New book series Our Old Santa Cruz… by Ernest Otto unveils the captivating history of Santa Cruz in the late 1800s
SANTA CRUZ, CA, November 15, 2023—Our Old Santa Cruz… is a compelling retrospective book series that gazes into the history of Santa Cruz, California, through the eyes of the late Santa Cruz Sentinel reporter Ernest F. Otto. Each book in this new series paints a vivid picture of the city’s bustling life at the turn of the 20th century, with recollections, observations, and reflections, accompanied by over 100 contemporary photographs.
Santa Cruz thrived as a diverse and vibrant hub in the 1870s and 1880s, and Otto reported on it all through his seven decades working for local newspapers. From interviews with local politicians at the beach, to casual chats with Italian fishermen on the Railroad Wharf, to scoops of celebrities and millionaires at the Santa Cruz train station, to deep investigations into local architecture and industries, to reminisces about long-gone gardens and pastimes, Otto leaves no stone unturned in his journey to reveal the Santa Cruz of his youth.
Ernest Otto lived the history that he recounts in such unabashed detail. In every Sunday issue of the Santa Cruz Sentinel and Sentinel–News published from 1939 through 1957, he told of a Santa Cruz very different yet strikingly familiar to today. Series compiler Derek R. Whaley states that “the newspaper articles gathered together in these books should be viewed collectively as a love letter to the place where Otto spent all of his life. His remembrances are personal, relatable, and candid. And unlike other newspaper historians, he drew heavily on his memory of events and people, providing a wholly unique insight into the history of Santa Cruz.”
Our Old Santa Cruz… Volume 1 by Ernest Otto is available now on Amazon.com (affiliates link).
About the author
Ernest F. Otto lived his entire life in Santa Cruz and began working for the Santa Cruz Surf at the age of 10 in 1881. He moved over to the Santa Cruz Sentinel in 1919 following the closure of the Surf and remained at that newspaper as the waterfront reporter until his death in July 1955. He was a lifelong member of the First Congregational Church, a member of the Native Sons of the Golden West, the dean of California newspapermen, and the Santa Cruz County correspondent for the Associated Press.
About the compiler
Derek R. Whaley is a historian, librarian, and former resident of Felton, California. He earned a doctorate in history from the University of Canterbury in 2018. He began researching Santa Cruz County history in 2011 and continues to do so from overseas. He has worked at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and The Tech Museum of Innovation, volunteered at the San Lorenzo Valley Museum and Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, and is well-known for his Santa Cruz Trains book series and website. He currently lives in Aotearoa New Zealand.