Buzz Anderson

Besides being something that I felt the need to accomplish in my lifetime, I wrote Five Hundred Moons because, since I was a young boy, I have wondered about the people in whose footsteps I tread. Along the beaches, over the coastal terraces, and in the redwood forests, the Ohlone lived and thrived without permanent structures, manufactured goods, domesticated animals, or traditional agriculture. They hunted and gathered to sustain themselves and formed societies that lasted hundreds if not thousands of years. They demonstrated fire ecology and managed the abundant natural resources surrounding them in a sustaining way.

I recently walked through the old-growth redwood loop near Felton, California. Surrounded by towering ancient trees, I felt the presence of its former inhabitants. I imagined I could hear their songs and see their villages spread out in the filtered light. To the Ohlone, those trees were as alive as any human who walked beneath them. I envisioned the great grizzly bear, the soaring eagle, the stealthy lion, and the cautious deer—all intimate to the Ohlone world. It is a world now lost, but I hope the mindfulness and sensibilities they practiced still hold a strong thread of existence in our present-day realities, perhaps rekindled in the reading of my book.

I'm 70 years old, retired, married for 43 years to my wife, Jennie. I live in Santa Cruz, California. I have three sons that live close by, as well as four grandchildren