Johnson’s Beach in Guerneville
Johnson’s Beach in Guerneville, California, is the site for a scene in the 1960 novel, Stumptown Daze, where our devilish dementia patient, Walt, and his caregiver, Lani, are taking in all the fun. A lumpy kid with a penchant for chocolate and death harass the older gent with questions about the hereafter, forcing Walt and Lani to board the River Queen and seek solace upstream.
As a fourth generation City kid, this is where my parents took my sisters and me to escape the bitter July fog atop Market Street. Mark Twain’s quote still applies today: “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” What a relief it was back in the sixties to know that the sun did indeed appear beyond the rainbow of Marin County’s Waldo Tunnel. (more…)