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<pre>Let me introduce myself.
My name is Judith Taylor and I have just written a book about the
history of the olive trees of California. For whatever reason no one seems to
have done this before, so it fills a small but incredibly rich and intersting
niche in olive history.
I am a retired physician and a completely self-proclaimed expert....
The earliest documented time the olive tree was taken to the New World
was in 1503, not many years after Columbus found it. After the trees were
distributed throughout Mexico, and finally to the peninsula of Baja
California, the next step was getting them up to Alta California (present day
California).
The Franciscan missionaries accomplished this, but unfortunately we only
know to the nearest ten years precisely when it was done. The best guess is
the early 1780s. Mission records are superb on the number of native babies
baptized or buried but very hazy on such mundane matters as an olive tree.
I followed up all the leads about the people who made olive oil, the
nurseries which imported, tested and later sold the trees, the later
businesses which canned olives, the role of scientists at the University of
California and much, much else.
Anyway, if this story interests you, the book is available in various
ways:
+ From the publisher Ten Speed Press (Berkeley CA). Order department in the
US is 800 841 2665. This department can also guide you to international
distributors. Address: Post Office Box 7123, Berkeley CA 94707. The list
price will be $32.
+ Local booksellers (at least in the US. I do not yet know about other
countries)
+ Online booksellers. I have seen it on Amazon .com
The book should be out by the first week in October. I am very
grateful to Craig Hill in South Australia who told me how to get this
announcement in circulation.
Judith M Taylor MD
2121 Broadway, Apartment 5
San Francisco CA 94115 USA
Phone: 415 563 3477
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