I ended up writing a fairy tale some years back and am still not sure why. Quail Bell Magazine published it five years ago. The editors at Visitant have just put it up for everyone to view again and I thank them for it! Please do give me your thoughts on this one!
Filed under Front Page, published story
MCARLM’s great history event for 4th graders took place again last Tuesday and Wednesday. Though I didn’t have my tent for day #1, I still told 49er stories and sang “My Darling Clementine” with the kids. They got to pan for gold, eat hardtack and visit the blacksmith’s shop, as well!
P.S. Mothers and aides were thrilled to visit with their old school teachers, too. Many of us can still do a fine job – at least for a day or two!
Filed under Author Visits, Front Page
The bear comes out of the tent. He’s looking for Bill!
I told “THE BEAR” story and sang campfire songs with 4th grade students at MCARLM’s 2017 Gold Rush Days at San Lorenzo Park. I saw fifteen groups of kids over the two days of the May 24th-25th event. Among other things, they also visited a blacksmith shop, a one-room schoolhouse, a general store and a chuck wagon. Best of all, they panned for gold! My many colleagues did a great job and California history came to life!
Bill scared that old bear!
Filed under Author Visits, Front Page
The Esselen Tribe lived in southern Monterey County near the headwaters of the Arroyo Seco River for many thousands of years. As with most of California’s Native Americans, their way of life disappeared – along with most of them – in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. This story is set before the great disruptions and attempts to offer a glimpse of Esselens as they once were. Its unlikely hero is a young boy who confronts one of the greatest dangers to his small tribe – an engraged grizzly bear.
Art Salvagno and I had a great time working on this story back in 1981 and again when we revised it in 1995. Ed Haskell offered patient and indispensable service in creating this Kindle edition. Sadly, we had to lose some of Art’s great double-page illustrations when converting the story to the required format. We’ll tinker with our effort in coming months and try to wedge some of the drawings back in – I promise!
By the by, Flower Tumbles won the Salinas Californian’s 1981 John Steinbeck Award for best fiction – not too shabby!
It’s free on Kindle unlimited and otherwise $2.99. Here’s the Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y5NSHX4/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1491901764&sr=1-1&keywords=flower+tumbles+walton
Teacher Pals, here’s a link to lesson plans posted on TPT. They’re good, if I do say so myself!
Filed under Front Page, published story
Mission San Antonio de Padua holds an annual celebration of California history. I was most pleased to participate in the 2017 event as story-teller and visiting author. The hundreds of visitors and dozens of presenters enjoyed an April spring day – mild sunshine, warm breezes and perfume of wildflowers – that only the San Antonio Valley can produce – a heavenly visit to old California. I got to share Native American stories about silly Tarantula and how Kangaroo Rat got his blackened tail. I hope to be included once again next year!
Filed under Author Visits, Front Page
Phoebe Cheney and I before the 4th graders arrived – Photo by Joan Ungs
San Lorenzo County Park near King City is an underappreciated (at least by many) treasure and the Monterey County Agricultural & Rural Life Museum is its crown jewel. The museum took a really big hit on May15th, literally so. A hundred year old, seven feet in diameter eucalyptus tree tried to take the roof off the barn at about six in the evening. It failed – by a little – and nobody was around to be hurt. The folks at MCARLM had scheduled a big, three-day historical event for local kids beginning on the 16th. Everyone pulled up their bootstraps and we went ahead with the presentations. Local 4th graders put their hands (tongues, ears, stomachs, feet and everything else!) on the history of our gold rush. I got to be a 49er and introduce them to Clementine’s boyfriend. You know the guy: “How I missed her! Until I kissed her little sister!”
Filed under Author Visits, Front Page, Western Tales
Photo by Phyllis Walton
“Mission Days” at San Antonio de Padua both celebrates the early history of Central California and raises funds for restoration of the Mission buildings. This year’s event took place on April 2nd and was a great success. Gold-panning, brick-making, black-smithing, cowboy-singing, acorn-grinding, candle-making, wildflower-hiking were – among many others – activities one could engage in. All was topped off by Rosa Pacheco’s BBQ and a concert by the New World Baroque Orchestra. I squeezed in some story-telling – Ask me how the kangaroo rat got its paint brush of a tail! – and some book signing.
Filed under Author Visits, Front Page
Author • Educator • Mountaineer 
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