Marin County CA Archives History - Books .....How This Book Was Written 1958 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/copyright.htm http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com April 11, 2007, 12:52 am Book Title: Shark Point - High Point How This Book Was Written AFTER MANY MONTHS of interviews, research, and just running around the countryside, the eighth grade has been able to finish this book. Maybe you would like to know how all this began. Our class started our "Tiburon project" as a slightly unusual language assignment. Sometime in early November, Miss Wilson announced that since we live in an interesting (though small) community we should know something about it. We all agreed. We were to see if we could find some of the old publications about our area and interview a few of the people who have lived here a long time to see if we could get some information on the beginning of our community. (Our school itself was named for the father of Marin County pioneers, John Reed.) We were offered three prizes of Savings Bonds and Stamps by the Tiburon merchants and the Pelican for the best essays. Our teacher drilled us in the correct way to contact a possible source of information and how to interview a person. We doubt if anyone realized how far our project would go at the time we started. What's behind this book? How was it written? Was it the work of the teacher or of the class? We'd like to answer all these questions. First came the notes, taken by the members of the class. Everyone worked on these personal interviews. More than seventy-five people have been put into our worn-out notebooks by our weary pencil stubs. On many interviews people could not give us factual information but as we went deeper into the background of the area, people came to us with information. It was like a dream come true. Once the book was started everyone wanted to help. And many early pictures and maps were found. Many students went to San Francisco, San Rafael and Mill Valley. Many of us visited the county court house and county libraries. Miss Wilson mimeographed sheets on which we copied our information: general topic, specific topic, date of information, researcher, date gathered, source of information (name, title of book or publication, etc.) and a summary of the information on that subject. We transcribed our notes onto these sheets and then put them into the various folders: Reed; Reed heirs; Tiburon Memories; Belvedere Memories; and others. When we started writing the book, we divided the sheets into chapter subjects so that students working on the chapter could use everyone's information. Besides interviews and newspaper clippings we used nearly a hundred books and pamphlets. The trips and talks were exciting, but to write chapters one must sit down and write. The fun of interviewing and going to the city was over and now the hard work began. The room was put in order. Pictures went up. Chapters were under way. The name of our book comes from the names of our community; Tiburon is Spanish for shark and Belvedere comes from the Italian phrase meaning high point commanding a beautiful view. The eighth graders who wrote this book have worked for long weeks and we all feel sincerely that the time was well spent. The time you take to read this may be small, but the times you read about were great indeed. You will go more than 400 years into the past. You will see many men being born, making history, dying. Many interesting events will unfold before your eyes. And these events unfolded before our eyes, too. We've had a thrill in bringing this book to you. We've tightened a sail and strained on a pole to bring John Reed's ferry to the dock. We've seen an earthquake, a tidal wave, the herring runs, open air dances. And we've loved every minute of it. Gathering information and correlating it has been an adventure as we've tried to bring you a factual history of Rancho Corte Madera del Presidio. In the thanking of people who have helped us, a large amount goes to the parents of our class. Through their cooperation our many excursions have been possible. We must give the most appreciation to our teacher, Miss Wilson. Without her patience, guidance and car, this whole affair would not have been possible. And we hope you enjoy "Shark Point - High Point" - enjoy reading it and enjoy living it, as we did. Eighth Grade Reed School Class of 1954 Additional Comments: Extracted from: Shark Point - High Point An Illustrated History of TIBURON & BELVEDERE IN MARIN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA BY EIGHTH GRADERS OF THE REED SCHOOL CLASSES OF 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958 PUBLISHED BY THE REED SCHOOL DISTRICT PARENT-TEACHER CLUB BELVEDERE-TIBURON MCMLVIII Designed by Lawton Kennedy, San Francisco 3000 Copies Printed by R. G. Fontana & Son, San Anselmo File at: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ca/marin/history/1958/sharkpoi/howthisb509nms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/cafiles/ File size: 5.3 Kb