A “novel” idea
By MARISA MATA, Student Writer
In his recently published novel, Dale Kornreich (1976) does what hasn’t been done in almost 60 years.
“The last time someone had written a fiction novel about the Channel Islands was The Island of the Blue Dolphins, and that was [56] years ago,” Kornreich said.
In Santa Cruz, The Island of Limuw, Kornreich blurs the lines between fact and fiction by intertwining historical and geographic truths and made-up adventures involving characters based on his family members.
Completing the novel was a difficult five-year process for Kornreich, who wrote part-time while also continuing his career in law.
“I’ve been a lawyer for 34 years and I’ve always wanted to write a novel. Finally, my practice had been successful enough that I had time to focus on writing. I would try to schedule to do legal for two days and writing for three. That’s what I did for a number of years, and that’s eventually how I got it done.”
“As I worked on my book, there were days when I could barely write a small paragraph. Fortunately, there were other days when the creative juices just flowed, and it was magical. The greatest moment, however, is looking at a completed chapter and thinking to yourself, ‘I actually wrote that!’ It occasionally brought tears to my eyes.”
In addition to finding joy in writing and being creative, writing his novel allowed Kornreich to reconnect with his long-time love of the ocean.
“I’m originally from the San Diego area. Throughout high school I was a scuba diver, fisherman, spearman and I surfed. I’ve always had a love for the ocean. So when I decided to write this novel, I thought I would write about something I knew about.”
“I’ve been on Santa Cruz Island. And I like going to the Channel Islands…our islands are so rich in history, they’re like the Galapagos of California.”
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