Sonoma People Archives | Page 2 of 11

Legendary Guitar Maker Still Strumming in Sonoma

May 2016 | By Jessie Fetterling

His birth name is Sam, though he won’t divulge his last name and wants the world to call him Fat Dog, a nickname given to him by his mother. He doesn’t want the exact location of his home and recording studio revealed, though it’s somewhere above Sonoma Valley. Fat Dog, 68, has never married, doesn’t […]

A Scrap Metal Saga: The Automotive Machinist Who Became an Artist

May 2016 | By Amy Schaus

When do used auto parts become art? When they’re in the hands of James Selby.

California Poet Laureate Returns to Santa Rosa

March 2016 | By Diane Peterson

Santa Rosan Dana Gioia is the new California Poet Laureate, appointed to the post by Gov. Jerry Brown in December 2015. During his two-year term, Gioia will spread the art of poetry and inspire a new generation of writers while visiting schools and libraries in many of the state’s rural counties. He picks up where […]

Nice to Meat You: Legendary Butcher at Sonoma Broadway Market

March 2016 | By Sonoma Magazine Staff

By Ariana Reguzzoni Tom Geney arrives at Sonoma’s Broadway Market at 4 a.m. each day, flips on the lights and prepares for the steady stream of customers seeking steaks, chops, ribs and fowl prepared the old-fashioned way: by hand and to order. Geney, 75, is one of the longest-serving butchers in the county, having plied […]

A Grandmother’s Guidance: The Roots of Healdsburg Shed Owner

March 2016 | By Diane Peterson

As a youngster, he helped in the kitchen of what would evolve into one of the most famous restaurants in the world, The French Laundry in Yountville. At 20, he was the sous chef at Auberge du Soleil in Rutherford, by 22 in charge of the kitchen at étoile restaurant in Yountville. At 25, he […]

Who Are Your Dream Sonoma County Dinner Guests?

March 2016 | By Sonoma Magazine Staff

We asked local arts guru and event coordinator Spring Maxfield to name the people she'd most want to have dinner with. See who she picked...

Monte Rio Fire Captain Steve Baxman Has Seen It All

February 2016 | By John Beck

Steve Baxman makes friends the hard way. “I still have people stop me on the street and thank me for something I’ve done,” he says. As a member of the Monte Rio volunteer fire department for the past 45 years, Baxman has rescued so many people he can’t remember them all. “But I’ll say, ‘Give me […]

Petaluma Painter Roberta Ahrens: The Wall is Her Canvas

February 2016 | By Carole Kelleher

Whether Roberta Ahrens creates a panoramic mural or an 8-by-8-foot painted canvas, her work is never diminutive. Nature speaks to her in a loud voice, and she translates that inspiration into paintings that are lifelike yet unique. She paints cherubs on ceilings, and lilies, poppies and peonies on cracked linen, bringing vibrancy and boldness to […]

Mysteries of Jack London

February 2016 | By Meg McConahey

The allure of Jack London lies not only with his rakish persona and literary accomplishments, but also the mysteries he left behind.

Award Winning Poet Shares Sonoma Childhood Story

January 2016 | By Sonoma Magazine Staff

Ada Limón, who grew up in Sonoma and Glen Ellen, uses poetry to tell her life story, impressions, emotions and creative thoughts. Her fourth book of poems, “Bright Dead Things” (Milkweed Editions, $16), made her a finalist for the prestigious 2015 National Book Award. And while she lost to fellow Californian Robin Coste Lewis in […]