El Sur to his uncle by marriage, Captain John B.R. Cooper, in exchange for Rancho Bolsa del Potrero y Moro Cojo.^[8] The oldest surviving structure in Big Sur, the Cooper Cabin, was built in 1861 on the Cooper ranch.^[9]

In 1848, as a result of the Mexican-American War, Mexico ceded California to the United States. After passage of the federal Homestead Act in 1862, a few hardy pioneers moved into Big Sur, drawn by the promise of free 160 acre (0.6 km²) parcels. Among them were settlers like William F. Notley, who homesteaded at the mouth of Palo Colorado Canyon in 1891. He began harvesting tanoak bark from the canyon, a lucrative source of income at the time. Notley's Landing is named after him. Many other local sites retain names from settlers during this period: Comings, Gamboa, Pfeiffer, Post, Partington, Ross and McWay are common place names. Consistent with the Anglo-Hispanic heritage of the area, the new settlers mixed English and Spanish and began to call their new home "Big Sur."

Industrial era and gold rush[link]

From the 1860s through the turn of the twentieth century, lumbering cut down most of the coast redwoods.^{[citation needed]} Along with industries based on tanoak bark harvesting, gold mining, and limestone processing, the local economy provided more jobs and supported a larger population than today. In the 1880s, a gold rush boom town named Manchester sprang up at Alder Creek in the far south. The town boasted a population of 200, four stores, a restaurant, five saloons, a dance hall, and a hotel, but it was abandoned soon after the turn of the century and burned to the ground in 1909.^[10] There were no reliable roads to supply these industries, so local entrepreneurs built small boat landings at a few coves along the coast like Bixby Landing.^[11] None of these landings remain today, and few other signs of this brief industrial period are visible to the casual traveler. The rugged, isolated terrain kept out all but the sturdiest and most self-sufficient settlers. A 30 miles (48 km) trip to Monterey could take three days by wagon, over a rough and dangerous track that ended in present day Big Sur Village.^[12] Travelers further south had to follow a horse trail that connected the various homesteaders along the coast.^[13]

Before and after Highway 1[link]

After the brief industrial boom faded, the early decades of the twentieth century passed with few changes, and Big Sur remained a nearly inaccessible wilderness. As late as the 1920s, only two homes in the entire region had electricity, locally generated by water wheels and windmills.^[14] Most of the population lived without power until connections to the California electric grid were established in the early 1950s. The California coast south of Carmel and north of San Simeon was one of the most remote regions in the state, rivaling nearly any other region in the United States for its difficult access.^[15]

Construction of highway[link]

During the 1890s, Dr. John L. D. Roberts, a medical doctor and land speculator who had founded Seaside, California, lived on the Monterey Peninsula. He was summoned on April 21, 1894 to assist treating survivors of the wreck of the S. S. Los Angeles,^[16] which had run aground near the Point Sur Light Station about 25 miles (40 km) south of Carmel. The ride on horseback took him 3 1/2 hours, and he became convinced of the need for a road along the coast to San Simeon. He thought the route could be built for $50,000.^[16]

In 1897, he traveled the entire stretch of rocky coast from Carmel to San Simeon, and photographed the land, earning him credit as the first surveyor of area.^[17] He initially promoted the road for allowing access to a region of spectacular beauty. Roberts was only successful in gaining attention to the project when State Senator Elmer S. Rigdon, a member of the California Senate Committee on Roads and Highways, promoted the military necessity of defending California's coast.^[16] A $1.5 million bond issue was placed on the ballot, but construction was delayed by World War I.

Bixby Canyon Bridge under construction in 1932.

The state first approved building Route 56, or the Carmel-San Simeon Highway,^[18] to connect Big Sur to the rest of California in 1919. Federal funds were appropriated and in 1921 voters approved additional state funds. San Quentin Prison set up three temporary prison camps to provide unskilled convict labor to help with road construction. One was set up by Little Sur River, one at Kirk Creek and a third was later established in the south at Anderson Creek. Inmates were paid 35 cents per day and had their prison sentences reduced in return. Locals, including writer John Steinbeck, also worked on the road.^[17] The road necessitated 33 bridges constructed, the largest of which was the Bixby Creek Bridge. Six more concrete arch bridges were built between Point Sur and Carmel, and all were listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.^[16]

After 18 years of construction, aided by New Deal funds during the Great Depression, the paved two-lane road was completed and opened on June 17, 1937.^[19] The road was initially called the Carmel-San Simeon Highway, but was better known as the Roosevelt Highway, honoring the current President (Franklin Delano Roosevelt). Actual cost of the construction was around $10 million. The road was frequently closed for extended periods during the winter, making it a seasonal route. During World War II, night-time blackouts were ordered as a precaution against Japanese attack.^[13]

The route was incorporated into the state highway system and redesignated as Highway 1 in 1939. In 1940, the state contracted for "the largest installation of guard rail ever placed on a California state highway", calling for 12 miles (19 km) of steel guard rail and 3,649 guide posts along 46.6 miles (75.0 km) of the road.^[13] After World War II ended, tourism and travel boomed along the coast. When Hearst Castle opened in 1958, a huge number of tourists also flowed through Big Sur. The road was declared the first State Scenic Highway in 1965, and in 1966 the first lady, Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson, led the official designation ceremony at Bixby Creek Bridge.^[13] The route was designated as an All American Road by the US Government.^[16]

Impact on economy[link]

Highway 1 dramatically altered the local economy and brought the outside world much closer, with ranches and farms quickly giving way to tourist venues and second homes. Even with these modernizations, Big Sur was spared the worst excesses of development, due largely to residents who fought to preserve the land. The Monterey County government won a landmark court case in 1962, affirming its right to ban billboards and other visual distractions on Highway 1.^[20] The county then adopted one of the country's most stringent land use plans, prohibiting any new construction within sight of the highway.

Artists and popular culture[link]

Author Henry Miller lived in Big Sur from 1944-1962.

In the early to mid-twentieth century, Big Sur's relative isolation and natural beauty began to attract writers and artists, including Robinson Jeffers, Henry Miller, Edward Weston, Richard Brautigan, Hunter S. Thompson, Emile Norman, and Jack Kerouac. Jeffers was among the first of these^[21]. Beginning in the 1920s, his poetry introduced the romantic idea of Big Sur's wild, untamed spaces to a national audience, which encouraged many of the later visitors. In the posthumously published book 'Stones of the Sur', the Carmel landscape photographer Morley Baer later combined his classical black and white photographs of Big Sur with some of Jeffers' poetry. Henry Miller lived in Big Sur from 1944 to 1962. His 1957 novel Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch described the joys and hardships that came from escaping the "air conditioned nightmare" of modern life. The Henry Miller Memorial Library,^[22] a cultural center devoted to Miller's life and work, is a popular attraction for many tourists. Hunter S. Thompson worked as a security guard and caretaker at Big Sur Hot Springs for eight months in 1961, just before it became the Esalen Institute. While there, he published his first magazine feature in the nationally distributed Rogue magazine, about Big Sur's artisan and bohemian culture. Jack Kerouac spent a few days in Big Sur in early 1960 at fellow poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti's cabin in the woods, and wrote a novel titled Big Sur based on his experience there. Big Sur acquired a bohemian reputation with these newcomers. Henry Miller recounted that a traveler knocked on his door, looking for the "cult of sex and anarchy."^[23] Apparently finding neither, the disappointed visitor returned home. Miller is referenced in Brautigan's A Confederate General at Big Sur, in which a pair of young men attempt the idyllic Big Sur life in small shacks and are variously plagued by flies, low ceilings, visiting businessmen with nervous breakdowns, and 2,452 tiny frogs whose loud singing keeps everyone awake.

Big Sur also became home to centers of study and contemplation - a Catholic monastery, the New Camaldoli Hermitage in 1958, the Esalen Institute, a workshop and retreat center in 1962, and the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, a Buddhist monastery, in 1966. Esalen hosted many figures of the nascent "New Age", and in the 1960s, played an important role in popularizing Eastern philosophies, the "human potential movement," and Gestalt therapy in the United States.

The area's increasing popularity and cinematic beauty soon brought the attention of Hollywood. Orson Welles and his wife at the time, Rita Hayworth, bought a Big Sur cabin on impulse during a trip down the coast in 1944. They never spent a single night there, and the property is now the location of a popular restaurant, Nepenthe.^[24] Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton starred in the 1965 film The Sandpiper, featuring many location shots of Big Sur, and a dance party scene on a soundstage built to resemble Nepenthe. The Sandpiper was one of the very few major studio motion pictures ever filmed in Big Sur, and perhaps the only one to identify real Big Sur locales by name as part of the plot. The DVD, released in 2006, includes a Burton-narrated short film about Big Sur, quoting Robinson Jeffers poetry. Another film based in Big Sur was the 1974 Zandy's Bride, starring Gene Hackman and Liv Ullman.^[25] An adaptation of The Stranger in Big Sur by Lillian Bos Ross, the film portrayed the 1870s life of the Ross family and their Big Sur neighbors.

From 1964 to 1971, the Big Sur Folk Festival was held annually on the grounds of the Esalen Institute, with Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, and Mimi Farina frequently performing. (Celebration at Big Sur is a documentary of the 1969 Big Sur festival.) The Beach Boys devoted the three parts of their California Saga on the band's 1973 album Holland to a nostalgic depiction of the rugged wilderness in the area and the culture of its inhabitants. The first part describes the outdoor environment of the region, the second part is an adaption of the Robinson Jeffers poem The Beaks of Eagles, and the third part discusses local literary and musical figures. Big Sur is also mentioned by the Red Hot Chili Peppers in their 2000 single "Road Trippin'". The song tells of a road trip in which lead singer Anthony Kiedis, guitarist John Frusciante and bassist Flea surfed at Big Sur following John's return to the band. Among other notable mentions of Big Sur in music are Buckethead's song "Big Sur Moon" on the album Colma, and the song Big Sur by Irish indie band The Thrills from their album So Much for the City. Death Cab for Cutie's song "Bixby Canyon Bridge" is about a bridge (Bixby Creek Bridge) near the cabin in which Jack Kerouac stayed.

Today[link]

Big Sur coast line and Bixby Creek Bridge in June, 1965

Big Sur remains sparsely populated, with about 1,000 year-round inhabitants, according to the 2000 U.S. Census. Big Sur residents include descendants of the original ranching families, artists and writers, along with wealthy home-owners. The mountainous terrain, environmental restrictions imposed by Monterey County,^[20] and lack of property available for development have kept Big Sur relatively unspoiled. As a result, real estate prices are high, with land and homes prices above $2 million. There are no urban areas, although three small clusters of gas stations, restaurants, and motels are often marked on maps as "towns": Posts in the Big Sur River valley, Lucia, near Limekiln State park, and Gorda, on the southern coast. The economy is almost completely based on tourism. Much of the land along the coast is privately owned or has been donated to the state park system, while the vast Los Padres National Forest, the Ventana Wilderness, and Fort Hunter Liggett Military Reservation encompass most of the inland areas.

The Basin Complex Fire of 2008 forced an eight day evacuation of Big Sur and the closure of Highway 1, beginning just before the July 4 holiday weekend.^[26] The fire, which burned over 130,000 acres (530 km²), represented the largest of many wildfires that had broken out throughout California during the same period.^[27] Although the fire caused no loss of life, it destroyed 27 homes, and the tourist-dependent economy lost about a third of its expected summer revenue.^[28][29]

Climate[link]

Big Sur typically enjoys a mild climate year-round, with a sunny, dry summer and fall, and a cool, wet winter. Coastal temperatures vary little during the year, ranging from the 50s at night to the 70s by day (Fahrenheit) from June through October, and in the 40s to 60s from November through May. Farther inland, away from the ocean's moderating influence, temperatures are much more variable. The weather varies widely due to the influence of the jagged topography, creating many microclimates. This is one of the few places on Earth where redwoods grow in close proximity to cacti.^{[citation needed]}

The official National Weather Service cooperative station at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park reports that January is the coolest month with an average maximum of 60.0 °F (15.6 °C) and an average minimum of 43.2 °F (6.2 °C). August is usually the warmest month, with an average maximum of 77.3 °F (25.2 °C) and an average minimum of 50.2 °F (10.1 °C). The record maximum temperature was 102 °F (38.9 °C) on June 20, 2008. The record minimum was 27 °F (−2.8 °C), recorded on December 21, 1998, and January 13, 2007. There are an average of 8.8 days annually with highs of 90 °F (32 °C) or higher and an average of 1.4 days with lows of 32 °F (0 °C) or lower. Average annual precipitation at the state park headquarters is 41.94 inches (1,065 mm), with measurable precipitation falling on an average of 62 days each year. The wettest year was 1983 with 88.85 inches (2,257 mm) and the driest year was 1990 with 17.90 inches (455 mm). The wettest month on record was January 1995 with 26.47 inches (672 mm) and the most precipitation in 24 hours was 9.23 inches (234 mm) on January 31, 1963. More than 70% of the rain falls from December through March, while the summer brings much drier conditions. Measurable snowfall is rare in coastal Big Sur, with the maximum monthly snowfall of only 1.0 inch (25 mm) recorded in December 1932, but is common in the winter months on the higher ridges of the Santa Lucia Mountains.^[30] The abundant winter rains cause rock and mudslides that can cut off portions of Highway 1 for days or weeks, but the road is usually quickly repaired.

Farther to the south, near San Simeon, weather records were kept at the Piedras Blancas Light lighthouse until 1975. Based on those records, January was the coldest month with an average maximum of 58.6 °F (14.8 °C) and an average minimum of 45.3 °F (7.4 °C). September was the warmest month with an average maximum of 64.2 °F (17.9 °C) and an average minimum of 51.9 °F (11.1 °C). Temperatures rarely reached 90 °F (32 °C) or higher, occurring only 0.1 day annually; nor dropped to 32 °F (0 °C) or lower, occurring only 0.5 day annually. The highest temperature recorded was 91 °F (33 °C) on October 21, 1965. The lowest temperature recorded was 29 °F (−2 °C) on January 1, 1965. Annual precipitation averaged 20.28 inches (515 mm). The wettest year was 1969 with 41.86 inches (1,063 mm) and the driest year was 1959 with 9.71 inches (247 mm). Measurable precipitation fell on an average of 48 days annually. The most rainfall in one month was 18.35 inches (466 mm) in January, 1969, including 5.28 inches (134 mm) in 24 hours on January 19.^[30] Today, weather records are kept at the park headquarters at San Simeon and published in some newspapers.^[31]

Along with much of the central and northern California coast, Big Sur frequently has dense fog in summer. The summer fog and summer drought have the same underlying cause: a massive, stable seasonal high pressure system that forms over the north Pacific Ocean. The high pressure cell inhibits rainfall and generates northwesterly air flow. These prevailing summer winds from the northwest drive the ocean surface water slightly offshore (through the Ekman effect) which generates an upwelling of colder sub surface water. The water vapor in the air contacting this cold water condenses into fog.^[32] The fog usually moves out to sea during the day and closes in at night, but sometimes heavy fog blankets the coast all day. Fog is an essential summer water source for many Big Sur coastal plants. Most plants cannot take water directly out of the air, but the condensation on leaf surfaces slowly precipitates into the ground like rain.

Flora and fauna[link]

Big Sur Coast looking south near Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park

The many climates of Big Sur result in an astonishing biodiversity, including many rare and endangered species such as the wild orchid Piperia yadonii, which has a highly restricted range of a total population of few individuals. Arid, dusty chaparral-covered hills exist within easy walking distance of lush riparian woodland. The mountains trap most of the moisture out of the clouds; fog in summer, rain and snow in winter. This creates a favorable environment for coniferous forests, including the southernmost habitat of the coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), which grows only on lower coastal slopes that are routinely fogged in at night. Many inaccessible redwood forests here were never logged, and in 2008 scientist J. Michael Fay published a map of these old growth redwoods as a result of his transect of the entire redwood range.^[34] In areas where they were logged, the redwoods, aggressive regenerators, have grown back extensively since logging ceased in the early twentieth century. The rare Santa Lucia fir (Abies bracteata), as its name suggests, is found only in the Santa Lucia mountains. A common "foreign" species is the Monterey pine (Pinus radiata), which was uncommon in Big Sur until the late 19th century, when many homeowners began to plant it as a windbreak. There are many broadleaved trees as well, such as the tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflorus), Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia), and California Bay Laurel (Umbellularia californica). In the rain shadow, the forests disappear and the vegetation becomes open oak woodland, then transitions into the more familiar fire-tolerant California chaparral scrub.

Numerous fauna are found in the Big Sur region. Among amphibians the California Giant Salamander (Dicamptodon ensatus) is found here, which point marks the southern extent of its range.^[35] In 1997, the Ventana Wildlife Society began releasing captive-bred California Condors (Gymnogyps californianus) in Big Sur, and a nest was discovered in a redwood tree in 2006.^[36] This population has been successful in part because a significant portion of its diet, carcasses of large sea creatures that have washed ashore, are unlikely to be contaminated with lead.^[37] Lead poisoning is an important cause of mortality in condors, and usually occurs when a bird consumes the remains of a game animal that had been hunted and killed with lead bullets or shot.^[38]

Marine protected areas[link]

Point Sur State Marine Reserve and Marine Conservation Area and Big Creek State Marine Reserve and Big Creek State Marine Conservation Area are marine protected areas offshore from Big Sur. Like underwater parks, these marine protected areas help conserve ocean wildlife and marine ecosystems.

Demographic estimate[link]

93920 ZCTA for US 2000 Census

The United States does not define a census-designated place called Big Sur, but it does define a Zip Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA), 93920. Because Big Sur is contained roughly within this Zip Code Tabulation Area, it is possible to obtain Census data from the United States 2000 Census for the area even though data for "Big Sur" is unavailable.

According to the United States 2000 Census, there were 996 people, 884 households, and 666 housing units in the 93920 ZCTA. The racial makeup of this area was 87.6% White, 1.1% African American, 1.3% Native American, 2.4% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 5.5% from other races, and 3.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.6% of the population.

In the 93920 ZCTA, the population age was widely distributed, with 20.2% under the age of 19, 4.5% from 20 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 37.0% from 45 to 64, and 11.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.2 years.

The median income in 2000 for a household in 93920 ZCTA was $41,304, and the median income for a family was $65,083.

Tourism[link]

Bixby Creek Bridge, shown here looking southwest, is a popular attraction in Big Sur

Although some Big Sur residents catered to adventurous travelers in the early twentieth century,^[39] the modern tourist economy began when Highway 1 opened the region to automobiles, and only took off after World War II-era gasoline rationing ended in the mid-1940s. Most of the 3 million tourists who visit Big Sur each year never leave Highway 1, because the adjacent Santa Lucia mountain range is one of the largest roadless areas near a coast in the contiguous United States. The highway winds along the western flank of the mountains mostly within sight of the Pacific Ocean, varying from near sea level up to a thousand-foot sheer drop to the water. Because gazing at the views while driving is inadvisable, the highway features many strategically placed vista points allowing motorists to stop and admire the landscape. The section of Highway 1 running through Big Sur is widely considered as one of the most scenic driving routes in the United States, if not the world. These breathtaking views were one reason that Big Sur ranked second among all United States destinations in TripAdvisor's 2008 Travelers' Choice Destination Awards.^[40]

The land use restrictions that preserve Big Sur's natural beauty also mean that tourist accommodations are limited, often expensive, and fill up quickly during the busy summer season. There are fewer than 300 hotel rooms on the entire 90 mile (140 km) stretch of Highway 1 between San Simeon and Carmel, only three gas stations, and no chain hotels, supermarkets, or fast-food outlets.^[41] The lodging options are rustic cabins, motels, and campgrounds, or costly, exclusive five-star resorts, with little in between. Most lodging and restaurants are clustered in the Big Sur River valley, where Highway 1 leaves the coast for a few miles and winds into a redwood forest, protected from the chill ocean breezes and summer fog.

Besides sightseeing from the highway, Big Sur offers hiking, mountain climbing, and other outdoor activities. There are a few small, scenic beaches that are popular for walking, but usually unsuitable for swimming because of unpredictable currents and frigid temperatures. Big Sur's nine state parks have many points of interest, including one of the few waterfalls on the Pacific Coast that plunges directly into the ocean, located at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, although visitors are not allowed on the beach itself to preserve the natural habitat. The waterfall is located near the ruins of a grand stone cliffside house that was the region's first electrified dwelling. Another notable landmark is the only complete nineteenth century lighthouse complex open to the public in California, set on a lonely, windswept hill that looks like an island in the fog.^[42]

List of state parks (north to south)[link]

• Carmel River State Park
• Point Lobos State Reserve
• Garrapata State Park
• Point Sur Lightstation State Historic Park
• Andrew Molera State Park
• Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park
• Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park
• John Little State Reserve
• Limekiln State Park

Federal wilderness

• Ventana Wilderness
• Silver Peak Wilderness

Points of interest[link]

• Bixby Creek Bridge
• Point Sur Lighthouse
• McWay Falls

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Big Sur, Jack Kerouac, Penguin Books, Reprint edition (1962, reprinted 1992), 256 pages, ISBN 0-14-016812-5
• Big Sur: A Battle for the Wilderness 1869–1981, John Woolfenden, The Boxwood Press (1981), 143 pages, ISBN 0-910286-87-6
• Big Sur: Images of America, Jeff Norman, Big Sur Historical Society, Arcadia Publishing (2004), 128 pages, ISBN 0-7385-2913-3
• Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch, Henry Miller, New Directions Publishing Corp (1957), 404 pages, ISBN 0-8112-0107-4
• Hiking & Backpacking Big Sur, Analise Elliott, Wilderness Press (2005), 322 pages, ISBN 0-89997-326-4
• The Natural History of Big Sur, Paul Henson and Donald J. Usner, University of California Press (1993), 416 pages, ISBN 0-520-20510-3
• A Wild Coast and Lonely: Big Sur Pioneers, Rosalind Sharpe Wall, Wide World Publishing, (1989, reprinted April 1992), 264 pages, ISBN 0-933174-83-7

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Big Sur

• A Guide to California's Big Sur: A comprehensive visitor's guide to the Big Sur region
• "The Big Sur cabin": Dating the earliest cabin in Big Sur, 1861
• Hiking In Big Sur Hiking In Big Sur

Coordinates: 36°06′27″N 121°37′33″W / 36.1075°N 121.62583°W / 36.1075; -121.62583

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Demetri Martin
Demetri Martin at Northeastern University on April 11, 2007
Born	(1973-05-25) May 25, 1973 (age 39) New York City, New York, United States
Nationality	American
Years active	Since 2002
Genres	Observational comedy, surreal humor, musical comedy, wit/wordplay, sketch comedy
Subject(s)	Everyday Life, American Culture, Random Subjects
Influences	Steven Wright, Eddie Izzard, Emo Philips, Mitch Hedberg, Socrates
Notable works and roles	· Demetri Martin. Person.  · Correspondent on The Daily Show  · Himself/Various on Important Things with Demetri Martin  · Elliot Tiber in Taking Woodstock (2009)
Website	www.demetrimartin.com

Demetri Martin (born May 25, 1973) is an American comedian, actor, artist, musician, writer and humorist. Martin is best known for his work as a stand-up comedian, contributor on The Daily Show and for his Comedy Central show Important Things with Demetri Martin.

Early life[link]

Demetri Martin was born to a Greek American family^[1] in New York City, New York, and grew up in Toms River, New Jersey. He is the son of Lillian, a nutritionist, and Dean C. Martin, now deceased, a Greek Orthodox priest.^[2] Martin graduated from Yale University in 1995. Although he was accepted into Harvard Law School, he went to New York University School of Law after he received a full scholarship.^[3]

Career[link]

In 2001, Martin caught his first big break in stand-up comedy when he appeared on Comedy Central's stand-up showcase Premium Blend. At the 2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe he won the Perrier award with his show If I....^[4] The show was turned into a British television special in 2004. From 2003 to 2004, Martin wrote for Late Night with Conan O'Brien.^[5] In 2004, Martin had his own Comedy Central Presents stand-up special. His special was divided into three parts. In the first, he performed in traditional stand-up comedy fashion. In the second segment, he used humorous drawings as visual aids, which would serve either as the punchline or a background. During the third segment, he played a guitar and put on a pseudo-play where he would strum his guitar while alternating between playing harmonica and talking; some of his comedian friends dressed as fairies and dragons acted according to the story he was telling, detailing the magical land where his jokes came from. Martin's mother and grandmother also appeared.

Since late 2005, he has been credited as a contributor on The Daily Show, on which he has appeared as the named "Senior Youth Correspondent" and on which he hosts a segment called "Trendspotting". He has used this segment to talk about so-called hip trends among youth such as hookahs, wine, guerilla marketing and Xbox 360. A piece about social networking featured his profile on MySpace.^[6] On March 22, 2007, Demetri made another appearance on The Daily Show, talking about the Viacom lawsuit against Google and YouTube.

He has recorded a comedy CD/DVD titled These Are Jokes, which was released on September 26, 2006. This album also features Saturday Night Live member Will Forte and stand-up comedian Leo Allen.

Martin returned to The Daily Show on March 22, 2006, as the new Youth Correspondent, calling his segment "Professional Important News with Demetri Martin". In 2007, he starred in a Fountains of Wayne music video for "Someone to Love" as Seth Shapiro, a character in the song. He also starred in the video for the Travis single "Selfish Jean", in which he wears multiple t-shirts with lyrics written on them.

On September 2, 2007, Martin appeared on the season finale of the HBO series Flight of the Conchords. He appeared as a keytar player named Demetri.^[7]

He also had a part in the movie The Rocker (2008) starring Rainn Wilson. Martin played the part of the videographer when the band in the movie was making their first music video.

In 2009, he hosted and starred in his own television show called Important Things With Demetri Martin on Comedy Central. Later in June, it was announced his show had been renewed for a second season.^[8] The second season premiered, again on Comedy Central, on February 4, 2010. Martin has stated that Important Things will not return for a third season.

Prior to completing work on his second season, Martin starred in the comedy-drama film Taking Woodstock (2009), directed by Ang Lee, which premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. In the film Martin plays Elliot Tiber, a closeted gay artist who has given up his ambitions in the city to move upstate and help his old-world Jewish family run their Catskill Mountains motel. The film is based on the book written by Tiber.

On April 25, 2011, Martin released his first book, titled This Is a Book by Demetri Martin.

Martin was slated to portray Paul DePodesta as Oakland Athletics assistant GM to Billy Beane in the 2011 movie Moneyball, however was dropped and Jonah Hill took his place in the movie.

Plans[link]

Martin sold his movie concept Will to DreamWorks; he is expected to play a key supporting role.^[9] He will play the lead in the film Moon People, a pitch that he sold to Columbia Pictures.

Martin also signed a blind script deal with CBS in October 2010 to produce, write, and star in his own television series.^[10]

After CBS was shown the pilot for the series, they decided not to air it.^[11]

On August 11, 2011, Fox ordered a presentation of a new animated show they might air.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] If I

If I is a Perrier Comedy Award-winning comedy one-man show written and performed by Demetri Martin at the 2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.^[12] It was also aired on British television as a special. The show is an autobiographical examination of Martin's life, as seen through various definitions of the word "if."

The title of the special comes from a lengthy palindromic poem that Martin wrote; the words "if I" are at the center of the poem.^[13]

Comedic style[link]

Martin is known for being an unconventional stand-up comic. He uses one-liners and drawings on a "large pad", as well as accompanying his jokes with music on either guitar, harmonica, piano, keyboard, glockenspiel, toy bells, ukulele, or tambourine, sometimes all at once.^[14] He has cited comedian Steven Wright as an important influence (both use deadpan one-liners in their acts) and he is also a fan of Bill Cosby.^[15]

Personal life[link]

According to a July 2011 interview on the WTF with Marc Maron podcast, Demetri had a short-lived marriage to a girl he knew from high school. They began dating after high school and got married when he was in NYU Law School and she was attending NYU Medical School. He was aged 25 and in the end of his marriage when his stand-up career began.^[3]

He is extremely allergic to nuts and peanuts.^[16]

Martin moved to Santa Monica, California in 2009.^[17]

Filmography[link]

• Invite Them Up (2005)
• These Are Jokes (2006)
• Demetri Martin. Person. (2007)
• Important Things with Demetri Martin (2009–2010)

Filmography and television work[link]

Written works[link]

• This Is a Book, April 2011, ISBN 978-0446539708.

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (May 2012)

• Official website
• Demetri Martin on Myspace
• Demetri Martin at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview from November, 2006, in Onion AV Club
• Interview from October 2006, in The DePaulia
• Article, in The Scotsman
• Article, in Gelf Magazine
• Interview by Brian M. Palmer
• MP3 Audio Interview on The Sound of Young America public radio show and podcast
• Interview Believer Mag
• New Jersey Monthly Magazine
• Fresh Air, NPR.org

Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell performing in 1983
Background information
Birth name	Roberta Joan Anderson
Born	(1943-11-07) November 7, 1943 (age 68) Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada
Genres	Folk-rock, folk-jazz/jazz, pop
Occupations	Musician, singer songwriter, painter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, dulcimer, ukulele, auto-harp
Labels	Reprise (1968–1972, 1994–2001) Asylum (1972–1981) Geffen (1982–1993) Nonesuch (2002) Hear Music (2007)
Associated acts	Buffy Sainte-Marie, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, James Taylor, L.A. Express, Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Charles Mingus, Larry Klein, Thomas Dolby, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, Neil Young, Glenn Frey
Website	www.jonimitchell.com

Joni Mitchell, CC (born Roberta Joan Anderson; November 7, 1943) is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter.^[1] Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto. In 1965 she moved to the United States and, touring constantly, began to be recognized when her original songs ("Urge for Going," "Chelsea Morning," "Both Sides, Now," "The Circle Game") were covered by notable folk singers, allowing her to sign with Reprise Records and record her own debut album in 1968.^[2] Settling in Southern California, Mitchell and her popular songs like "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Woodstock" helped define an era and a generation. Her more starkly personal 1971 recording Blue has been called one of the best albums ever made.^[3] Musically restless, Mitchell switched labels and began moving toward jazz rhythms by way of lush pop textures on 1974's Court and Spark, her best-selling LP, featuring her radio hits "Help Me" and "Free Man in Paris."^[4]

Mitchell's wide-ranging vocals and her distinctive open-tuned guitar and piano compositions grew more harmonically and rhythmically complex as she explored jazz, melding it with her influences in rock n roll, R&B, classical music and non-western beats. Mitchell's experimental run of jazz-inspired albums, including 1975's The Hissing of Summer Lawns and 1976's Hejira, confused many and hurt Mitchell's sales at the time, but they are acclaimed today. In the late 1970s, she began working closely with noted jazz musicians, among them Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny and Charles Mingus, the last of whom asked her to collaborate on his final recordings.^[5] In her later work Mitchell turned again toward pop, embraced electronic music, and engaged in political protest. Mitchell was also the sole record producer credited on most of her albums, including all her work in the 1970s. With roots in visual art, she designed her own album artwork throughout her career. A blunt critic of the music industry, Mitchell quit touring and released her 17th, and reportedly last, album of original songs in 2007. Now based in British Columbia, she describes herself as a "painter derailed by circumstance."^[6]

Mitchell has deeply influenced fellow musicians in a diverse range of genres, and her work is highly respected by critics. Allmusic said, "When the dust settles, Joni Mitchell may stand as the most important and influential female recording artist of the late 20th century,"^[7] and Rolling Stone called her "one of the greatest songwriters ever."^[8] Mitchell's lyrics have been noted for their developed poetics, addressing social and environmental ideals alongside individual feelings of romantic longing, confusion, disillusion and joy.

Early life[link]

Joni Mitchell was born Roberta Joan Anderson on November 7, 1943, in Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada, to Bill Anderson and Myrtle Anderson (née McKee). Her mother's ancestors were Scottish and Irish;^[9] her father's were Norwegian and Sami.^[10] Her mother was a teacher. Her father was a Royal Canadian Air Force flight lieutenant who instructed new pilots in Fort Macleod, where the allied forces were gathering to learn to fly. During the war years, she moved with her parents to a number of bases in western Canada. After the war, her father began working as a grocer, and his work took the family to Saskatchewan, to the towns of Maidstone and North Battleford. She later sang about her small town upbringing in "Song for Sharon."

In Maidstone, a "two-block, one church, one hotel town," Joni's family lived without indoor plumbing and running water. Many of the other residents were First Nations people. Canadians of European origin such as Joni's grandfather had only begun to settle there in recent decades. The town was along the old railway, and the line ran right behind her bedroom. She used to "sit up in bed each morning to watch the one train that always passed daily." Joni said, "The weird thing is that years later my parents met the conductor of that train at a party. He said: 'All I remember of your town is a house with Christmas decorations and a kid that used to wave at me.'"^[11] Joni loved spending time outdoors. She also said, "My mother raised me on words... Where other parents would quote from the Bible, she would quote from Shakespeare. She was a romantic woman. She encouraged me in all those old-fashioned things. I kept pressed-flower scrap books."^[12]

Joni's father was an amateur musician who loved swing records and played trumpet in marching bands, and Joni would join in town parades with her father's band and other children. Many of her childhood friends were taking music lessons, and she would tag along to their performances, where she developed her first musical obsessions: Debussy, Ravel, Stravinsky, Chopin and Beethoven. Much later, the first LP she saved up to buy was Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.^[10] Mitchell briefly studied classical piano between the ages of six and seven. She said, "I wanted to play... I wanted to do what I do now, which is to lay my hand on it and to memorize what comes off of it and to create with it. But my music teacher told me I played by ear which was a sin, you know, and that I would never be able to read these pieces because I memorized things... I didn't fall into the norm for that system, so I dropped that."^[13]

At the age of eight, Joni contracted polio during a 1951 Canadian epidemic, the same one in which singer Neil Young, then aged five and living in Ontario, also contracted the virus.^[14] It was the last major epidemic in North America before Jonas Salk's polio vaccine was successfully tested. Bedridden for weeks in hospital, Joni became aware that she would have to move across the hall and live in an iron lung for the remainder of her life if her condition worsened. As she later described, it was during her time in hospital that winter that she first became interested in singing. She told the story later:

"They said I might not walk again, and that I would not be able to go home for Christmas. I wouldn't go for it. So I started to sing Christmas carols and I used to sing them real loud... The boy in the bed next to me, you know, used to complain. And I discovered I was a ham."^[15]

Before she suffered polio, Mitchell had been interested in the arts, but she had been more athletic herself than artistic. Once she recovered, she realized she would no longer be able to compete with the fastest swimmers or runners, and as a compensation she became interested in dancing. At the age of nine she also began smoking, a lifelong habit. Mitchell's smoking has been the subject of criticism from journalists, who blame it for changes in her voice in later decades of her life, but Mitchell has denied the connection, expressing no regret for what she calls "my terrible habits."^[16]

When Mitchell was eleven years old, her family settled in the city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, which she considers her hometown. Mitchell had always been inspired by the beauty of the Canadian frontier, but she had developed into "a bad student" frustrated by the educational outlook in the provincial towns where she grew up, and school in Saskatoon did not inspire her either. Mitchell's initially dedicated note-taking in class would be replaced by a mess of drawings in her notebooks by year's end, and her report cards would say, "Joan does not relate well." She said, "The way I saw the educational system from an early age was that it taught you what to think, not how to think. There was no liberty, really, for free thinking. You were being trained to fit into a society where free thinking was a nuisance. I liked some of my teachers very much, but I had no interest in their subjects. So I would appease them—I think they perceived that I was not a dummy, although my report card didn't look like it. I would line the math room with ink drawings and portraits of the mathematicians. I did a tree of life for my biology teacher. I was always staying late at the school, down on my knees painting something."^[15]

Mitchell was drawn to art, but "growing up just at the time before arts were included as a part of education... at that time I was kind of a freak."^[17] In seventh grade, she had "one radical teacher... a reverer of spirit... He criticized my habit of copying pictures. No one else did. They praised me as a prodigy for my technique. 'You like to paint?' he asked. I nodded. 'If you can paint with a brush you can paint with words.' He drew out my poetry. He was a great disciplinarian in his own punk style. We loved him... I wrote an epic poem in class - I labored to impress him. I got it back circled in red with 'cliché, cliche.' 'White as newly fallen snow' - 'cliche'; 'high upon a silver shadowed hill' - 'cliche.' At the bottom he said, 'Write about what you know, it's more interesting.'"^[13] Mitchell talked about "going out after the rain and gathering tadpoles in an empty mayonnaise jar," and he suggested she put her experience in writing.^[18] Mitchell's debut album included a dedication to the teacher, "Mr. Kratzman, who taught me to love words."^[19]

Mitchell wrote poetry as well. She said, "I was good in composition, but I wasn't good in the dissection of English... I wasn't scholastically good in it because I didn't like to break it down and analyze it in that manner, and I liked to speak in slang."^[13] Mitchell said, "I finally flunked out in the twelfth grade. I went back later and picked up the subjects that I lost." She said, "My identity, since it wasn't through the grade system, was that I was a good dancer and an artist... I made a lot of my own clothes. I worked in ladies' wear and I modeled. I had access to sample clothes that were too fashionable for our community... I would go hang out on the streets dressed to the T... I hung out downtown with the Ukrainians and the Indians... When I went back to my own neighborhood, I found that I had a provocative image. They thought I was loose because I always liked rowdies... But there also came a stage when my friends who were juvenile delinquents suddenly became criminals. They could go into very dull jobs or they could go into crime. Crime is very romantic in your youth. I suddenly thought, 'Here's where the romance ends. I don't see myself in jail...'"^[15]