Readers can learn more about the new book Humbled: How California’s Monterey Bay Escaped Industrial Ruin in a series of online book talks hosted by the Monterey County Historical Society. The first session will be held via Zoom on Saturday, Oct. 17, starting at 3 p.m. Proceeds from book sales will go to the historical society.
Authors Glenn Church and Kathryn McKenzie will discuss the book, their research, and what compelled them to explore this important piece of Monterey Bay history in the first online event on Oct. 17.
The second event will be Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m., with other dates yet to be determined. During these talks, the authors will donate to MCHS 25 percent of the proceeds from every book ordered from vista-verde-publishing.com.
To be included in either of the Zoom events, email mchs@redshift.com.
The book explores a period in the mid-1960s when plans called for a major industrial complex to be developed at the midpoint of the bay, starting with a refinery that Humble Oil intended as a linchpin of its West Coast operations.
The building permit for the Humble refinery became the focus of a bitter and protracted 15-month conflict that divided the region. It would become one of the first major battles of the modern environmental movement, and was a critical turning point for the Monterey Bay, home to hundreds of species of sea life, marine mammals and birds.
The new nonfiction book is now available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other online booksellers, at area bookstores and through https://vista-verde-publishing.com. Read an exclusive excerpt here.
Authors’ bios
Glenn Church and Kathryn McKenzie both grew up in the Monterey Bay area and have a deep love and appreciation for the land and the environment. Church, a farmer and businessman, has written extensively about politics and has been active in environmental and international human rights issues. McKenzie, a Monterey Bay area journalist and environmental writer, has been working for newspapers and magazines for more than 35 years, most recently Voices of Monterey Bay, Health Matters and Edible Monterey Bay.
They have been married since 2017, and make their home in North Monterey County on California’s Central Coast. This is their first book.
