The Esselen Tribe lived in 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 Century. This story is set before the great disruptions and offers 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.
This story is available on Kindle unlimited.
Flower Tumbles won the Salinas Californian’s 1981 John Steinbeck Award for best fiction.
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 indispensible 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!
