From the first human settlements to the latest marine explorations, The Golden Shore tells the tale of the history, culture, and changing nature of California's coasts and ocean. Helvarg takes the reader on both a geographic and literary journey along the 1 100-mile Pacific coastline from the Oregon border to the San Diego/Tijuana international border fence and out into its whale, seal, and shark infested offshore seamounts, rock isles, and kelp forests. The Golden Shore captures the spirit of the Californian coast, its mythic place in American culture, and its role in a state whose on-going natural disasters and unremitting sense of renewal are intimately linked to its deep connection with an ever-changing sea.
David Helvarg is founder and Executive Director of the Blue Frontier Campaign, a Washington, D.C.-based organization working for ocean and coastal conservation. An award-winning journalist, he has written for the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Smithsonian, National Geographic, Popular Science, Sierra, and Parade, and has produced more than forty documentaries for PBS, the Discovery Channel, and others. His previous books include Rescue Warriors and Saved by the Sea. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.