California Dreamer

"Starr captured the state's rise in influence, and its singular hold on the public imagination, in 'Americans and the California Dream,' a sweeping book series that moves from the Gold Rush into the Progressive Era, the 1920s, the Great Depression and other distinct chapters of California’s past.
"Throughout his work, Starr celebrated the state's creativity and its openness to new ideas. And he demonstrated a familiarity with a vast range of topics central to the state's development and its image of itself: architecture, agriculture, literature, water infrastructure and the entertainment industry, among others."

David Zahniser and Matt Hamilton in the Los Angeles Times writes an obituary for historian Kevin Starr.

And Carolyn Kellogg, Peter H. King, Shelby Grad, and William Deverell provide appreciations.