PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING $1.25 POINT REYES LIGHT Volume LXIV No. 12/ Point Reyes Station, CA May 19, 2011 Fisherman Governor hooks man to close overboard state parks A 75-year-old Sacramento man who Local state park employees were told fell from his trawler on Sunday near Dil- on Friday that four state parks in Marin lon Beach owes his life to Inverness resi- County, including Samuel P. Taylor, dent and longtime sport fisherman Tom Tomales Bay, Olompali and China Camp Baty, who spotted the man in the frigid will be shut down completely by July morning water and pulled him to safety 1, 2012. Until that day, the parks will be before hypothermia could take hold. slowly shutting down access and ser- Robert King, a self-described “old man,” vices. Local officials were shocked by the recalls having just hooked a fish at ap- news, and there is still no plan on how the proximately 9:15 a.m. when ocean con- gradual shutting down will take place. ditions turned rough. “The next thing I “We got a phone call at 11:30 on Fri- knew I was overboard, holding onto the day, and then the announcement came at boat for dear life,” King said. Water was noon. We didn’t know but minutes before hitting him in the face and, before long, the rest of the world,” said Danita Rodri- the drag became too much and forced guez, superintendent of Marin County him to let go and watch as the boat drift- state parks. “Unless something happens ed off into the distance. “I was absolute- between July 1, i.e. a budget change, or ly convinced that I was dead because some other entity comes in with a pro- there wasn’t a boat within a mile of me,” posal, they are slated to be closed.” And he said, noting that his float coat was not closed means precisely that—vacated and keeping him upright, as it should have. padlocked. “So I just lay back and waited to die.” Rodriguez will be organizing a series A few minutes later, he heard an en- of meetings over the coming weeks to gine in the distance, and began hollering for help. Baty, who happened to be fish- Matt Gallagher Please turn to page 10 Please turn to page 8 PRINTING: Tom Killion checks a registration proof of one of his prints destined for his debut this weekend at MALT’s Ranches and Rolling Hills exhibit. But Killion’s art had to take a backseat Woodcuts head for the ‘Rolling hills’ to his academic career. He was an excel- lent student, and studied African History at Stanford University on a full scholarship. The 14th annual Ranches and Rolling appearing rather quickly, which concerned Mt. Tamalpais, because I lived right under- “I got really sidetracked from my art for a Hills exhibit, a show featuring 45 artists to me,” she said. “So I quickly focused my art neath it, so I wanted to do 36 Views of Mt. long time,” he said. On a whim, Killion took raise money for Marin Agricultural Land on the disappearing landscape. I am so Tamalpais.” a class on book printing, which was the sole Trust (MALT), has added two new tal- grateful MALT has stepped in to preserve As a high school student, he took his oasis of art in an otherwise intellectual pe- ents to its roster this year. Tom Killion and all of these beautiful areas.” sketches to sell at the Mill Valley Art Fair. riod of his life. Carol Peek will join the exclusive, invite- Though the show has historically been His drawings sold well, and he wanted to Killion received a doctorate in African only ranks of artists who paint the pristine focused on painters, Killion’s woodcut use woodcut printing as a way to increase History from Stanford, and subsequently landscapes that MALT preserves. Since the prints will add a new dimension to Ranches the volume of his art. “I realized that if I traveled widely around the African conti- show’s inception, Ranches and Rolling Hills and Rolling Hills. Killion, a West Marin na- made just one out of linoleum, I could make nent. “I’ve spent a lot of time in that part of has raised over $1 million to preserve local tive, has been making art of local landscapes a lot more,” he said. “And I liked the Japa- the world,” He said. lands for agricultural use. since he was a child growing up in Mill Val- nese woodcuts anyway, and that was what For two years in 1987-1988, Killion “I am thrilled to be in the show this ley. “Strangely, I actually liked to draw from I was striving for. It was a natural combina- worked as administrator of a medical relief year,” Peek said. “I was born and raised in nature,” he said. “I liked to draw trees and tion for me.” program in a Sudanese refugee camp for Marin, and have been painting MALT land- landscapes. I had an affinity for it—rather Although not an obvious choice for a displaced Ethiopians and Eritreans. At the scapes for as long as I can remember.” Peek, than people, cartoons and the usual stuff young artist, woodcut printing was a natural time, Eritrea, a small country in Northeast- who is known for her portraits of Holstein that kids draw.” fit for Killion. He loved sketching, working ern Africa, was entrenched in a 30-year war cows and local landscapes, started painting Killion came across woodcut prints very with his hands and observing natural land- with its neighbor, Ethiopia. After meeting scenes of Lucas Valley in the early 1980s early in his artistic career. “I really loved scapes. “It was a good choice for somebody so many Eritrean refugees, Killion wanted when she was 20 because she felt concern Japanese prints, especially Katsushika young in those days. You could make some- to see the situation firsthand, in the com- for the precarious nature of rural develop- Hokusai,” he said. “I had this book of his, thing. It was the time for crafts,” he said pany of the Eritrean Liberation Front. ment. “I noticed that the landscape was dis- 36 Views of Mt. Fuji. I loved it, and I loved INSIDE > Local mail delivery ceases page 2 Kite man of West Marin page 7 Community calendar page 14 Please turn to page 6 2 POINT REYES LIGHT May 19, 2011 POINT REYES LIGHT News briefs Managing Editor: Matt Gallagher and make overall operations much more Business Manager: Renée Shannon Lagunitas principal resigns is really important—and he’s a smart guy cost effective,” he said. The turnaround Lagunitas School Principal Chris Fran- who was able to read situations and deal Advertising Representative: Harry Korss for all local mail will now be one day. The cis resigned this week, much to the dis- with them quickly. And the kids like him Photographer, Graphic Designer changes come as the U.S. Senate passed may of parents, staff and school board a lot too.” She added that, “Frankly, he’s & Assistant Business Manager: David Briggs Representative Lynn Woolsey’s bill this trustees. Francis said the reasons for his the best we’ve had in my past 15 years Reporters: Kyle Cashulin, Jeremy Blackman week to designate the Inverness Post Office departure were strictly personal, and here.” The Lagunitas school board will be Correspondents: Victor Reyes, Art Rogers as the “Specialist Jake Robert Velloza Post had nothing to do with recent staffing accepting applications for a replacement Contributors: Joyce Goldfield, Burr Heneman Office,” after the eponymous local hero conflicts. “It’s not a decision we came to principal through June 6, and will come who was tragically killed in action in Iraq Circulation: Kathi Lanatti lightly,” he said. “Coming back here, for to a decision later this summer. in May of 2009. The bill now moves to the Published by Point Reyes Light Publishing my wife and I, has been a homecoming, Oval Office for final approval. Co. L3C, owned by Marin Media Institute, and it has a special place in our hearts. a California nonprofit corporation. Local mail delivery ceases Sometimes our lives grow in different A number of long-anticipated changes to Board of Directors of Marin Media Institute: directions than our hearts... It’s hard. I local U.S. Postal Service operations began West Marin TV hosts screening West Marin Community Television will host Mark Dowie, Chair; David Miller, Vice Chair; wish it could have been for longer.” Fran- taking effect this week. Last week, post a screening of “Por Que Venimos,” or “Why and Phyllis Faber. This board is not responsible cis had worked as a one-on-one teacher’s offices throughout unincorporated West for the content of this newspaper. We Come,” a documentary about several aide years ago, and returned to lead the Marin began no longer offering same-day residents of San Rafael’s Canal District who school for the 2010-2011 academic year. delivery service to locally-addressed mail. Tel: (415) 669.1200 Fax: (415) 669.1216 have migrated from various Latin American After accepting Francis’ resignation at According to United States Postal Service Box 210 Point Reyes Station, CA 94956 countries, on May 27 at the Dance Palace, in Tuesday’s special board meeting, parent (USPS) spokesman James Wigdel, same- Office: 12781 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. #5, Inverness Point Reyes Station. The group is co-spon- and PE teacher Buck Chavez sang, “I’ll day delivery was supposed to be phased Email: [email protected] soring the event with the Marin Immigrant be Seeing You” in its entirety.