The book from the local authors – “Images of America: Hollister” –
If a picture is worth a 1,000 words, Joseph M. McMahon and Peter Sonné sure exceeded the 18,000 words Arcadia Publishing allotted them for the latest release in the “Images of America” series.
The book incorporates hundreds of historical photos of Hollister, Tres Pinos and South County.
The “Images of America: Hollister” book was released Sept. 17, with the authors offering a book signing at the San Benito County Fair Friday through Sunday, from noon to 2 p.m. at the San Benito Bene booth.
The book has been a year in the making for the duo, though Arcadia Publishing – known for its historical picture books – first sought someone to put together the book a few years ago.
McMahon had collaborated with a friend on a book about San Juan Bautista for the publisher in 2006.
“It gave me an idea of how many pictures we would need,” he said, “and the format and how many words and (Arcadia’s) approach to telling history.”
The two quickly found an easy way to divvy up the work. Since McMahon was a former art history and archeology teacher, most of the writing fell to him. Sonné, who was acquainted with many of the long-time residents of the county, agreed to get in touch with families who might be willing to share photographs from their personal collections. They played ideas off each other and early on, they decided that the book needed to incorporate South County and Tres Pinos since they were also integral parts of the history of how Hollister came to be.
The cover of the book features three men posing in a saloon, and the pair worried that it might be a little risqué.
“We wanted to represent the county, but we worried, ‘Could some people be offended by the saloon?’” McMahon said, adding that if they had used a shot of the courthouse no one would be upset. But Arcadia selected the saloon for the cover shot.
In collecting the many photos used in the book, the men scoured the San Benito County Historical Society’s collection. But many of the photos came from private photo collections.
Sonné said the men started out with a few ideas of parts of the county’s history they wanted to feature.
“But to some extent we wanted to leave the door open.”
They ended up devoting almost two dozen pages to the history of the motorcycle rallies.
“We didn’t have in mind to do as many photos of it,” Sonné said. “My knowledge and outlook changed drastically.”
The photos feature images from the Gypsy Tour, parades and motorcycle events that date back to the 1940s.
“With that event, we found out most of the community was very excited about it,” he said.
The town hosted a parade and businesses looked forward to the out-of-town visitors the Gypsy Tour brought in, Sonné said.
Both men said they struggled with what information to include and what information to leave out of the book, since they had a strict word limit of 18,000 words for the chapter introductions and photo captions. They ended up with a lot of information from interviews with historical society members such as Sharlene Van Rooy and long-time residents such as Cliff Cardoza, who shared photos for the book. They said they hope to compile their notes for the Historical Society.
McMahon and Sonné said they had one regret about the book. They said they wished they had placed more emphasis on the history of the local wine trade. McMahon said the idea struck them late in the process that Cienega Valley is home to a 150-year-old vine planted by the Palmtag family. The vines are still in production today, used by De Rose Winery and Pietra Santa. According to their research, William Palmtag won silver medals for his wine at the 1900 World Exposition in Paris.
The pair fit in a handful of pictures of local wineries and included the names of several other local wineries in hopes that the book might help promote wine tourism. De Rose Vineyards and Pietra Santa Winery will be selling the book in their tasting rooms. Along with the fair booth this weekend, the book will be available at the San Juan State Historic Park Gift Shop, Hollister Ace Hardware, McKinnon Lumber, Penny Wise Drug Store, Ranchers Feed and San Benito Bene. It will also be sold at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.
“We’d like to be sure to thank all the folks who gave us information,” McMahon said. “Everyone we talked to said yes, they’d be happy to help.”
“It’s a small area and it feels like a big family,” Sonné said.
