Back To Zabriskie Point – Again!

The Story of Rosamond

by

Jon Presco

Copyright 2017

“Sometime around 1890, Ada’s husband took off and left her with their two children, Violet and Romer. She turned to art full-time, set up the Shawhan Studio, and earned money illustrating books and painting society portraits. She became well-known in California and often was written up in the San Francisco Call, where a woman reporter followed the art scene closely.”

Del Monte Aviation & Buck Inst.

Melba’s best friend was named Violet. The two Violets look alike, and were dancers. I met Violet once around 1956. Vic described her as “ethereal”. He was eluding to something else. When I saw the photo of them in the Oakland Hills near Joaquin Miller’s Bohemian retreat, I wonder if they were Lesbians. Melba had only one child, and her second husband, Joe Wilson, slept in his own bedroom. Did he have a war injury? Why…