The Long Shore

The historic Hollister ranch–39,000 acres of mesas, arroyos, alluvial slopes, mountains, and seacoast in Santa Barbara County, California–belonged to the authors’ family for more than 100 years, until 1961 when the family was forced to subdivide and sell the property. The Long Shore is a tribute to those once-wild lands and an evocative contribution to our understanding of the psychological and philosophical importance of all wilderness.

This unusual collaborative work by a mother and daughter–both Jungian analysts raised on the ranch–blends childhood memories, journal excerpts, and rich insights to reveal just how deeply humanity’s psyche is rooted in the natural world. Jane writes of the beauty of the ranch–of the wind, of wild foxes, of the now-absent condor, of the vivid colors of spring Lynda writes of childhood experiences: mud fights with her cousins, swimming naked in the ocean, riding horseback along steep cliffs. Both write of fires, floods and droughts–of the forces of nature upon the land.

The authors examine the surprising power of nature as it affected their own lives. Through their stories run the themes of loss and differentiation, as they reflect on the importance of the ranch in their lives and learn to accept its loss. Then, extending their exploration of the personal meaning of the ranch wilderness, they address larger questions about the need for, and meaning of, the wilderness in contemporary life.

At a time when wilderness is rapidly decreasing, their inquiry is particularly poignant: Just what, the authors ask, are we losing?