California Author Gives Lecture

Media Credit: Vanessa Medina

James D. Houston reads a passage from Farewell to Manzanar.

Award-winning author James D. Houston delivered a lecture Tuesday, Oct. 7, to a packed Cypress College theater.

Houston discussed his novels Snow Mountain Passage and Farewell to Manzanar; his lecture was a rundown of the history behind each novel as well as Houston's personal writing process for both novels.

Snow Mountain Passage takes place in 1846, three years prior to The Gold Rush, when California was still a part of Mexico, said Houston. The novel is the story of the Donner Party and the struggle between the United States and Mexico for control over California without much emphasis on the cannibalism aspect. Houston's reasoning: "a little bit of cannibalism goes along way."

Houston's Victorian home in Santa Cruz was once the residence of the late Patty Reid, the youngest Donner Party survivor. Houston said he began writing Snow Mountain Passage after discovering his house's history. "If someone dies in your bedroom you feel close to that person right?" said Houston.

Houston's novel Farewell to Manzanar is both "historical and deeply personal" said Houston. It is his wife's autobiography as well as the collected reality for some 120,000 Japanese-Americans that were placed into internment camps after the outbreak of World War II.

Farewell to Manzanar is the "most widely read book about the internment" said Houston and it brought the U.S. to apologize for its mistake. Ultimately, Houston said he wanted to "tell one human story that might illuminate this event in a fresh way" allowing the story to speak for those who have remained silent. What happened in the U.S. in 1942 is a "cautionary warning about overreacting."

Houston said Snow Mountain Passage and Farewell to Manzanar are two books about coming to California from two different directions. One moves east to west while the other comes over across the Pacific.

For more on Houston, visit his official website at www.jamesdhouston.com

Media Credit: Vanessa Medina

The audience listens as Houston lectures.

Media Credit: Vanessa Medina

Lecture attendees wait for author autographs.

Media Credit: Vanessa Medina

Houston signs books.

Media Credit: Vanessa Medina