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Updated September 1, 2020
Hope you enjoyed
the Virtual
STEINBECK COUNTRY UNITED
Global Festival
Saturday, August 1, and Sunday, August 2, 2020.
For Tickets, click here!
For a full agenda of the Festival, Click here.
Cannery Row historian Michael Kenneth Hemp
is featured in a 12:00 PM Steinbeck Roundtable
with moderator Dr. David Wrobel, Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences
of the University of Oklahoma and National Visiting Steinbeck Scholar
Author, journalist and Pulitzer Prize nominee William Souder
with his new Steinbeck book "Mad at the World,"
and distinguished historian and lecturer Dr. Carol McKibben,
author and professor of Urban Studies at Stanford University
12:00 PM Steinbeck Roundtable
For more information be sure go to www.steinbeck.org:
The Answer:
New research by The History Company unveils a major
new history for Washington State's Hood Canal, already famous
historically for its timber, oysters, striking natural beauty, and tourism.
A history with many shared connections with Cannery Row, Monterey.
Hood Canal photography by George Stenberg
The "Go To" photographer for all things Hood Canal
www.georgestenbergphotography.com
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| Hood
Canal sunrise |
Mt.Washington
& Mt. Elinor |
Hood
Canal Perfect |
The History Company now adds original research, discovery, and confirmation of
Hood Canal's major West Coast connections to its new historical cousin,
"John Steinbeck's Cannery" Row at Monterey, California.
ANNOUNCING:
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| By Cannery Historian,
Michael Hemp |
By Hood Canal Historian,
Michael Fredson |
By Hood Canal Historian, Michael Fredson |
Three special books about the importance of the Hood Canal
and its crucial role in the nearly annual 1930s marine biological
research expeditions to the maritime Pacific Northwest by pioneering
marine biologist Edward F. Ricketts (John Steinbeck's closest friend
and mentor) in his development and presentation of Ecology in
"Between Pacific Tides" published by Stanford University Press
in 1939. It still remains one of the most popular books ever published
by Stanford University Press and is studied by students becoming
marine biologist even today. Hoodsport on the Hood Canal was the base
of operations from which Ricketts researched all over the maritime
Pacific Northwest.
The Hoodsport rental cabin-site location at the Gateway Inn,
now a salmon hatchery, has been located that Ricketts and his young
family occupied almost every spring-summer of the 1930s, with
the exception of one spring-summer at Tahuya across the Canal.
Collaboration of The History Company historian Michael Hemp
and Hood Canal historian Michael Fredson now make it possible to
discover and enjoy the until now an unknown and unappreciated
history of Hoodsport and the Hood Canal that now connects it to
the world-wide fame of Monterey, Cannery Row, John Steinbeck,
the Tacoma-built "Western Flyer" and the Sea of Cortez.
THE HISTORY COMPANY
BOOK SHOP
has a Special Offer for Ed Ricketts, John Steinbeck
Cannery Row, and "Western Flyer" fans:
To begin this adventure or for more information
and to purchase any or all of these essential books.
Click here
Restoration of the Western Flyer Update:
Restoration progress on the Western Flyer at the Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-op at
Port Townsend, Washington, has been temporarily interrupted due to the COVID-19 Stay-At-Home
requirements, but work will resume when a safe pandemic re-opening is announced.
Chris Chase of the Western Flyer Foundation has released another in the YouTube series of
Western Flyer restoration videos Number 19! that recaps some of the highlights of the
restoration progress videos to date. Treat yourself to a viewing of it on YouTube.
Or, better yet, subscribe to the videos to be kept up to date automatically.
Western Flyer Foundation photo
This image is from Episode 17 on YouTube.
The restoration process is a magnificent sight and a tribute to rare wooden boat shipwright
skills still alive in the Pacific Northwest. Be part of this major historic achievement; make a
donation at www.WesternFlyer.org. And if you can, make another donation to the restoration
of a historic vessel under restoration wherever you live.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
The History Company and Cannery Row Foundation connections to
the Western Flyer began with the
creation of the Cannery Row Foundation in Ed Ricketts' Lab in
1983. By 1984 the Cannery Row Foundation board
announced efforts to acquire and return the Western Flyer to
Monterey as a working non-profit
historical and educational icon of Monterey and Cannery Row's
sardine fishing and canning heyday.
(May 1983)
at the creation of
The Cannery Row Foundation
"Coastings..." May 11, 1983
John Steinbeck's Birthday
(February 27, 1902 - December 20, 1968)
Monterey Herald, February 27, 1978
The Queen of Cannery Row kept the Steinbeck & Ricketts
movement alive for decades before help arrived with her
annual "Cannery Row Steinbeck's Birthday Party" at Kalisa's
La Ida Cafe. Formation of the Cannery Row Foundation
was still 5 years away. More on this amazing woman
throughout this website.
Hope you had a wonderful Steinbeck's Birthday...
and sorry Kalisa's not there on the old Row to throw another
annual Steinbeck Birthday celebration upstairs in the
old La Ida Ida Cafe.
Some of you now know you were blessed to have been there
for one...or more.
A brand new history of
Cannery Row and the Pacific Northwest...
2019
Cover actual size is 8.5" x 11"
The new silver foil stamped cover and trim of the expanded "CR 4.0"
Cover design by Bridges Design Group, Los Angeles.
The Perfect New Years Gift for the Steinbeck, Ricketts, Cannery Row
and maritime Pacific Northwest history fans in your life.
$29.95 by PayPal (below) with free USPS Media Mail shipping.
Includes a free authentic 1940s sardine label as a bookmark.
Click Here for PayPal Payment Page More purchase options below.
Speaking Engagements, News, and Events
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AUGUST 1 - 2
2020
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Virtual
75th Anniversary Celebration of John Steinbeck''s 1945
"Cannery Row"...
Cannery Row historian; Steinbeck,
and Ricketts authority; Featured Speaker and Program
Consultant: Steinbeck Festival 2020 at the National
Steinbeck Center, Salinas, California. |
| Feb. 3 2020  |
Cascade Club of
Tacoma luncheon at the Tacoma Country Club, Lakeview. "New Horizon for Pacific Northwest History" and Tacoma's role. |
| Feb.
20 2020 |
Tacoma Yacht Club:
Open to the PublicAdmission Free. Cannery Row's
Connection to the Hidden History of the Maritime Pacific
Northwest, Ed Ricketts' development of Ecology in the
PNW, John Steinbeck & the Western Flyer, "The Sea of
Cortez," and historic Tacoma Waterfront as the
"Birthplace of the Western Flyer." |
| Jan.
30 2020 |
Gig Harbor Chamber of Commerce Public Affairs Forum, at the Cottesmore, 2909 14th Avenue NW, Gig Harbor. |
| Jan.
26 2020 Review: |
HOOD CANAL'S NEW
HISTORY at the Alderbrook Golf & Yacht Club, Union,
WA. Open to the Public. Mason County Historical Society
Lecture. 
MCHS Newsletter event review.
|
| Jan. 8 2020 |
"THE NEW HORIZONS FOR PACIFIC NORTHWEST HISTORY" at Gig Harbor Kiwanis International Chapter 34 at Harbor Place at Cottesmore, 1016 29th Street NW, Gig Harbor. |
| Dec.
10 |
"The New History of
the Pacific Northwest" at the Weatherly Inn, Highlands
Parkway, Tacoma. 1:30 3:00 PM. Tacoma Historical
Society Lecture Series. |
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Mason County
Historical Society presentation aboard the cruise of the
Hood Canal from the Alderbrook Lodge at Union to
Hoodsport, WA, and return aboard the "Lady Alderbrook." |
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Sep. 17
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Fiero Marine Life
Center and NOAA Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary
Speakers
Series: John Wayne Marina, Sequim, WA. 6:00 to
7:30 PM followed by a "Meet the Author"and booksigning.
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Sep. 9 |
Tacoma Historical
Society Lecture Series: University of Puget Sound,
Tacoma. Murray Boardroom, Wheelock Center. 7 to 9 PM,
with book signing. Free Admission. |
Aug. 13 |
SEA Discovery Center
(Poulsbo, Washington) of Western Washington University
speaking engagement 6-7 PM. Free. Archival PowerPoint
premier of "Cannery Row 4.0" |
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Announcing the
publication of the expanded "CANNERY ROW, The History of
Old Ocean View Avenue and Its Connections to the Pacific
Northwest" "Cannery Row 4.0" enters distribution; Special Offer direct orders; Click Here for CR 4.0 features and prices and for archival photo Power Point speaking engagements, |
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The Spanish fish-packing history of what became Ed Ricketts' Lab, Pacific Biological Laboratories (by Robin Aeschliman) |
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The newest Western Flyer Foundation (WesternFlyer.org) YouTube video of restoration of the Western Flyer by the Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-op, Port Townsend, Washington. |
E-mail or call (831) 236-2990 to book an Archival PowerPoint Speaking Engagement.
Cannery Row and Pacific Northwest History just got a lot bigger!
ANNOUNCING THE JULY 2019 PUBLICATION OF THE
Expanded Fourth Edition of Cannery Row's history book ("CR 4.0")
Incorporating current Pacific Northwest research on
Ed Ricketts and his 1930s and 1940s expeditions
to Puget Sound, northern shores of Washington,
the Strait of Jaun de Fuca, Vancouver Island, and
the 1932 voyage of the "Grampus" from Tacoma
to Sitka and Juneau, Alaskain Ricketts' pursuit
of the research, observation, and collection of
marine biological specimens in his development
of his pioneering vision and introduction of
today's ECOLOGY.
"But There's More!"
Included is original research on the Western Flyer,
built in 1937 by Western Boat Building on
Tacoma Washington's waterfront and the rise of
this vessel to world-fame for her role in the 1940 voyage
to Mexico's Gulf of California, and the co-authored
"Sea of Cortez
A Leisurely Journal of Travel and Research"
(Published in 1941; Steinbeck's only co-authored work)
"As well as..."
The little known inter-relationship of the largely Croatian
Pacific Northwest fishing boat industry's production of
customized purse-seine fishing boats for Monterey's
predominantly Sicilian sardine fishing fleet, in a new
appreciation of yet another inter-cultural dimension
connecting Monterey-Cannery Row with the historic
Pacific Northwest.
Look for Cannery Row's familiar red history book
full of outstanding archival photographs from the
Pat Hathaway Collection in the expanded Fourth Edition
easily identified by its new silver accented red cover.
A look at some pages in CR 4.0
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With restored and enhanced archival photography from the Pat Hathaway Collection
"There is no other book like this"
Nowhere else is this on-going research and that of colleagues available
and integrated with the shared history, literature, maritime, and
ecological legacies of Monterey-Cannery Row and the
historic Pacific Northwest: a whole new tide pool!
Available direct from The History Company
(Tax, Media Mail, shipping & handling included!)
$29.95
By check to The History Company
P.O. Box 31, Wauna, WA 98395
Priority Mail shipping & handling included!)
or
secure PayPal credit card payment
click here for the PayPal Payment Page
or
In stock at Amazon.com
Or get yoursand for giftson the Monterey Peninsula at:
Cannery Row: the Wing Chong Market and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Bookstore
Pacific Grove: Bookworks
Salinas: The Best Cellar at the Steinbeck House and the National Steinbeck Center
or ask for it a your local bookstore!
And proud to be in-room for Cannery Row guests at
The Monterey Plaza Hotel and Spa
The Spindrift Inn
The Monterey Bay Inn
The Victorian Inn
Announcing one of the new special features of the
new, expanded Cannery Row 4.0
"The La Esperanza Packing Company"
Robin Aeschliman's brilliant research on how her grandparent's
partnership in an ill-fated Spanish fish packing venture at
740 Ocean View Avenue resulted in the location of Ed Ricketts'
historic Pacific Biological Laboratories.
Click Here
If you haven't already seen this, you should.
From our compatriots at the Western Flyer Foundation:
Click below for an introduction to the Ed Ricketts connection to:
John Steinbeck
Cannery Row
The Western Flyer
The Sea of Cortez
The Log from the Sea of Cortez
A ten minute video you should know before you need to...
click here
And click here for the current YouTube progress video of
the restoration in progress on the Western Flyer
at the Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-op
in Port Townsend, Washington.
A Note from the back-logged in-box...
Once in a while research involves discoveries of amazing treats for the eye.
Taking a research break and getting to sort, file, staple, fold and mutilate
all the assorted missives in the in-box I can't help but show you this:
To say Robbie Beherens is incredibly artistic is to so understate so.
Let your eyes speak: this is not only art, it is art with Ed Ricketts in every blink.
I needed to share this with all of the "Ed Heads" out there who know about Ed.
Newcomers may find it reason enough to look into why Ed is such a big deal
with his fans from Steinbeck, fans of very his own, marine biologists, and
his collegial researchers whether on Cannery Row, the Sea of Cortez...
or the Pacific Northwest.
"For Robbie who knows why or should"
"And now back to our previous presentation in progress..."
Thanks to everyone for the great turnouts at both
Center For Wooden boats in Seattle
who graciously provided overnight accommodations
on the historic 1909 MV Lotus
MK Hemp photo
and the Tacoma Yacht Club
which had a surprising number of Californians and Steinbeck fans,
even some that knew a bit about Ed Ricketts and the Western Flyer.
They all know a lot more now.
February 15th, 2019
UPCOMING PACIFIC NORTHWEST SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
by Michael Kenneth Hemp:
"Winter at the Western Flyer, Port Townsend" photo by Peter Hemp
"Ed Ricketts in the Pacific Northwest and
the Saga of the Western Flyer"
at the
Wagner Educational Forum
at the Center For Wooden Boats, Seattle
Free Admission Donations Appreciated
Friday, February 15th, 7:00 to 9:00 PM
Click Here for information.
AND
February 21st, 2019
The Tacoma Yacht Club
5401 Yacht Club Road,
Tacoma, WAOpen free for the pubic to attend
Thursday, February 21st, 7:00 to 9:00 PM
Click Here for information.
Tacoma Yacht Club photo
News from the Waterfront!
HISTORIC TACOMA WATERFRONT
Working Group is being formed.
An ad hoc group of historians, archivists, heritage organizations,
community groups, and historically invested businesses are joining
together to assure the identification, and where possible, preservation
of the histroic character and critical remaining Tacoma maritime and
industrial waterfront sites as a vibrant heritage destination for South Sound
locals and the regional, national, and international travel industry.
On February 30th, 2019, this effort took its first step at the Foss Waterway
Seaport at an inaugural meeting in the Foss Waterway Seaport's Boat Shop
of a notable collection of Tacoma's dedicated historical and cultural enhtusiasts,
and heritage destination commercial leaders.
Attending (left to right): Brendan Balaam, Michael Sullivan, Allen Petrich, Andy Kuljis,
Ron Karabaich, Bill Baarsma, Lowell Anderson, Dale Wirsing, Michael Hemp,
Norman Gollub, Mike Leach, Clare Petrich, Kathleen Brooker (obscured);
photo by Wesley Wenhardt.
Wesley Wenhardt photo
Parties interested in joining this odyssey please contact
Michael Hemp (The History Company) at (831) 236-2990
or mkhemp@thehistorycompany.com.
Please see "New Horizons in Pacific Northwest History (below)
for a Prospectus.
MK Hemp photo
Meeting facility courtesy of Foss Watwerway Seaport
BBC on Cannery Row
This 1987 BBC on Cannery Row features:
Steven Webster, Monterey Bay Aquarium,
Susan Shillinglaw, Center for Steinbeck Studies, San Jose Sate University,
Cannery Row historian, Michael Kenneth Hemp,
Frank Wright, Cannery Row Foundation and friend of Ed Ricketts,
and Katie Rodger, Ed Ricketts biographer, U.C. Davis.
This 1987 BBC report from Cannery Row by Howard Stableford
paints an excellent sketch of pioneer marine biologist Edward F. Ricketts,
John Steinbeck's closest friend and mentorand six major figures
in Steinbeck fiction...
Click Here for The BBC on Cannery Row (27 minutes)
"NEW HORIZONS FOR PACIFIC NORTHWEST HISTORY"
A Prospectus with new historical research that augments
Pacific Northwest history in a number of significant ways.
Pacific Northwest sites of ecological research by Edward F. Ricketts
The new role of John Steinbeck in Pacific Northwest history
Pacific Northwest Croatian boat-building and Monterey's Sicilian fleet
The Steinbeck-Ricketts "Sea of Cortez" and Western Flyer legacies
Historic Tacoma Waterfront Path of History & Birthplace of the Western Flyer
Tacoma, Foss Waterway Seaport, and the Western Flyer's navigational artifacts
Click here for a Prospectus .pdf
An archival photographic PowerPoint presentation is available for presentation for
historical organizations, educational institutions, civic clubs and fraternal chapters.
Simply contact Michael Kenneth Hemp for details or to book a presentation.
Many thanks to the attendees at the Shelton, WA premier of the
"New Horizons for Pacific Northwest History" project
at the Mason County Historical Society and Museum
and the exciting advances in our research enabled by the
Shelton-Hood Canal community's living memory and historical
knowledge of the 1930s in and around the Hood Canal.
Special thanks to Mr. & Mrs. Stan Graham, and
Museum researcher, Shirley Erhart, for crucial contributions
emerging from this premier presentation at Shelton
to the on-going research base for this ambitious project.
Hood Canal research underway on the "Horizons" project is now firmly
established and a new level of networking and referral of research leads
and contacts have significantly materialized to advance and refine research.
"Thank You" to Shelton's Mason County Historical Society and Museum
and its members for contributing a significance advance in our research.
Michael Kenneth Hemp
On
Saturday, September 29th, 2018 The History Company, in
association with the
Mason County Historical Society Museum in Shelton,
Washington, presents:
| New
Horizons for Pacific Northwest
HistoryA New Role in Ecology An archival
PowerPoint lecture by historian
Michael Kenneth Hemp Announcing
Hood Canals role in a new horizon of
Pacific Northwest pride
Edward F. Ricketts at
Port Townsend, Washington, June 1930.
Jack Calvin photo, co-author of Between
Pacific Tides (Pat Hathaway Collection) In June 1930,
Monterey marine biologist Ed Ricketts
was photographed in the kelp bed at
Port Townsend, Washington, by Jack
Calvinhis co-author of Between
Pacific Tides (1939). That photograph
only recently opened the door to the
realization that this revolutionary
naturalist that brought Ecology into
mainstream awareness had traveled
extensively throughout the shoreline
Pacific Northwest in the 1930s
researching and developing that
essential concept. Come learn where,
why, and how the Pacific Northwest
came to have a major role in Ecology. WHERE:
Sheltons
Mason County Historical Society
Museum
427 W. Railroad Avenue, Shelton WA 98584
Phone (360) 426-1020 For info.
WHEN:
2:00 PM,
Saturday, September 29th,
2018. Followed with a book signing and a
community research
round table to help collect data for
historical designations.
WHO:
Michael Kenneth Hemp Cannery Row,
Montereys historian has relocated to
Gig Harbor to
research and memorialize this new
horizon in Pacific Northwest history. More background
at |
For more information click here for "CONJUNCTION"
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
The History Company is extremely honored to represent two exclusive world-class historical
artifact affiliation and ownership opportunities with origins involving major Cannery Row historical
figures and events: one as naming donor for the acquisition of the Fry Collection of Western Flyer
Navigational Artifacts (from the 1940 voyage to the Sea of Cortez by John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts)
for preservation and permanent public exhibitionin posterityat either Monterey, California,"Home Port"
of the world-famous Western Flyer, or at the Foss Waterway Seaport on Tacoma, Washington's
historic waterfrontbirthplace of the Western Flyer at Western Boat Building Company in May 1937.
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Auction reserve (if it reaches auction): $68,704.00. Put your name on this perpetual exhibit now,
at the Western Flyer's home port of Monterey, or her birthplace on the Foss Waterway Seaport
in Tacoma, Washington.
Enshrine your name, family, organization, educational institution, or business
in Posterity by becoming the Naming Donor for the perpetual preservation and exhibition of these
priceless navigational artifacts of the world-famous Western Flyer.
Exclusive Representative: Michael Kenneth Hemp
The History Company
(831) 236-2990
mkhemp@thehistorycompany.com
This item has been auctioned and is no longer available.
Also on offer
is an immeasurable personal opportunity to possess one of the most iconic Old Cannery Row
artifacts ever available for personal acquisition: the "Desk that Helped Make Cannery Row Famous"
the (two-sided facing) partners desk of Knut Hovden, the "King of Cannery Row." It was the
Norwegian-born Hovden, who with fisheries experience from Norway and an inventor's talent that
solved many of the mechanical impediments of the smooth flow of fish through the canning process in
Monterey's burgeoning industry of catching and canning one of the world's major natural resources...
sardines!
From before World War I, Hovden led the rise of Monterey to become the "Sardine Capital of the World"
in decades of astute, innovative, and profitable business investment and profit. It was from the desk on offer
that Knut Hovden ruled the last decades of Ocean View Avenue (Monterey's "Cannery Row") as its King.
It is at this same desk that the New Kings of Cannery RowTed Balestreri and Bert Cutinohelped propel
fine dining into the American consciousness when opening the world-famous Sardine Factory Restaurant
on John Steinbeck's Cannery Row in 1968. In 1972 Clint Eastwood filmed scenes from the
Sardine Factory in his iconic "Play Misty For Me"...
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Offered at $15,000.00 Serious Inquiries Only, Please.
Call or e-mail for additional information and for contact with the owner of this
exclusive, functional, spectacular piece of the History of John Steinbeck's Cannery Row.
Owner's Representative: Michael Kenneth Hemp
The History Company
(831) 236-2990
mkhemp@thehistorycompany.com
Michael Kenneth Hemp's next pubic Speaking Engagement
will be presented on May 17th 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM at the
Harbor History Museum
Followed by "Meet The Author" & Book Signing at
4121 Harbor View Drive Gig Harbor, Washington
Information call: (253) 858-6722 marketing@harborhistorymuseum.org
Harbor History Museum photo
Followed by "Meet The Author" & Book Signing
Information at www.harborhistorymuseum.org (253) 858-6722
3/3/18
Michael Kenneth Hemp made his his Pacific Northwest "Conjunction" lecture premier
at Tacoma Washington's spectacular waterfront Foss Waterway Seaport Maritime Museum
on Saturday, March 3, 2018.
Foss Waterway Seaport photo
Some of the event in the media:
CONJUNCTION: Cannery Row and the Pacific Northwest  Cannery Row, the historic Pacific Northwest, Steinbeck & Ricketts, the Sea of Cortez, and the saga of the Western Flyer. |
"CANNERY ROW..."  |
WESTERN FLYER  |
BOMBARDIER'S LOUNGE: WWII Big Band Jazz "The Music that Helped Save the World..."  Click here to listen to a mission. Over... |
END OF LIES The Nadjik Pheromone  |
Historic
Research Heritage Marketing Publication Design
Education Media Consulting Lectures & Tours
Events
Works of Fiction and Historical Fiction
Services / Tours / Projects / Research / Company Store / Albums / Events / Links / Literary / Staff / Payments
Lectures / Travel Apps / The History Company AmazonStore / Book Signings / LinkedIn /
"END of LIES, The Nadjik Pheromone" / "End Of Lies" blog / Bombardier's Lounge WWII Big Band Jazz
"SUR: Legend of The Last Otter Hunter" / The Cannery Row Foundation and its "Western Flyer" Newsletter
"CANNERY ROW, The History of John Steinbeck's Old Ocean View Avenue"
P.O. Box 31 Gig Harbor (Wauna) WA 98395 (831) 236-2990
The History Company announces
Major New Pacific Northwest Connections
presented by historian Michael Kenneth Hemp
coming to venues near you.
"CONJUNCTION"
Drawing together Cannery Row, Monterey, Puget Sound, the Pacific Northwest expeditions of Ed Ricketts,
John Steinbeck through his charter of the Tacoma-built Western Flyer to the Sea of Cortez
with Ed Ricketts in 1940, the saga of the rescue of the Western Flyer, her restoration
by Washington's Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-op, and her ultimate mission as
a voyaging classroom for inspiring youth into the marine sciences.
And: cultural travel and tourism between John Steinbeck's California
(and the rest of the world) to the Pacific Northwest to take it all in.
Open to the Public free with paid Museum admission.
Become a Member now: Foss Waterway Seaport will be the major
base of operations for this history-making project. Be part of it.
Foss Waterway Seaport Maritime Museum:
membership@fosswaterwayseaport.org
* * *
A message from Michael Hemp
I regret to inform you of the passing of two important friends with roots in Cannery Row.
IN MEMORIAM
It is with great regret we inform you that Ed Ricketts, Jr. son of Edward F. Ricketts passed away
on December 2nd, 2017. His contributions to the historical, scientific and personal legacy of his father
have been essential to world-wide Ricketts and Steinbeck fans. More details and photos come soon
in a continuing Memorial to Ed Ricketts Jr. posted here and on www.canneryrow.org.
MK Hemp
* * *
IN MEMORIAM
Friend and Cannery Row colleague, Andy Case, passed away on October 22nd, 2017. This kind and gentle
man who loved Cannery Row and became a close friend and confidant of both Ed Ricketts Jr. and Nancy Ricketts
of Sitka, Alaska, will be deeply missed. He stepped onto Cannery Row to work at the Monterey Bay Aquarium as
an aquarium technician, fell in love with old Cannery Row, and became part of keeping the Ed Ricketts legacy
alive and growing. Andy was preparing to relocate to Japan to join his wife and son when he passed away.
Insiders will know how very much he will be missed.
MK Hemp
* * *
The History Company previewed its new "CONJUNCTION" message on a speaking tour October 15th
to 27th, 2017 to the historic Monterey Peninsula, California: Moss Landing, Monterey, Cannery Row,
Carmel, and Pebble Beach. The trip included presentations at the Cannery Row Foundation's
exclusive tours of Pacific Biological Laboratories (the Doc's lab of John Steinbeck's
world-famous 1945 "Cannery Row") on Saturday, October 18th, 2017.
The CONJUNCTION is getting started. Keep an eye on where it goes from here.
Look for The History Company's Michael Kenneth Hemp in the coming months at the
Foss Seaport Waterway Maritime Museum the pride of Tacoma's historic waterfront.
The History Company is now relocated in
Gig Harbor, Washington...
...to research, record, and establish
"CONJUNCTION:
...opening
up a vast, exciting new relationship between
the Pacific Northwest and Monterey's Cannery Row:
the last frontier of research of a shared but little known
historic, maritime, literary and ecological legacy.
Since 1983, The History Company has been a major source
of historical research on author John Steinbeck's world-famous
"Cannery Row" literature and the ecological fame of
America's pioneering marine biologist, Ed Ricketts.
Historian Michael Kenneth Hemp now turns his focus to
Pacific Northwest historical research, exploration,
and celebration of the emerging discoveries that
connect us in many unexpected and meaningful ways.
The History Company is eager to share this new era
of West Coast history, literature, ecology, and travel
in Speaking Engagements and at Special Events
from the Pacific Northwest to the Sea of Cortez.
Click here for a printable pdf.
For presentation information and available speaking engagement dates,
please contact The History Company at:
mkhemp@thehistorycompany.com
or call: (831) 236-2990
* * *
Construction is underway on the relocation
of The History Company to the Pacific Northwest.
Thank you for your patience.
October 2016
Benefit for Monterey Public Library
See you there!
* * *
More
From the Archives
The "La Esperanza Packing Company"
Today known as Pacific Biological Laboratories!
A crucial historical research project
by
Robin Rodriguez Aeschliman (2015)
Click Here
* * *
From the Archives
Pacific Biological Laboratories "Doc's Lab"tour video
by Wayne Marien (Victory Video victoryvid@yahoo.com) January 31, 2012 celebrating
Kalisa Moore, "Queen of Cannery Row"
for the Cannery Row Foundation featuring
Cannery Row Historian Michael Hemp and
friend of Ed Ricketts and Lab owner Frank Wright on
YouTube
* * *
Be sure to check out the individual video segments of the
CANNERY ROW SYMPOSIUM 2016
being uploaded continuously as edited by Wave Street Studios on You Tube
on themes and topics on the cutting edge of Cannery Row historical research:
Dennis Fry, skipper of the (Western Flyer) re-named Gemini in the late 1970s, Homer Alaska
John Greg, marine geologist who rescued and is restoring the Western Flyer as a sea-going classroom for kids
Don Kohrs, Librarian, Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station Miller Library
("The hottest Ed Ricketts researcher on the planet!" quote: M.K. Hemp)
(7 more segments to come)
* * *
Thanks to all who made the Ed Ricketts Early Birthday LAB TOURS
May 7th, another magical day in Pacific Biological Laboratories!
* * *
From the Archives:
Raw edit video of the Cannery Row Foundation's "Great Cannery Row Reunion
(all that has survived) from May 13-15 1983:
Opening Ceremonies at the Monterey Conference Center with
Michael Hemp, founding Executive Director of the Cannery Row Foundation
Max Tadlock (CRF President & President of Monterey Peninsula College)
Congressman Leon Panetta Professor Richard Astro (Keynote Speaker)
With scenes from the Opening Ceremonies, Reunion Dinner Dance at the
Outrigger Restaurant on Cannery Row, and the Great Cannery Row Fire Muster
Click Here
* * *
Cannery Row, Steinbeck, Ricketts, and Western Flyer Fans:
Take a look at the website for the restoration of the Western Flyer:
www.WesternFlyer.org
* * *
Thanks to all you
"Ed Heads"
that made the last Cannery Row Foundation Lab Tours of 2015
another great success. Next scheduled tour will be for
the Cannery Row Foundation's annual John Steinbeck's Birthday
scheduled for Saturday, February 27, 2016.
Make your reservations at: tours@canneryrow.org.
* * *
Stand By for News and Photos of the Western Flyer at the Wooden Boat Festival at Port Townsend, Washington September 11-13, 2015.
"The World's Largest Wooden Boat Festival"
* * *
A Look at The CANNERY ROW SYMPOSIUM 2015's Program
(which introduced the Western Flyer story to the public)
A production for the Cannery Row Foundation by The History Company
Betty Astro and Michael Hemp with rockstar Steinbeck & Ricketts scholar, Richard Astro
Prof. Astro was also Keynote Speaker at the formation event of the Cannery Row Foundation,
The GREAT CANNERY ROW REUNION, May 13-15 1983!
Pat Hathaway photo
CANNERY ROW SYMPOSIUM Presenter, Historian & CRF Board Member, Bob Enea
introducing John Gregg (Left) owner of the Western Flyer, and (right) his brother & Project Director, Andy Gregg.
MK Hemp photo
Video segments of the historic CANNERY ROW SYMPOSIUM's exceptional presentations will be
produced and shared as sponsorships for the event's video segment production costs for are obtained.
For information or to make a segment production donation, contact Michael Hemp at mkhemp@canneryrow.org
* * *
June 2015
The Western Flyer is now indoors at the
Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-op
Port Townsend, Washington
Photos courtesy Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-op
The Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-op will be home for the Western Flyer during restoration for the next 18 months or so.
Works of Fiction and Historical Fiction
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"CANNERY ROW, The History of John Steinbeck's Old Ocean View Avenue"
P.O. Box 31 Gig Harbor (Wauna) WA 98395 (831) 236-2990
The History Company announces
Major New Pacific Northwest Connections
presented by historian Michael Kenneth Hemp
coming to venues near you.
"CONJUNCTION"
Drawing together Cannery Row, Monterey, Puget Sound, the Pacific Northwest expeditions of Ed Ricketts,
John Steinbeck through his charter of the Tacoma-built Western Flyer to the Sea of Cortez
with Ed Ricketts in 1940, the saga of the rescue of the Western Flyer, her restoration
by Washington's Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-op, and her ultimate mission as
a voyaging classroom for inspiring youth into the marine sciences.
And: cultural travel and tourism between John Steinbeck's California
(and the rest of the world) to the Pacific Northwest to take it all in.
Open to the Public free with paid Museum admission.
Become a Member now: Foss Waterway Seaport will be the major
base of operations for this history-making project. Be part of it.
Foss Waterway Seaport Maritime Museum:
membership@fosswaterwayseaport.org
* * *
A message from Michael Hemp
I regret to inform you of the passing of two important friends with roots in Cannery Row.
IN MEMORIAM
It is with great regret we inform you that Ed Ricketts, Jr. son of Edward F. Ricketts passed away
on December 2nd, 2017. His contributions to the historical, scientific and personal legacy of his father
have been essential to world-wide Ricketts and Steinbeck fans. More details and photos come soon
in a continuing Memorial to Ed Ricketts Jr. posted here and on www.canneryrow.org.
MK Hemp
 Andy Case photo |
 MK Hemp photo |
| Michael Hemp with Ed Ricketts
Jr. at Ed's home on January 10, 2016. A contingent of colleagues (Hemp, Andy Case, and Don Kohrs) drove up from Monterey to see Ed Jr. and brought lunch from his favorite local Indian restaurant. And a bigger surprise: 2 old card-files. |
Don Kohrs, Hopkins Marine
Station librarian, inspects index card files of
Ed Ricketts' world-wide contacts missing since the 1936 fire that destroyed Ricketts' lab on Cannery Rowobtained through the Cannery Row Foundation by historian Michael Hemp. Who knew exactly were to have them evaluated. |
* * *
IN MEMORIAM
Friend and Cannery Row colleague, Andy Case, passed away on October 22nd, 2017. This kind and gentle
man who loved Cannery Row and became a close friend and confidant of both Ed Ricketts Jr. and Nancy Ricketts
of Sitka, Alaska, will be deeply missed. He stepped onto Cannery Row to work at the Monterey Bay Aquarium as
an aquarium technician, fell in love with old Cannery Row, and became part of keeping the Ed Ricketts legacy
alive and growing. Andy was preparing to relocate to Japan to join his wife and son when he passed away.
Insiders will know how very much he will be missed.
MK Hemp
 MK Hemp photo |
 |
| Andy Case, driving the
Cannery Row contingent to Mill Valley, north of San Francisco, to present Ed Jr. with his father's lost Pacific Biological Laboratories business contact cards with addresses from literally All Over The World, missing since the Lab's 1936 fire. |
Andy was a regular visitor to Japan
as part of the aquaria business he built after his years at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. When Andy married his lovely Japanese wife, Mikuyo, he promised he would move to Japan in 15 years. Andy, Mikuyo, and son Taiki lived in Carmel Valley, where Mikuyo worked in the wine business. Andy was preparing to make the personal and professional move when he became ill and passed away. |
* * *
The History Company previewed its new "CONJUNCTION" message on a speaking tour October 15th
to 27th, 2017 to the historic Monterey Peninsula, California: Moss Landing, Monterey, Cannery Row,
Carmel, and Pebble Beach. The trip included presentations at the Cannery Row Foundation's
exclusive tours of Pacific Biological Laboratories (the Doc's lab of John Steinbeck's
world-famous 1945 "Cannery Row") on Saturday, October 18th, 2017.
The CONJUNCTION is getting started. Keep an eye on where it goes from here.
Look for The History Company's Michael Kenneth Hemp in the coming months at the
Foss Seaport Waterway Maritime Museum the pride of Tacoma's historic waterfront.
The History Company is now relocated in
Gig Harbor, Washington...
...to research, record, and establish
"CONJUNCTION:
the historic
Pacific Northwest,
John
Steinbeck & Ed Ricketts,
the Sea of
Cortez,
and the Saga of the Western Flyer"
the Pacific Northwest and Monterey's Cannery Row:
the last frontier of research of a shared but little known
historic, maritime, literary and ecological legacy.
Since 1983, The History Company has been a major source
of historical research on author John Steinbeck's world-famous
"Cannery Row" literature and the ecological fame of
America's pioneering marine biologist, Ed Ricketts.
Historian Michael Kenneth Hemp now turns his focus to
Pacific Northwest historical research, exploration,
and celebration of the emerging discoveries that
connect us in many unexpected and meaningful ways.
The History Company is eager to share this new era
of West Coast history, literature, ecology, and travel
in Speaking Engagements and at Special Events
from the Pacific Northwest to the Sea of Cortez.
Click here for a printable pdf.
For presentation information and available speaking engagement dates,
please contact The History Company at:
mkhemp@thehistorycompany.com
or call: (831) 236-2990
* * *
Construction is underway on the relocation
of The History Company to the Pacific Northwest.
Thank you for your patience.
October 2016
Benefit for Monterey Public Library
See you there!
* * *
More
From the Archives
The "La Esperanza Packing Company"
Today known as Pacific Biological Laboratories!
A crucial historical research project
by
Robin Rodriguez Aeschliman (2015)
Click Here
* * *
From the Archives
Pacific Biological Laboratories "Doc's Lab"tour video
by Wayne Marien (Victory Video victoryvid@yahoo.com) January 31, 2012 celebrating
Kalisa Moore, "Queen of Cannery Row"
for the Cannery Row Foundation featuring
Cannery Row Historian Michael Hemp and
friend of Ed Ricketts and Lab owner Frank Wright on
YouTube
* * *
Be sure to check out the individual video segments of the
CANNERY ROW SYMPOSIUM 2016
being uploaded continuously as edited by Wave Street Studios on You Tube
on themes and topics on the cutting edge of Cannery Row historical research:
Dennis Fry, skipper of the (Western Flyer) re-named Gemini in the late 1970s, Homer Alaska
John Greg, marine geologist who rescued and is restoring the Western Flyer as a sea-going classroom for kids
Don Kohrs, Librarian, Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station Miller Library
("The hottest Ed Ricketts researcher on the planet!" quote: M.K. Hemp)
(7 more segments to come)
* * *
Thanks to all who made the Ed Ricketts Early Birthday LAB TOURS
May 7th, another magical day in Pacific Biological Laboratories!
* * *
From the Archives:
Raw edit video of the Cannery Row Foundation's "Great Cannery Row Reunion
(all that has survived) from May 13-15 1983:
Opening Ceremonies at the Monterey Conference Center with
Michael Hemp, founding Executive Director of the Cannery Row Foundation
Max Tadlock (CRF President & President of Monterey Peninsula College)
Congressman Leon Panetta Professor Richard Astro (Keynote Speaker)
With scenes from the Opening Ceremonies, Reunion Dinner Dance at the
Outrigger Restaurant on Cannery Row, and the Great Cannery Row Fire Muster
Click Here
* * *
Cannery Row, Steinbeck, Ricketts, and Western Flyer Fans:
Take a look at the website for the restoration of the Western Flyer:
www.WesternFlyer.org
* * *
Thanks to all you
"Ed Heads"
that made the last Cannery Row Foundation Lab Tours of 2015
another great success. Next scheduled tour will be for
the Cannery Row Foundation's annual John Steinbeck's Birthday
scheduled for Saturday, February 27, 2016.
Make your reservations at: tours@canneryrow.org.
* * *
Stand By for News and Photos of the Western Flyer at the Wooden Boat Festival at Port Townsend, Washington September 11-13, 2015.
"The World's Largest Wooden Boat Festival"
* * *
A Look at The CANNERY ROW SYMPOSIUM 2015's Program
(which introduced the Western Flyer story to the public)
A production for the Cannery Row Foundation by The History Company
 |
 |
 |
Betty Astro and Michael Hemp with rockstar Steinbeck & Ricketts scholar, Richard Astro
Prof. Astro was also Keynote Speaker at the formation event of the Cannery Row Foundation,
The GREAT CANNERY ROW REUNION, May 13-15 1983!
Pat Hathaway photo
CANNERY ROW SYMPOSIUM Presenter, Historian & CRF Board Member, Bob Enea
introducing John Gregg (Left) owner of the Western Flyer, and (right) his brother & Project Director, Andy Gregg.
MK Hemp photo
Video segments of the historic CANNERY ROW SYMPOSIUM's exceptional presentations will be
produced and shared as sponsorships for the event's video segment production costs for are obtained.
For information or to make a segment production donation, contact Michael Hemp at mkhemp@canneryrow.org
* * *
June 2015
The Western Flyer is now indoors at the
Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-op
Port Townsend, Washington
Photos courtesy Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-op
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-op will be home for the Western Flyer during restoration for the next 18 months or so.