In late 1975, while at UC Berkeley, I was guided into the path of a prophet, Paul Schuster Taylor. Retired Professor of Economics at UC, widower of the renown documentary photographer Dorothea Lange, longstanding critic of California’s large-scale agricultural structure and its historic political power over the state’s water resources and farm labor conditions – Paul was a force even at 80, when hindered by Parkinson’s and glaucoma. I was […]
San Joaquin Valley irrigation
Negative News? Try Modesto's Deep Denial Default
In fall, 2010, the Columbia Journalism Review’s report about the dearth of news in Modesto was met with ignorance and denial. Most Valley citizens never heard of the report; of those who did, denial has long been their default reaction to negative news about their beloved home. Sometime during the mid- to late-nineties, when Modesto began ranking last or next to last in various quality of life categories, regional leaders […]