Nature | Mill Valley Public Library

Elizabeth Terwilliger, circa 1969 - Print, Photographic

MVU2374

Record Type: Photo

Matthew Davis, 2015 - Image, Digital

2015.045.002

Record Type: Photo

Matthew (Matt) Davis, 1992 - Print, Photographic

2019.001.203

Record Type: Photo

Oral History of Barry Spitz - Oral History

In this oral history, author, outdoorsman, and running enthusiast Barry Spitz recounts his adventures, encounters, and investigations over the course of more than 40 years of living in Marin County. Born in Brooklyn in 1948, Barry moved to California at the age of 22 after completing an MBA at Columbia University. He settled initially in San Francisco where he worked in the banking industry for a few years before buying a house in San Anselmo and...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of Elizabeth Cooper Terwilliger - Oral History

The legendary "Mrs. Terwilliger", who taught generations of Mill Valley kids about local ecology and inspired the appreciation and protection of nature, was born Sept. 13, 1909 in Honolulu. She went to the prestigious Punahou School and earned her B.S. at the University of Hawaii. She received an M.A. from Columbia and an R.N. from Stanford University. She married Calvin Terwilliger, M.D. and they had two children, Lynn Ellen (1947) and John (194...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of Fabrice Florin - Druid Heights Oral History

In this oral history, multimedia innovator and social entrepreneur Fabrice Florin discusses Druid Heights where he lived for two years in the late 1970s. Fabrice recounts how he moved to California from Switzerland in 1975, drawn by the hippie counterculture, but found that he had come too late. Working as a radio producer, Fabrice first visited the bohemian community on Mt. Tam at the suggestion of a friend and soon after moved into a small hous...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of John R. Boettiger - Oral History

In this oral history, retired academic, writer, Redwoods resident, and member of the Roosevelt family John Boettiger discusses his life, lineage, and love of community. Born in 1939, John lived in the White House of his grandparents Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt from the age of three to six. John subsequently grew up on Mercer Island, outside of Seattle. He attended both Amherst and Columbia University, and went on to become a professor of psych...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of Ken Bovero - Oral History

In this oral history, arborist and entrepreneur Ken Bovero recounts his life, work, and love of trees. Born in San Francisco in 1961, Ken moved to Mill Valley with his family when he was three years old. Ken recollects his wild teenage years and then describes the about-face he made at the age of 17, when he started his tree business. Ken shares his first encounter with Sudden Oak Death, a tree illness that he was the first to identify, and discu...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of Margaret Dowd - Oral History

Margaret Dowd was born Margaret Lee Wosser on January 10, 1906 at Duncan's Mills in Sonoma County, California. A third-generation Californian, Margaret came to Mill Valley at the age of three, when her mother purchased a home in Blithedale Canyon. Margaret married Jack McGinnis, with whom she had two daughters. Margaret and Jack divorced after six years, and Margaret married Charles Irvine "Irv" Dowd in 1948. Margaret eventually moved to the Redw...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of Patrick Williams - Oral History

In this oral history, innkeeper, retired fireman, and prolific storyteller Pat Williams recounts his life and expresses his deep connection to Mt. Tam. Born in San Francisco in 1948, Pat grew up in a military family that moved repeatedly during his childhood and adolescence. Pat describes how after high school he joined the Navy which brought him back to the Bay Area, where he discovered his vocation for firefighting, but was then deployed to Vie...

Record Type: Archive

Oral History of Ray Strong, 2006 - Oral History

California artist Ray Strong was born January 3, 1905 in Corvallis, Oregon, and was a resident of Mill Valley from 1948 to 1965. He married Elizabeth Rumsey Brown and they had two children, Timothy and Barbara. This 2006 oral history interview follows an earlier 1978 interview conducted by Donald Oman. Both interviews touch on Ray’s experiences in and around various art colonies, as well as his his meetings with luminaries like Frank Lloyd Wright...

Record Type: Archive