Musings: Jack London State Park’s Transcendent survival

While Dottie and I sat under the stars at Jack London State Park recently, enjoying the incredibly talented and effervescent cast of the Transcendence Theater Company perform song and dance numbers from our favorite (and in some cases, our parents’ favorite) Broadway musicals, I recalled my first ever visit to what was then Jack London’s Beauty Ranch, years before it became a state park.

The ranch was owned and cared for by Irving Shepard, son of Eliza London Shepard, Jack London’s stepsister. I was just as fishing-crazed then as I am now, perhaps more so.  So obviously, my first visit to the London ranch involved fishing.

My mom and dad, and their friends Rich and Gloria Peterson, also of Sonoma, were good friends with Irving Shepard, and he invited us to use the small lake that London built for picnics and fishing, which we did several times over a period of years.

For me, that lovely little pond nestled behind a hand-built stone dam, filled with largemouth bass, surrounded on all sides by native trees, including redwoods, and an old redwood cabin and picnic area, was love at first sight.

It was a beautiful, mystical and magical spot, and the fishing was good. You could almost feel the presence of the famous author on horseback watching us from up the hill.

At that time, I had only read “Call of the Wild,” and “A Raid on the Oyster Pirates,” and I was captivated by London’s zest for life and love of adventure. It was wonderful that Irving’s son, Milo, chose to preserve it and make it part of a public legacy. Sadly, the state’s performance as the park’s caretaker was hampered by budget constraints.

Then it got worse, when the California budget went south a few years ago. Jack London Park was going to be closed due to lack of funds – that is until Jack London Park Partners (Valley of the Moon Natural History Association), an all-volunteer group of Sonoma Valley residents, longtime supporters of the park, and led by Chuck Levine, took it upon themselves to find a way to keep it open.

They dreamed of a better park, one to be used and enjoyed by Sonomans, as well as by visitors from all over the country and the world. They toiled on in spite of the odds, winning converts and donors. With lots of hard work, and facilitated by some special legislation to allow the local nonprofit group to take responsibility for running the park, Jack London State Park was kept open.  This was the first public/private nonprofit partnership to manage a state park in all of California.

Then along came six courageous young performing artists ­– Amy Miller, Brad Surosky, Stephan Stubbins, Robert Petrarca, Leah Sprecher and Randi Kaye – the founders of Transcendence Theatre Company, who in a just three years have created not only a wonderful offering of musical performances at the park, but also increased park attendance and improved the financial condition of the park beyond what almost anyone could imagine.

Along the way, they earned such honors as “Theater of the Year,” by Broadway World San Francisco, and national recognition from USA Today for Jack London Park as one of the top 10 outdoor entertainment venues in the United States.

They have given Sonoma Valley a wonderful gift of quality musical entertainment, and earned the support of thousands of fans, dozens of volunteers and host families for the guest entertainers (including Dottie and me) and, most importantly, supporting sponsors, including Nelson Staffing and Benziger Family Winery.

The Park is evolving into what it should be, a vibrant, living legacy of what was truly important about Jack London. What was truly important is not the ruins of his buildings, although they should be preserved and protected and the natural beauty of the ranch allowed to flourish.

What is truly important is the spirit of Jack London, the writer, the dreamer, and the bold adventurer, choosing to live his life to the fullest, and reflected in this new public/private/Transcendence partnership.  It is a dream made real and a resounding success by any measure.

Of this I have no doubt – Jack London would approve of this brilliant, courageous and energetic effort to make his Beauty Ranch a living legacy, true to the ethos by which he chose to live.

Sonomans and our elected leaders, locally and in Sacramento, would do well to cherish, support and nurture what a dedicated few are creating for all to enjoy.

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