This is the first part of a lively conversation with Dr. Jason Sexton, editor of a book on the renowned California historian Kevin Starr (1940-2017).

Sexton describes Starr as California’s most ambitious interpreter. Starr’s 8-volume history, spanning the state’s origins to the 2000s, is the most complete work on California in print.

Kevin Starr grew up in an orphanage and San Francisco’s housing projects. As a young man, he studied at the University of San Francisco before serving in the U.S. Army in Europe. He later went on to earn a doctorate at Harvard University and became a prolific newspaper columnist before dedicating himself to interpreting California history. Through his unique life experience, Starr developed an expansive perspective that embraced the character of both Northern and Southern California.

Jason Sexton, who grew up in the Central Valley town of Tracy, became fascinated by Starr’s vision after reading his works. As a theologian and sociologist, Sexton saw religious dimensions in Starr’s works that he believed needed to be explored. This motivated him to edit a volume that would examine, appreciate and even critique Starr’s approach to the state’s history.

The interview also covers Jason’s unconventional path to academia in the UK before returning to California and how he sees Starr as embodying the “redemptive dreams” of people making history in the fragmented Golden State.

Learn more:

• Jason Sexton, Ph.D.
• Jason’s book Redemptive Dreams: Engaging Kevin Starr’s California
• Kevin Starr’s Books on Amazon.com

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