Desert Shadows by Bob Murphy
When I was at the Death Valley Visitor’s Center recently, I picked up a copy of Desert Shadows by Bob Murphy. This is a non-fiction account of the activities of the Manson family in Death Valley as told by one of the heroic park rangers who had a hand in apprehending them. From the hot springs in Saline Valley to the Devil’s Hole pupfish cave in Ash Meadows, this is guaranteed to be a wild ride! Let’s meet at Colin and Amy’s house at 7:00 pm, Monday, July 1st to talk about it. This book was published by our very own Sagebrush Press on Hwy. 62 in Yucca Valley. Stop by this excellent book store and pick up a copy if you are in town.
To get to Colin And Amy’s house from Yucca Valley, drive north on Old Woman Springs Rd. and turn right on Reche Rd. and look for the Book Club sign on your right at 56221. There will be plenty of parking on Arneal Rd. right next door. From JT, you might think about avoiding the Yucca traffic and go north on Sunburst from Hwy. 62, right on Golden, left on Border, and then left on Reche. 56221 is on your left, after you pass the elementary school. There will be plenty of parking on Arneal Rd.
We look forward to having Leslie Mariah Andrews visit us at the August meeting at Nancy’s cabin to answer questions about her desert murder mystery Love Cradle and also discuss her latest work.
—Kip
Every month from October 2014 until March 2020, Kip’s Desert Book Club gathered on the first Monday of the month at 7:00 pm in the home of a different resident of the Morongo Basin to discuss a book that in one way or another touches on the theme of “desert”.
Since the start of the pandemic, Kip has been hard at work making renovations to the kitchen and bathrooms at Copper Mountain Mesa Community Center, where he is the board President, and keeping their monthly USDA food drive alive. During this time, Kip’s Desert Book Club had largely been on pause, with the exception of a few virtual meetings. These virtual gatherings allowed us to welcome the participation of book club fans from beyond our local region.
Sixty-six books, more than seven years, and one pandemic later, Kip has decided to step back from being the primary book club organizer and join the rest of us as readers. Kip, we thank you for all the wonderful and eclectic desert books you’ve chosen over the years, as well as the unforgettable stories and knowledge you continue to share (if you know, you know!)
So, we are excited to announce that beginning in January 2022, our in-person book club will resume as the Desert Research Library Book Club (or DRL Book Club, for short). Each month, a member of the current Desert Research Library Artist Cohort will select a book from the library as that month’s book club selection.
