“Jake” Warner Founder of Nolo Press

Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California

Ralph “Jake” Warner Founder of Nolo Press

Interviews conducted by Julie Stein in 2009

Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the nation. Oral History is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is bound with photographs and illustrative materials and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable.

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All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and Ralph “Jake” Warner, dated July 7, 2009. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Excerpts up to 1000 words from this interview may be quoted for publication without seeking permission as long as the use is non-commercial and properly cited.

Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to The Bancroft Library, Head of Public Services, Mail Code 6000, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000, and should follow instructions available online at http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/collections/cite.html

It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows:

Ralph “Jake” Warner, “Founder of Nolo Press” conducted by Julie Stein in 2009, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2012.

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Table of Contents—Jake Warner

Interview 1: July 2, 2009

[Tape 1] 1

Born Ralph Warner in 1941 in Brooklyn Heights—family’s Irish, Dutch, Scottish, and English roots—Irish grandmother from Park Slope—great-grandmother born on the plains as parents emigrate to San Francisco in the 1850s and start linseed business— great-grandmother marries Dutch boat-captain and is disowned by her family—her son (Warner’s grandfather Frank Toors) graduates high school and takes job with the original vacuum cleaner company, moves to New England—Frank Toors later invents sandblasting using vacuum technology—marries Lorrence Carroll—one branch of Braniff family moves to Mexico in the 1860s—Warner’s mother, Elaine Toors, spends idyllic childhood in New York till father loses his fortune in the Depression—mother’s education and secretary work—lawyer father’s Scottish heritage, raised in Bed-Stuy— grandmother Clara Frost’s Protestant heritage—father’s cousin Gertrude Frost comes from missionary family in China to attend Cal—father is born in 1908, raised in Brooklyn, attends Princeton, marries Elaine Toors in 1939—Jake (Ralph) Warner born in 1941 and mother is almost immediately institutionalized following a schizophrenic break, young Jake goes to live with paternal grandparents—mother’s psych treatment at the Hartford Clinic—move to live with maternal grandparents in Flatbush—spending time with grandfather—Macy’s Day Parade—changing demographics of Flatbush.

[Tape 2] 20

More on Brooklyn childhood, mother’s continued mental illness and move to state hospital—grandmother’s decision to send Jake to St. Brendan’s, first experiences with Catholics and school terrify Jake—father goes to Reno to get a divorce, 1946, marries Gertrude Henry, food editor for Good Housekeeping—starting a new life in Larchmont, NY, continued school phobia—protected childhood in Larchmont—early traumatic summer camp experiences and later, more pleasant ones with the Boy Scouts—half brother born when Jake is 11—skiing trips to Vermont, summer vacations to Lake Placid—joining Bonnie Briar golf club at age 11 and beginning to caddy—mixing with older Italian caddies with mafia connections—hustling and making good money as a caddy, expensive nights out in NYC—brief switch from Bonnie Briar to Winged Foot Golf Club, then to Hampshire with primarily Jewish membership—sophomore year interest in prep school—admission to Lawrenceville in NY—introduction to Lawrenceville, meeting Dean Pierson—meeting girlfriend Sue—socializing with girls during the prim social mores of the 1950s—summer “flunky camp” in Binghamton, NY, to catch up academically, senior year as an A student—applying to college, admission to Princeton.

Interview 2: July 7, 2009

[Tape 3] 39

Meeting future wife Jean as a high school senior—parents’ acceptance of relationship with Jean—longing for the West Coast while a student at Princeton—living with Dean Pierson at Princeton—changing admission policies at Princeton in 1959 begin to weigh SATs and admit more public high school boys than prep school graduates—studying geology and the new theory of continental drift—reflections on the Cold War’s effect on childhood—studious Princeton years, job at the Tax Institute of America—playing and winning at poker in the dorm—divisions between public school and prep school kids— lack of diversity at Princeton—eating clubs and dining in the Commons, the Woodrow Wilson School—social politics of admittance to Princeton eating clubs—dorm living— school’s small size encourages intimate relations with professors—becoming an atheist, developing left-leaning political views—summer fruit-picking trip after sophomore year, selling encyclopedias door to door—sleeping in state parks, picking fruit, playing guitar in parking lots, labor relations—returning home in the fall, girlfriend Jean gets pregnant, marriage.

[Tape 4] 58

Senior year at Princeton as a married man, writing a thesis—planning for the future, decision to study law despite little functional interest in it—applying to UCLA by mistake, scrambling to be admitted to Cal—birth of first child Eddie—1963 arrival in Berkeley—underwhelming first impression of Boalt faculty—impressive Cal student body—student resident job and wartime housing—Free Speech Movement begins— second child, Andy, is born very premature—disaffection with law school, run for president of the student association—running a radical platform, observing a generational divide among students—marital trouble—summer internship in Washington, D.C.— student association pressures SF law firms to hire Jews—reforming Boalt—conservative nature of Boalt, lack of diversity in admissions—classmate Mel Hodges—third year law school interest in environmental law, marital troubles reach crisis point—divorce— growing anti-war sentiment on campus, spring 1966—meeting new girlfriend Ann, Cal senior, while working on Scheer campaign—introduction to LSD culture—clerk job with Ninth Circuit Judge Richard Chambers—discovery that the legal system was set up to benefit itself.

Interview 3: July 9, 2009

[Tape 5] 77

Fall 1966 move to Tucson for clerkship, introspection on relationships and fatherhood— life in Tucson, riding horses, Judge Richard Chambers—Ann visits Tucson, shows signs of major depression—decl