Lucinda K Ransick

Lucinda K. Ransick grew up in the south among people who could name their family trees as certainly as The Bible names off the "begets" of Abraham's family lineage. History and heritage are inextricably linked in her childhood memories. An avid litener at first, now the passionate storyteller, she has been putting her thoughts on paper since she was the Editor of her high school newspaper. Writing for local newspapers, scripting jingles and ads for local radio stations, and grant writing for nonprofits has fueled her enthusiasm for sharing the history of the people where she calls home today.

Not a native to Santa Maria, California, she never the less owns a pioneer heritage and so is ideally suited to write the story of a people who forged a town so warm and remarkable as to be called the "Sweet Spot" on the Central Coast. A military spouse, she has found home in a lot of places. Listening to four children, she has heard a lot of stories. You can expect an exciting sharing of the harrowing first years in the valley, accentuated with those hearty pioneers' triumphs, on their pathway to making Santa Maria what it is today.

Prior to retiring after 40+ years as a Senior Quality Engineer and Technical Writer for major aerospace companies, Michael Farris, has been an occasional volunteer with the Santa Maria Valley Historical Society. Upon retirement, Michael has moved into high gear with the Historical Society. To date, he has been a contributing editor on two books, the latest one, "The Purple Cow: A Dairy Daughter's Heritage," was written for the Society about the history of the dairy industry in the Santa Maria Valley. Raised from a child in Los Alamos, California, Michael continues to study the history of the greater Santa Maria Valley, primarily in terms of the people and families who have contributed so much to it.