"California's Arab Americans" provides sketches of a cross-section of Arab American families in California — both early and later arrivals. The first five chapters summarize geographical, sociological, and historical facts about the Arab world—providing an understanding about why and when immigration occurred. The remaining ten chapters containing the family histories correspond to the typical regional divisions of California, starting on the north coast and concluding in San Diego County. Over 50 family photographs enhance the stories. Sidebars placed throughout the book provide more detailed information about topics such as Arabic writing and names; clarification about who the Syrians, Palestinians, and Arab Afghans are; the basic tenets of Islam and Islamic fundamentalism; Arab American organizations; well-known Arab Americans; and the characteristics of Arab cuisine, dress, and family structure. One sidebar discusses the early and current involvement of Arab Americans in the film industry, especially in the ownership of theater chains.
I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area (Walnut Creek) and have lived in Sacramento since 1973, with a short hiatus in Yreka'20 miles south of the California/Oregon border'to try small town living with my husband and two young children. My parents grew up in Eugene, Oregon, and I spent many summers visiting my grandmother in Eugene.
I graduated from the University of California, Davis, in international relations and earned a master's degree in public policy and administration at California State University,
Sacramento. Before retiring early to pursue my interest in regional history and writing, I worked for a state senator from San Francisco and as a legislative analyst for the State of California.
My first book, 'California 1850: A Snapshot in Time', commemorated California's sesquicentennial in 2000. My second book, 'California's Arab Americans', documented the contributions of California's early pioneers from the Arab world. Since my first book has continued to be popular over its eight-year life, I decided Oregon deserved to have a similar one to commemorate its sesquicentennial in 2009'especially since my late parents were native Oregonians. On my 2008 book tour, I hope to stir up enthusiasm about Oregon's upcoming historic year (see http://www.oregon150.org/ and I plan to return to Oregon in 2009 to join in on the festivities'if travel costs are not too prohibitive. My schedule appears on my author page of my publisher's website: http://www.timberpress.com.
If you attend any of my events, please introduce yourself. I always love meeting new people and I am especially interested in chatting with people who are descendants of Oregon pioneers or California transplants. By the way, I will have some copies of my two earlier books with me, so if you're interested in one of them, please let me know and I'll sign them for you.
Many of you know that I published my first two books myself and served as president of my local publisher's association'always trying to help other authors learn how to best market their books through the programs our association offered. With 'Oregon 1859' I had an entirely new learning experience of having it published by Timber Press in Portland, Oregon. All of the staff have been wonderful to work with and I am extremely proud of the final product.
