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WORK TITLE: Dancing with the Ice Lady
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S): Salter, Kenneth W.
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.salterken.com
CITY: El Cerrito
STATE: CA
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in Richmond, California; married to an artist/designer.
EDUCATION:University of California, Berkeley, B.A.; University of California, Berkeley’s law school, Boalt Hall, J.D.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. International law attorney and expert. Worked formerly as assistant professor in the rhetoric department at U.C., Berkeley, and as faculty in the communication studies department at San Jose State University, San Jose, CA.
AWARDS:Named “Outstanding Professor” for three years at San Jose State University.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Ken Salter is a writer, specialist in legal argumentation and trial strategy, and international law expert. Salter was born in Richmond, California. He attended college at the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied comparative literature, writing and languages. He returned to UC Berkeley to receive his J.D. from the university’s law school, Boalt Hall, where he concentrated on legal history and international law.
After graduating from law school, Salter was offered a position at UC Berkeley’s rhetoric department. While there he directed the department’s freshman writing program and developed a pre-legal studies program emphasizing persuasive writing, critical thinking, and forensic argumentation. After working at UC Berkeley, Salter taught in the communication studies department at San Jose State University. At SJ State University he taught writing, ethics, argumentation, and critical thinking courses.
Salter and his wife, a French artist and designer, split their time between France and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Gold Fever: San Francisco 1851 is the first of a three-part series. The book is published in both French and English. Salter, a fluent French-speaker, was inspired to write the book after a discovery he made while bottle digging in an 1850’s trash dump in the Bay Area. He found a small pharmacy bottle with a French inscription on it. Realizing he had found a piece of Gold Rush history, he and his wife were inspired to research the history of French immigrants that moved to California to seek gold.
Gold Fever tells the story of two French immigrants, Pierre Dubois and Manon. The couple is sailing to San Francisco on American Clipper, Flying Cloud, with the hopes of starting a new life in the Golden State. It is the peak of the gold rush, and Pierre has been invited to the city to investigate gold mining fraud committed against French miners. Manon, his beautiful and charming girlfriend, joins him with the plan of opening a French restaurant. In France, women are forbade from opening restaurants, so Manon sees the chance to follow her dreams by following Pierre to a foreign land.
The 1851 San Francisco described in the book is a lawless, crowded city. Most of the gold has already been mined, but this has not deterred the crowds of eager men traveling West with high hopes. Loads of new miners arrive daily, with men outnumbering women one hundred to one. Crooks and criminals run the streets, bordellos, and gambling houses, and there is no real rule of law to prevent one man from shooting another to settle an argument.
Through Dubois’ and Manon’s eyes, the reader is exposed to the various regions of San Francisco. In Little China, they see opium dens, brothels, and gambling lairs. They get a taste of Italian-style food in the small restaurants in Little Italy. Finally, they experience the harsh conditions of the gold fields of the Yuba River. There they witness the difficult conditions and cutthroat competition that exists among American and foreign miners alike.
The story takes a turn when the city is set afire by the Sydney Ducks gang. A Committee of Vigilance forms and sets out to hang the arsons. While the city is in shambles, Pierre and Manon must keep their heads high and persevere if they want to succeed in this foreign land.
A contributor to MBR Bookwatch described the book as “a deftly written historical novel and one in which the author, Ken Salter, pays close attention to getting the background details right.” Jeff Westerhoff in Historical Novel Society website wrote, “this is a well-researched novel about the California Gold Rush,” adding, “the author blends into his narrative the gold mining challenges faced by the men who searched for the precious mineral.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2017, review of Dancing with the Ice Lady.
MBR Bookwatch, October, 2013, review of Gold Fever: San Francisco 1851.
Reviewer’s Bookwatch, February, 2015, Jack Mason, Jack, review of Gold Fever: Part Two: San Francisco, 1851-1852.
ONLINE
Historical Novel Society, https://historicalnovelsociety.org/ (August 1, 2014), Jeff Westerhoff, review of Gold Fever: San Francisco 1851.
London Independent, https://www.independent.co.uk/ (April 16, 2015), James Attlee, review of Gold Fever: San Francisco 1851.
SALTER: 'I will instil accountability and credibility'
by Ken Salter
10th Aug 2017 8:21 AM
About me
I was born at the Brisbane General Hospital on January 29, 1954.
I was brought up in the Bayside suburb of Wynnum and did most of my schooling there, at Wynnum Central and Wynnum West State schools.
At other times I was educated at Clermont State School in Central Queensland, Virginia State School in North Brisbane and Humpy Bong State School in Redcliffe.
I left school at junior level and became an apprentice painter. Since then, I have been in various occupations, but my mainstay has been as a painting contractor.
I have a daughter, two granddaughters and have a third granddaughter on the way. I have lived in Ipswich for 35 years.
What type of mayor does Ipswich need?
If I were in the chair, I would be fair to all residents of Ipswich. I would seek to instil accountability and credibility to the Ipswich City Council and have that maintained for the betterment of the people of Ipswich.
As I would seek government funding for the various projects that I have mentioned, I will need the confidence and respect of the Ipswich people. Full transparency is paramount to gather funding with the consent of my constituents. These projects are essential for the development of the city.
The main issues facing Ipswich
House Insurance: As my residence, 28A Johnstone Street, Bellbird Park, I am in the 4300 postcode.
Because of this, I am forced to pay a flood cover for my residence which I do not need. This has caused an 80% increase in the insurance premiums. Also, I cannot obtain reactive soil cover which is relevant to my property.
Infrastructure: The growing Ipswich community is behind in infrastructure to support such growth.
Government Funding has to be sought to facilitate such work.
Accountability in Council: For Government Funding to be sought for the growing Ipswich Community, a transparent and an accountable council is paramount to obtaining this.
List your main policies
I will seek to have transparency of Council to enable all Residents to have faith in the governing of the City of Ipswich. Only when this is established can we move forward and plan for the City in the future.
I will seek from the Insurance Council, fairer dealings with Insurance Companies to the wants and needs of the residents.
My priorities for infrastructure will be the next stage of the rail to be extended to Redbank Plains.
A second town bridge is also a priority as it has been for 30 years.
We should not wait another 30 years for this to eventuate.
List one thing you've done outside politics to benefit Ipswich
I was the founder of the Redbank Plains Rugby League Club after responding an expression of interest from the Moreton Shire Council in 1984.
I campaigned successfully for the Link Road to Riverview in the 2000 Campaign. I also identified to council, land on Kruger Parade which is now home to a Sporting Complex for the Samoan Community.
Kenneth Salter was born in Richmond, California. He studied comparative literature, writing and languages as an undergraduate at the University of California, Berkeley: He graduated from U.C., Berkeley's law school, Boalt Hall, where he concentrated on legal history and international law. Upon graduation from law school, he was appointed assistant professor in the Rhetoric Department at U.C., Berkeley, where he directed the department's freshman writing program and established a pre-legal studies program emphasizing persuasive writing, critical thinking, and forensic argumentation.
Later, he joined the faculty in the Communication Studies Dept. at San Jose State University where he taught writing, ethics, argumentation, and critical thinking courses to upper division and graduate students. He was elected Outstanding Professor by the graduating class 3 of the last 5 years he taught at SJSU which were the first 5 years professors were so elected and gave the department's commencement speech. He earned two sabbatical leaves: the first to write the case study of the trial of Dan White and the second to do a comparative law study of how the French jury trial at the French Court of Assizes differs from the American jury trial in criminal cases.
He is a specialist in legal argumentation and trial strategy and has authored case books on famous American trials. His published books include the trial for the theft of the top secret Pentagon Papers Study by Daniel Ellsberg, the rape/retaliation shooting and trial of Inez Garcia, and the trial of Supervisor Dan White, who shot and killed San Francisco, Mayor George Moscone and gay Supervisor, Harvey Milk. These casebooks on these famous American trials can still be ordered from the author. See the book ordering section.
Mr. Salter is currently writing historical novels featuring French and Italian immigrants in the California Gold Rush from 1851-1856. The first two novels in the trilogy are in print in English by Regent Press as well as the first in French. See the book ordering section of this web site.
Mr. Salter has practiced international law as specialist in real estate and mining ventures for over 35 years. He is married to a French artist/designer and they live in the San Francisco Bay Area and in France.
Q: Why did you choose to tell the history of the California Gold Rush through the experiences of French immigrants instead of Americans?
A: There were many factors and considerations. French women were among the earliest to arrive and compared to Chilean and Chinese women, French women were considered “chic” and more desirable even if they had been lowly “street walkers” in Paris. Paris was the capital of world fashion and dictated what women must wear to be fashionable. Owners of the major gambling palaces were quick to appreciate the attraction of French women — their seductive dress and charming accents. By employing them as baristas, musicians, and hostesses to attract lonely miners to the gambling tables, the gambling palaces were guaranteed a roaring business. Also, French food, wine and liqueurs, like French couture and fashion, were considered the best in the world in this epoch. And lastly, as the majority of French and other Latin language speakers didn't speak much English, they were considered “outsiders” by the English speaking miners. This led to inevitable clashes between these groups over rights to mine. By following the saga of French immigrants, one can explore and highlight the social and cultural differences between the various groups as well as their attitudes and biases.
Q: What prompted you to choose French protagonists rather than Italians, Spanish or South Americans or other European groups?
A: Well, I studied French and Spanish in high school and was awarded a scholarship as the top foreign language student on graduation. I continued to study French language and literature at U.C. Berkeley and never lost my fluency as I continued to read French literature even after graduation from law school at Berkeley and embarking on a dual career as college professor and international lawyer. It’s prophetic that my high school French teacher from Strasbourg predicted one day I would have a deep connection with the French and probably live and work in France; these were her final words to me just before she returned to France after retirement. Lo and behold, I met my talented French wife in France and we have always lived together in both California and France.
Q: What piqued your interest in the California Gold Rush?
A: A friend took me bottle digging in an 1850’s trash dump in the Bay Area and one of the first of many major finds was a small pharmacy bottle and rouge or unguent pot embossed with the name “Pharmacie Francaise/ B. Lefevre & Companie.” I realized as I examined the porcelain pot with the tantalizing black transfer label that I had found a real and exciting piece of California history. I was determined to learn more of the origins of the artifact collection I was assembling. Together with my wife, we researched the French presence and collected the maps, books, letters, bottles, artifacts and ephemera that documented their lives during the Gold Rush.
Q: Was there one special bottle or artifact that determined you to write your trilogy on the Gold Rush?
A: It was really cumulative. We amassed such a large collection over many years that we determined to donate it for posterity to a French museum dedicated to portraying the history of the French in the New World. We gave our collection to Le Musée du Nouveau Monde in La Rochelle, France as they had fabulous artifacts documenting French Canada, the spice islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique and the trappers and slave traders of the 18th C., but few items on the French in California. Our donation is on permanent display in the museum including the one bottle that did spike considerable interest and intrigue. Among the hundreds of champagne bottles I’ve dug over the years, there was only one with an applied seal. It came out of an 1852 dump of mostly French material near the shoreline. The seal applied to the bottle was an embossed royal coat of arms. After much research, I was able to determine the coat of arms was none other than that of King Louis Philippe of France who was deposed in the riots of 1848. I reasoned that the champagne bottle was probably from the stock in the French consulate in Monterey or San Francisco. Was it drunk to celebrate or mourn the overthrow of the King?
Q: Why write historical fiction instead of a history of the French in the California Gold Rush?
A: To be honest, I’ve read so many history books and narratives full of wonderful historical accounts, but most often written in dry, professorial prose that turns off all but the most ardent fans of the period. By telling the historical story through fictional characters using dialogue, I believe an author can bring the history to life in a more interesting way and appeal to and interest a much broader audience to this exciting period.
Q: That brings me to my final questions. How did you arrive at the characters of Pierre Dubois and Manon Rousseau? Were they based on actual persons during the Gold Rush?
A: No,they are really composites of various personalities I have observed.
Q: It seems that in Part II, Manon plays a more significant role than in Part I. Is that intentional?
A: Yes, and that is due in large part to reader interest and feedback. While male readers seemed fascinated with Manon’s sexy looks, spunkiness and cooking abilities, women readers responded more favorably to her, as well as Teri and Giselle’s, quest for independence and demand to be treated as equals with males in a male dominated environment. California’s novel legislation granting women property rights to tempt them to marry and settle in California offers a unique opportunity to tell an important but little known consequence of the California Gold Rush.
Q: Will you continue to develop this theme in Part III?
A: That will depend on the feedback to Part II. I can tell you, however, you’ll meet some of San Francisco’s most interesting and famous visitors and settlers who left their mark on the City and State. We’ll meet the notorious Lola Montez, who charmed princes, became the mistress of the King of Bavaria and wowed audiences with her famous “Spider Dance.” We'll also make the acquaintance of Mammy Pleasance — the famous African-American cook and abolitionist; M. Boudin, the French baker who invented San Francisco's famous sour dough French bread; M. Ghiardelli, the Italian chocolate maker; Levi Strauss, the Bavarian tailor who invented jeans, the staple of the miners’ costume which endures to this day, as well as a host of other memorable characters — some savory and some not.
Ken Salter and his Reflecting PoolBy Phantom Street Artist on January 3, 2018 in Art
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San Francisco, CA – On display at the Exploratorium is a mesmerizing perceptual exhibition and installation by Los Angeles artist and engineer Ken Salter. His exhibition, titled “Reflecting Pool,” recently premiered on December 7th at the Exploratorium’s annual Glow event. “Reflecting Pool” uses video feedback to generate sublime interactive fractal images. This exhibition opened in tandem with several other exhibitions.
Echoing the design aesthetic of the Light and Space movement from Southern California in the 1960’s, “Reflecting Pool” captivates the viewer with hypnotic ephemeral images that are unique and ever-changing.
Appropriately titled, “Reflecting Pool” is an interactive multi-media device which must be seen to be appreciated. Its technology consists of a camera, a monitor, a computer and a gesture sensor. Salter intelligently orients the camera to view the monitor which displays a mosaic of multiple identical camera images in different orientations. This establishes a feedback loop whereby the camera repeatedly takes pictures of its own pictures. The result is astounding; a spontaneous generation of patterns with infinite complexity and detail. The gesture sensor allows the participant to change the geometry of the mosaic much like rotating a kaleidoscope. The sounds are a blend of fundamental tones whose volumes depend on the colors in the image.
Salter intentionally references his Light and Space predecessors as a hybrid language which is accessible only through direct experience. The Light and Space movement referenced op art, minimalism and geometric abstraction. The 60’s movement was loosely affiliated yet characterized by a vigilant focus on perceptual phenomena, such as light, volume and scale. It employed a diverse use of materials such as glass, neon, fluorescent lights, resin and cast acrylic. Today the movement is faithfully updated by Salter who uses orthogonal planes of video monitors and mirrors to activate 3-dimensional space.
Salter asserts himself into the annals of history in becoming this generation’s Neo Light and Space artist who invites spectators to experience the post modernity of light and other sensory phenomena.
Neo Light and Space Art
Neo Light and Space Art
Salter was born in Los Angeles, on Jan 27, 1962, where he worked much of his life as an engineer at the frontier of entertainment technology and art for close to three decades. With engineering degrees from both UC Berkeley and UCLA, Ken worked for Walt Disney Imagineering developing new technologies and systems for its theme park rides. He has numerous patents on ride and entertainment technology. Salter also co-owns a company, which manufactures large sculptures using digital techniques, for some of the world’s most successful artists. Salter’s interest in fractals and emergence originated in 2000 after studying several books which addressed the science and mathematics of chaos and complexity theory. In 2008, Salter was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s disease at the age of 46. One of the unexpected benefits of this illness is that, for some patients, changes in brain chemistry enhance creativity and ultimately awaken dormant artistic abilities.
It was in 2013, five years after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, when Salter showed his first piece, titled “Chaotic Fractal Generator,” at San Francisco’s Exploratorium. Ken considers himself a skeptic who perceives reality from a systems perspective. The concept of emergence reinforces his worldview where intricate systems, which appear to be divinely created, are designed only by mathematics. He is a Humanist who is particularly interested in consciousness as an emergent phenomenon. More than an agnostic, he is a voice of diversity that shares his creative process by allowing viewers to interact and engage with Reflecting Pool as an instrument for their own magnificent creations.
Says Salter, “Emergence, the phenomenon where simple rules applied repeatedly lead to unexpectedly complex and coherent structures, is the design language of the natural world. From snowflakes to nebulae, the beauty we observe in nature can be ascribed to simple recursive algorithms. The emergence of Mind from Brain is, perhaps, the most remarkable example of emergence. ‘Reflecting Pool’ demonstrates this principle and allows the viewer to participate in its enchanting rhythm and flow.”
Salter, Ken: DANCING WITH THE ICE LADY
Kirkus Reviews. (Aug. 1, 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Salter, Ken DANCING WITH THE ICE LADY Regent (Adult Fiction) $14.95 9, 1 ISBN: 978-1-58790-386-1
Attorney/historian Salter (Gold Fever Part Three, 2016, etc.) launches a new series featuring a mixed-race skip tracer with an eye for the ladies and the main chance.Nate Green is the Berkeley lawyer you call when you think your husband is doing you one kind of wrong and about to do you another. So it's no surprise when Gloria Simmons seeks his services, since she suspects that Jimmy Simmons is carrying on an affair and planning to leave her holding the bag. The surprise is that Jimmy would ever abandon his sizzling wife for a lover. Looking to bust the prenuptial agreement that freezes her out with only a taste of Jimmy's earnings from his real estate and mortuary holdings, Gloria leans on Nate, who in turn leans on R.C. Bean, the investigator who does much more than go after missing persons. R.C., who's only called Reginald Charles when he's in trouble, identifies Jimmy's mistress as his new bookkeeper, Jennifer Wong, just in time for Jimmy to get shot to death outside his Oakland funeral home. (Jennifer will follow Jimmy soon enough in an even more gruesome fashion.) A trip to Las Vegas, where Jimmy's holding company runs another mortuary, will bring R.C. together with cocktail waitress Rita James, another fine female even if she's not in the same stratospheric league as Nate's client. Amid episodes and rumors of adultery, meth cooking, and dubious financial transactions, R.C. gradually fixates on a single puzzling question: why did Jimmy himself, shortly before his death, write a codicil to his will overriding the prenup that brought his wife to Nate Green in the first place? A loose-limbed romp reminiscent of Chester Himes in which everything, from the dazzling women to the high-stakes lawbreaking, manages to sound both once-in-a-lifetime and absolutely routine.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Salter, Ken: DANCING WITH THE ICE LADY." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Aug. 2017. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A499572843/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=4b50651b. Accessed 16 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A499572843
Gold Fever: San Francisco 1851
MBR Bookwatch. (Oct. 2013):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2013 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
Full Text:
Gold Fever: San Francisco 1851
Ken Salter
Regent Press
2747 Regent Street, Berkeley, CA 94705
www.regentpress.net
9781587902406, $18.95, 322pp., www.amazon.com
Synopsis: Pierre Dubois and his sexy girlfriend, Manon, sail on the American Clipper, Flying Cloud, for San Francisco at the height of the Gold Rush - Dubois tasked to prove mining society fraud and Manon to open a restaurant French law won't allow a woman to own. With most of the easy to mine gold gone and boatloads of new gold seekers arriving weekly, San Francisco is a lawless, raucous, dangerous place in 1851, where quarrels are settled by a gun, men outnumber women 100-1, and crooks rule the streets, bordellos, and gambling palaces. Dubois' and Manon's odyssey lead them through Little China's opium dens, brothels, and gambling lairs, Little Italy's charming trattorias, and on to the gold fields of the Yuba River where American and foreign miners compete in hostile conditions with each other for the rare chance to strike it rich. After the City is torched by the predatory Sydney Ducks gang and a Committee of Vigilance seeks to hang them, Pierre and Manon must make their way and earn their keep or return home defeated and impoverished like most who risked life, health and family debt for a dream of riches.
Critique: "Gold Fever: San Francisco 1851" is a deftly written historical novel and one in which the author, Ken Salter, pays close attention to getting the background details right. The result is a riveting, entertaining novel from first page to last. Very highly recommended reading and an enduringly popular addition to any community library collection, it should be noted that "Gold Fever: San Francisco 1851" is also available in a Kindle edition ($9.99).
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Gold Fever: San Francisco 1851." MBR Bookwatch, Oct. 2013. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A346627041/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=fd35c072. Accessed 16 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A346627041
Gold Fever: Part 2
Jack Mason
Reviewer's Bookwatch. (Feb. 2015):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2015 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
Full Text:
Gold Fever: Part 2
Ken Salter
Regent Press
2747 Regent Street, Berkeley, CA 94705
www.regentpress.net
9781587903007, $18.95, 346pp, www.amazon.com
Synopsis: San Francisco has been torched twice in the space of six weeks. Merchants and residents are angry and organized in a Committee of Vigilance to arrest, try and hang the arsonists and all the other cutthroats, villains and armed criminals that make the city a dangerous, lawless den of inequity in 1851 and 1852. The Governor, his cronies, and the corrupt city and county officials are determined to rein in the Committee of Vigilance even if it means civil war. Pierre and Manon Dubois must negotiate their way carefully through the minefield of warring factions, treacherous streets, and from competition of the boatloads of new immigrants, Jezebels and fortune hunters arriving weekly. The city is still a ruthless man's world where Yankee men control commerce, can bribe juries and customs officials, and deport foreign immigrants at will. Can Manon realize her dream to own and run a high-end French restaurant employing women chefs in competition with the established male-owned and staffed restaurants? Can Pierre establish a viable notary and private detective agency in this uncertain environment? Can Manon's women partners, associates and employees prevail in their careers in the still lawless town with over 2,000 saloons, innumerable gambling palaces and dens, fancy bordellos and sex-slave cribs?
Critique: "Gold Fever Part Two: San Francisco 1851-1852" continues the story of Pierre and Manon Dubois that began in Ken Salter's first novel, "Gold Fever: San Francisco 1851" (9781587902406, $18.95, 322pp.). Once again author Ken Salter demonstrates a complete mastery of his storytelling skills at writing an historical work of fiction that is solidly enhanced with meticulous attention to background details. The result is pure entertainment from first page to last. Very highly recommended reading.
Jack Mason
Reviewer
Mason, Jack
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Mason, Jack. "Gold Fever: Part 2." Reviewer's Bookwatch, Feb. 2015. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A403300852/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=063e9899. Accessed 16 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A403300852
Gold Fever
BY KEN SALTER
Find & buy on
Pierre Dubois and his girlfriend Manon arrive in San Francisco in 1851. Dubois is in California to investigate gold mining fraud committed against French miners during the height of the Gold Rush. Meanwhile, Manon is attempting to open a restaurant in San Francisco. They are faced with a lawless frontier town, growing leaps and bounds each month, where anything can be purchased with gold.
This is a well-researched novel about the California Gold Rush. The author blends into his narrative the gold mining challenges faced by the men who searched for the precious mineral. Unfortunately, I empathized very little with the characters, which made this a tedious read. One annoying aspect is the constant descriptions of each meal served and eaten by the main characters; I understand that the protagonist’s girlfriend is French, looking to open a French restaurant, but this information does not add anything to the plot.
If you are interested in understanding the history of the California Gold Rush and don’t require a lot of action in your reading, than you may enjoy this book. Apparently there are more books scheduled in this series, based upon the wording at the conclusion: “End of Part One.”
Details
PUBLISHER
Regent
PUBLISHED
2013
CENTURY
19th Century
PRICE
(US) $18.95
ISBN
(US) 9781587902406
FORMAT
Paperback
PAGES
320
Review
APPEARED IN
HNR Issue 69 (August 2014)
REVIEWED BY
Jeff Westerhoff
Gold Fever: One Man's Adventures on the Trail of the Gold Rush by Steve Boggan, book review
Boggan sets out on a modern-day hunt for gold and discovers its dark side
James Attlee Thursday 16 April 2015 13:00 BST0 comments
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Hitting pay dirt: Steve Boggan pans for gold in California
On Thursday 13 March 2008, the price of gold rose higher than $1,000 an ounce for the first time since the Egyptians started mining the precious metal some 6,000 years ago. Within three years it had almost doubled its value again.
California, home to the great gold rush of 1849, found itself once more subject to an inward migration of the determined, the deluded and the desperate, armed with maps, gold pans and blind optimism, all of them to a greater or lesser degree infected with a sickness known as gold fever.
Among their number this time around is a diffident Englishman named Steve Boggan. He has never panned for gold before and cheerfully admits he has slept under canvas only twice: once as a child in his parents' back garden and once at a music festival at which he managed to erect his tent inside out. Equipped from Walmart and with no clear idea what he is doing, he is initially nervous about admitting his inexperience.
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"People here (don't) suffer fools gladly and I was coming to the conclusion I was a fool," he tells us. "It would be only a matter of time before I was found out." In fact, of course, his bumbling Anglo-persona disarms all-comers and he finds himself welcomed by the disparate cast of characters he encounters: people like Duane, an army veteran who has lost most of his stomach and 12 foot of intestine to cancer. Unable to get benefits, Duane has taken to hunting for gold, an occupation through which he has literally rebuilt himself. "There wasn't an ounce of fat on Duane and the veins popped out of his skin, forced out by muscles vying for space in his hard, crowded body," Boggan notes somewhat enviously.
At first the author is protected from gold fever by his own ineptitude – his eyesight underwater is so poor he can't tell the difference "between a golden nugget and a chicken nugget" – but gradually he falls under the spell of the mysterious metal. "When you first see gold in a pan, your guts are rearranged and never right themselves," he observes. Dave Mack, a legendarily successful prospector and ex-military man, again blessed with "pecs, legs and biceps… (with) weaves in them like subcutaneous plaits of steel", echoes his words, comparing the discovery of gold to "something on the level of a religious experience, every single time".
There is a darker side to this fascination, as Boggan comes to realise when gold poisons a friendship with a miner with whom he shares a claim. The history of the first gold rush is full of such shadows, accessed here partly through the diaries of three original '49-ers who accompany our present-day adventurer on his travels: they include starvation, lynching, the pollution of rivers with mercury and mine-workings, and above all the genocide of the Native American population who lived in harmony with the landscape before the arrival of the prospectors.
Boggan does a good job relating this story, but it can be found elsewhere. Principally the reader wants to know whether our likeable companion will hit pay dirt and whether he'll be corrupted in the process. Suffice to say his gains are not primarily financial: instead he goes home with "muscle definition for the first time in years, even a flat stomach". There's abs in them thar hills.
James Attlee's 'Station to Station: Searching for Stories on the Great Western Line' is published on 14 May (Guardian Books, £14.99)