featuring CHRIS JEPSEN
Our fourth installment of our month-long love letter to Orange County entitled Why We Love OC features Chris Jepsen. The name sounds familiar you say? That's because Chris is one of the most active OC historians around! Chris is Assistant Archivist at the Orange County Archives, Vice-President of the Orange County Historical Society, and serves on the City of Huntington Beach’s Historic Resources Board. His blog, O.C. History Roundup, can be found at http://ochistorical.blogspot.com. It's definitely RSS feed worthy! And now, ladies and gentleman, Chris Jepsen's love letter to Orange County:
[ Chris Jepsen hard at work. ]
"Orange County and I have been together for all but the first eight months of my life. It's like any long term relationship: I see both the good and the bad, but we stay together out of love. Never mind that she's 83 years my senior.
What do I love about Orange County?
What do I love about Orange County?
I love our clean ocean breezes, rocky coves, rugged mountains, wildlife, and everything that reminds me of the beauty that drew people here in the first place.
But I also love our built environment: The Mission in Capistrano, the storefronts of Downtown Orange, Craftsman bungalows, Post-War housing tracts, Googie coffee shops, and freeways that put L.A. to shame. Any walk through downtown Santa Ana is a lesson in architectural history, with Western Falsefronts, Victorian "gingerbread," Art Deco, Modernism, and everything in between on display.
But most of all, I love Orange County because of its people: A colorful cast of characters who – regardless of their political affiliations – tend to believe in the creed of individualism. (Some newer areas of O.C. notwithstanding.) The same independent spirit that led us to break away from Los Angeles in 1889 continues today. How can you help but love a County that's still the bane of groupthinkers and “Kool Aid drinkers" everywhere?"
Stay tuned for more love letters from your favorite local celebs, professionals, athletes and more right here at the OC Gazette Blog!
Chris,
ReplyDeleteI read the history you wrote about on O.C. History round up about Tom Talbert. I am trying to locate Todd Talbert in hopes of finding information on a Timothy Talbert from Orange County. How can I reach you?
Lisa Lee
lisaklee@peoplepc.com