Book Notes

(from the California HISTORIAN)

The Olive in California: History of An Immigrant Tree
By Judith M. Taylor, M.D.
Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA, 2000, 316 pages, hardcover, $32.50, ISBN 1-58008-131-2

Reviewed by Carllene Marek
Freelance Writer and Genealogist

It has been said that the best way to learn about a subject is to write a book about it and this is exactly what the author of this delightful and carefully researched book has done.

Dr. Taylor, a board-certified neurologist, was born in London and educated in Oxford. She practiced and taught medicine in New York for many years. Changing careers in the mid-1980s, she became a medical director for two large insurance companies. In 1994, Dr. Taylor and her husband retired to the San Francisco Bay Area where she promptly fell in love with the California landscape and more specifically, olive trees.

In an effort to broaden her knowledge of olive trees, she was surprised to learn that most research and books concerned Old World olives but nothing of consequence could be found regarding California olives. In the process of seeking answers to her many questions about the trees themselves, the idea of this book took shape. Indeed, here was a gap that needed to be filled.

Thus began an intoxicating adventure as she traveled up and down the state to see for herself how olives are grown and processed. During the next few years she met with an untold number of persons in the olive industry as well as specialists in olive culture and history. From this research and gleaning of information she has compiled a noteworthy book on the history of the olive in California and how it helped to shape the destiny and fortunes of our state. Her enthusiasm for the subject and attention to detail are reflected throughout this very fine book.

Through the book's Foreword, Dr. Kevin Starr, State Librarian, skillfully introduces the reader to the unbreakable connection of the olive tree and California's colorful history and economics.
Taylor's writing style is light and easy to read. The Introduction aptly titled "The Olive in Ancient Times" provides an interesting and informative background on the olive and its place in the early civilizations of man.

The following ten chapters tell the story: How the Olive Came to California; Development of a Market and an Industry; Transition to the Modern Era; Why Olive Growers Changed to New Kinds of Trees; Nurseries and the Dissemination of Olive Trees; The Olive Oil Trade; Olive Processing Companies; Botulism; The California Olive Association; and The University of California's Role in the Development of the Olive Industry.

Six appendices offer: chronology of the olive in California; olive oil makers in California (1869-1996); olive processing companies (1895-present); olive cultivars imported into California (1870-1960); synonyms of some olive cultivars; and sources of olive trees: Early California Nurseries (1872-1930).

Dr. Taylor cites her sources with a lengthy bibliography, image credits and acknowledgments. The book also contains many photos, sketches, diagrams and charts.

I found this book to be an excellent source of information on the olive and the olive industry in California, past and present. If you've ever wondered how that bottle of olive oil or those tasty table olives came to be, this book is a must read.