The Faces of Harvest: A Photo Essay
Photographer Erik Castro's poignant photo series captures the faces of Sonoma County grape harvest workers, traveling great distances to toil at this labor-intensive job.
Category: Sonoma People
People of Sonoma County
Healdsburg Family Raises $850,000 for Heart Research
The family created the wine Colby Red to raise money for heart-disease-related charities.
Legendary Guitar Maker Still Strumming in Sonoma
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
When do used auto parts become art? When they’re in the hands of James Selby.
California Poet Laureate Returns to Santa Rosa
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
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
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?
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
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
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 […]