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Kevin Owen Starr

ケビン・オーウェン・スター

Kevin Owen Starr

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1940-09-03 （San Francisco, California, United States）
Died
2017-01-14 （San Francisco, California, United States） age 76
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Roman Catholic
Residence History
San Francisco (birth and childhood) → Ukiah (orphanage) → Berkeley (graduate studies) → Los Angeles (USC faculty) → Sacramento (state activities)

Career

Occupations
historian, author, professor, state librarian
Active Years
1962-2017
Affiliations
University of Southern California (USC), California State Library (State Librarian), San Francisco Examiner (columnist, Vatican correspondent)
Memberships
Society of American Historians, College of Fellows, Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology
Influenced
Composer John Adams (inspired by Starr's 'Dream' series)

Education

University of San Francisco
College of Arts and Sciences / English
Degree: B.A.
Period: 1958–1962
Year of Graduation: 1962
Country: United States
Served as editor of the student newspaper The Foghorn.
Harvard University
Graduate school (English) / English (specializing in American literature)
Degree: M.A., Ph.D.
Period: 1963–1969
Year of Graduation: 1969
Country: United States
Earned an M.A. (1965) and Ph.D. (1969); later taught at Harvard.
University of California, Berkeley
Library Science / Library Science
Degree: M.S.
Period: 1973–1974
Year of Graduation: 1974
Country: United States
Earned while serving as San Francisco city librarian.

Awards

National Humanities Medal
2006
Organization: National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
Result: 受賞
Los Angeles Times Book Prize (History)
2009
Work: Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance, 1950–1963
Category: 歴史
Organization: Los Angeles Times
Result: 受賞
California Hall of Fame
2010
Organization: State of California
Result: 殿堂入り
Guggenheim Fellowship
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: 受賞
Gold Medal of the Commonwealth Club of California
Organization: Commonwealth Club of California
Result: 受賞
Robert Kirsch Award
2012
Organization: Los Angeles Times
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Americans and the California Dream, 1850–1915

1973 history 494 pages

The first volume in Starr's signature series tracing California's political, cultural, and social history from statehood through 1915.

California Dreammigration and mobilityformation of regional society

Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance, 1950–1963

2009 history 464 pages

Covers California's postwar era from 1950 to 1963, exploring social, economic, and cultural changes. Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.

postwar prosperitysuburbanizationconsumer culture

Golden Gate: The Life and Times of America's Greatest Bridge

2012 history/regional history

A history of the Golden Gate Bridge and the social context surrounding its construction and legacy.

infrastructure historycity symbolism

Land's End (novel)

1979 novel

A novel by Starr containing semi-autobiographical elements.

personal memorylocal identity

Bibliography

  • Land's End (novel, 1979)
  • Americans and the California Dream, 1850–1915 (1973/1986)
  • Inventing the Dream: California through the Progressive Era (1985)
  • Material Dreams: Southern California through the 1920s (1990)
  • Endangered Dreams: The Great Depression in California (1996)
  • The Dream Endures: California Enters the 1940s (1997)
  • Sunset Magazine and the Phenomenon of the Far West (1998, essay)
  • Embattled Dreams: California in War and Peace, 1940–1950 (2002)
  • Coast Of Dreams: California on the Edge, 1990–2003 (2004)
  • California: a history (2005)
  • Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance, 1950–1963 (2009)
  • Golden Gate: The Life and Times of America's Greatest Bridge (2012)
  • Continental Ambitions: Roman Catholics in North America: the Colonial Experience (2016)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
narrative and accessible styleemphasis on character and scene depictionscholarly use of primary sources
Recurring Motifs
California Dreamurbanization and suburbanizationimmigration and cultural intersectionstension between nature and development

Legacy

Kevin Starr is known for his comprehensive and narrative histories of California. He introduced the state's history and culture to a wide readership and bridged academic and public history.

Academic Societies

  • Society of American Historians
  • College of Fellows, Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology

Archives

  • Selected holdings at the California State Library
  • University of Southern California archives (lectures and related materials)

In Popular Culture

  • John Adams composed 'City Noir' inspired by Starr's 'Dream' series

Quotes

  • Kevin Starr chronicled the history of California as no one else. His vision, like California itself, was bigger than life.
    Source: Governor Jerry Brown (praise)

Trivia

  • Spent part of his childhood in a Roman Catholic orphanage after family difficulties.
  • Helped create a news-reading telephone service for visually impaired people.
  • Best known for the multi-volume series 'Americans and the California Dream.'