Lake Tahoe transformed America, and not just once but many times
over--from the earliest Ice Age civilizations to the mysterious death of
Marilyn Monroe. It even played a hidden role in the American conquest of
California, the launch of the Republican Party, and the birth of John
Steinbeck's first novel. Along the way, Lake Tahoe found the time to
invent the ski industry, spark the sexual revolution, and win countless
Academy Awards. Tahoe beneath the Surface brings this hidden history
of America's largest mountain lake to life through the stories of its
most celebrated residents and visitors over the last ten thousand years.
It mixes local Washoe Indian legends with tales of murderous Mafia dons,
and Rat Pack tunes with Steinbeck novels. It establishes Tahoe as one of
America's literary hot spots by tracing the steps of more than a dozen
authors including Bertrand Russell, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Michael
Ondaatje. Tahoe beneath the Surface reveals how the lake transformed
the lives of conservationists like John Muir, humorists like Mark Twain,
and Hollywood icons like Frank Sinatra. It even touches upon some of the
darker aspects of American history, including anti-Chinese racism and
the Kennedy assassination.
Despite the impact Lake Tahoe has had on America, environmental threats
loom large, and Tahoe Blue--a term that Lankford uses to encompass the
whole range of life, beauty, and meaning the lake represents--grows
increasingly vulnerable. In Tahoe beneath the Surface, human history
and natural history combine in a most engaging way, one that will both
inform and inspire all who would keep Tahoe blue.
