David Perlis at the Henry Miller Library

Join the Henry Miller Library as David discusses his book, which explores Marin County’s cultural awakening — and includes cameos by Henry Miller. Pack a lunch!

Morning in Marin: Zen, Drugs, and Ewoks on the California Coast is the first major history of the “Marinaissance,” the cultural awakening that made Marin County an unlikely epicenter of postwar American creativity and helped shape everything from Star Wars and psychedelic rock to New Age spirituality and speculative fiction.

Drawing on archival research and interviews with the who’s-who of the Marin cultural scene, Perlis traces how artists, filmmakers, musicians, and Zen practitioners transformed Marin into a hub of experimentation whose influence spread across entertainment and modern spiritual life.

Henry Miller even makes a few cameos here, alongside Jean Varda and California’s midcentury bohemian scene. In the book, Dave relates how Varda introduced Miller to Big Sur — and Anaïs Nin.