CA Update - Kim Edwards

Kimberly A. Edwards, California Writers Club past president, holds credits in magazines, newsletter publishing, column writing, and memoir. She authored Sacramento Motorcycling. Recently she was recognized for “Exceptional Storytelling” by Northern California Writers and Publishers.

Sapphires in the Mail

These days, the highlight of my afternoon is the arrival of the mail truck. I’m watching for padded envelopes, bundled paperbacks and the occasional cardboard box.

What began as a curiosity has become a daily pursuit: tracking down books, poems and articles written by early members of the California Writers Club, Sacramento Branch, as the club prepares to celebrate its 100th anniversary this fall. Many of those writers are long gone, but their work endures — often buried, overlooked or forgotten.

Each day, I comb through club records for references to published work, then scour the internet, chasing down whatever copies still exist. Books are relatively easy to locate, though shifting cover designs make first editions tricky to identify. Magazines are another matter. Club records often list only the publication name, not the date, turning each search into a guessing game.

One recent evening, I spent an hour hunting for a short story titled The Torso on the Rocks, published in Trapped Detective Story Magazine. No luck.

The rewards, however, make the chase worthwhile. As packages arrive, I rediscover forgotten gems from a club founded in 1925, whose members were publishing nationally as early as 1914. One surprise was an early Sacramento publisher, Jo Anderson, whose His Print Shop once operated at 416 J St. Illustrations credited to a "Sacramento Boy" later appeared in internationally known publications.

Enthusiasm occasionally gets the better of me. I’ve ordered duplicate copies of the same title — different editions, different covers — four times. I ordered The Golfer’s Bible twice; one turned out to be an actual Bible. My credit card was recently frozen after a string of purchases flagged as suspicious.

On another night, flashlight in hand, I climbed onto a stool to retrieve an accidentally discarded photograph from my trash bin: nationally syndicated columnist Helen Bottel, known as “Helen Help Us.”

I am not a professional book dealer. I’m simply gathering what I can, convinced that these works — once read nationwide — belong in Sacramento’s collective memory.

As someone who studied multicultural children’s books in the 1970s, I’m struck by how many early works show genuine effort to portray diverse lives with respect. Others require careful context. Two early titles I encountered included language that made me pause. One was dedicated to students at Sacramento’s Bret Harte Elementary School. Rather than turning away, I learned the author’s intent was to help children understand the pain of bullying. I bought both books, believing that owning our past — and examining it honestly — matters.

Many early club members achieved remarkable success. Some books became films, including one that inspired the television series Grizzly Adams. Edna Chandler and Lee Roddy each published more than 50 books. Duane Newcomb sold 2,000 articles; Leo Rosenhouse sold dozens monthly. Psychiatrist Walter Bromberg wrote Crime of the Mind and served as an expert on major criminal cases. Edna Mae Burnam Nauman authored the widely used piano instruction series Dozen a Day.

Attorney Ken Donelson and his wife, Irene, wrote Married Today, Single Tomorrow. Diane Davidson penned Feversham, based on a real Tudor-era murder. Walter T. Boyd wrote on cryogenics after working in secret military operations. Amparo Campeón wrote for El Hispano. Bud Gardner became one of the nation’s most influential writing teachers. Eva Rutland authored When We Were Colored.

So what happens next? The collection will be displayed at 100 Years of Writing Excellence in Sacramento, noon to 3 p.m. Oct. 18 at North Ridge Country Club. Speakers include Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Jack Ohman, Rich Ehisen, poet Carol Lynn Stevenson Grellas, literary agent Sandra Proudman and CBS affiliate journalist Alison Linton. Tickets and information are available at sacramentowriters.org.

The 102-year-old Kiyo Sato International Award winner will attend. Guests will learn about early publishing trends and magazines. Partners include the Crocker Art Museum, California State Library, Sacramento Public Library and the Center for Sacramento History.

What happens after the event — and whether my credit card survives this obsession — remains to be seen. But these works, like sapphires, endure. Long after my condo — and I — are gone, they will still shine.

~ Kimberly A. Edwards,