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In 1962, community activists on the Peninsula banded together in an effort to save the area’s wild places from development. They named themselves the Committee for Green Foothills (www.greenfoothills.org), and chose renowned teacher, writer, and environmentalist Wallace Stegner to be the founding president. Now, the life of Wallace Stegner, who lived in the Los Altos Hills for more than 40 years until his death in 1993, is the subject of a major exhibit at the Los Altos History Museum (www.losaltoshistory.org).
The free exhibit features a 30-foot pictorial timeline that traces Stegner’s development as a respected national voice for open space and wild places, a recreation of Stegner’s home study, a section profiling his important environmental contributions, a special children’s area, and interactive audio and video stations.
Of course, the best way to honor Stegner is to follow his footsteps up into the hills he fought to preserve. Take a hike at the Long Ridge Open Space Preserve off Skyline Drive, out to the Stegner memorial bench. The panoramic view overlooking the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Pacific Ocean is one of the best in the Bay Area and reminds us of what Stegner worked to protect. Wallace Stegner: Throwing a Long Shadow began in January and runs through June 12, Thursday through Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.
