GROWING UP BELVEDERE-TIBURON
by Paige Peterson
"Magical writing about a magical place."
Susan Cheever
Author
Love Letters to Belvedere
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Below, a link will take you to the video of
"Love Letters to Belvedere," a wonderful small town production of the history of Belvedere with a talent show of Belvedere residents singing, dancing, juggling, and giving tribute and love to my hometown.
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photo by Elliot Karlin
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Noemie Marquie, Paige Peterson, Adam Gavzer
Love Letters to Belvedere
"Growing up in Belvedere, the bellowing of foghorns was the music of my morning. I can still taste the bowl of Sugar Jets that began my day. I made lunch – a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with an apple — and put it in a brown paper bag. My glass jar filled with water spent the night in the freezer so I could start with ice in the morning, knowing that if I ran out, there would be a neighbor’s garden hose to drink from. My sister and I would set off on our bicycles to enjoy our magical Northern California haven, often trailed by our dogs fighting to keep up with us and relishing the adventure."
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Captured on a clear day in April 1947, this aerial photograph shows about half of Belvedere Island, with Corinthian and the town of Tiburon behind it. To the left are the spits of land for the Belvedere Lagoon development and rows of white barracks built in 1943 to house military families based on the Tiburon Peninsula. Beyond the still barren Tiburon hills are the northern reaches of San Francisco Bay and the vast San Pablo Bay.
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"In Paige Peterson’s memories of Belvedere, it's a Utopian enclave, protected and preserved by geography and pride. You think: too good to be true, it must be different now. But then you learn how, even as it has grown, it has maintained its specialness, and you hope, in your next life, you can grow up there."
Jesse Kornbluth
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"Paige has a creator's capacity for molding the past into an artwork, sometimes a painting, sometimes a garden, sometimes a living room, sometimes a piece of writing. Every story is a memoir of sorts — whether her book with Christopher Cerf, Blackie: The Horse Who Stood Still which I had the honor of publishing, or Growing Up Belvedere. Paige observes, she retains. She distills. And then she produces something that touches everyone with whom it comes into contact."
Lena Tabori
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"In “Growing Up Belvedere,” Paige Peterson reminds us of a time when the joys of growing up in a world of community were not only the ideal for children but also the precious reality for all of us."
David Patrick Columbia
"Each sentence in this book is a memory gem, a collection which is at once visceral and romantic. I see, hear, smell, and wonder at each vibrant description. Peterson’s writing has a heartbeat of joy and gratitude. With her words about childhood innocence and discovery in Belvedere, she reveals the origins of her passions for color and form, people and place. I love it!"
Peter Rockrise
Landscape Architect
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