Cranking out a new issue every month, we sometimes forget to take a moment and reflect on all that we have covered and all those we have reached with Marin Magazine. Believe it or not, that’s 240 issues, around 27,840 produced pages and 835,200,000 total reader impressions for our print product over 20 years — a lot of ink and paper. In that time we’ve covered Marin’s County’s reaction to a nationwide pandemic and dove into important issues with award-winning articles on race equity, homelessness, climate change and more. We hope you enjoy this trip through the last 10 years as we look back at notable stories.
Curious about the first decade of Marin Magazine‘s history? See what we did to celebrate our 10 year anniversary, with a look back at content spanning from 2005 – 2015, here.
2015
Marin Magazine clocks in a decade of monthly magazines, and our June issue dives deep into each year of our coverage… much like we’re doing now. Our 2015 coverage includes interviews with movers and shakers in the county, from elected officials like Jared Huffman and Marc Levine, to community leaders like Book Passage founder Elaine Petrocelli and musician Narada Michael Walden.
Sound Bites
FEBRUARY Between the white lab coats and disposable booties, we dove into Marin’s biotechnology industry, including at BioMarin Pharmaceuticals and the Buck Institute.
APRIL Drakes Estero emptied of oysters and shellfish, when the state’s last oyster cannery, Drakes Bay Oyster Company, closed its farm after the National Parks Services did not extend its lease.
SEPTEMBER Marin County got a perfect rating for the water quality of its beaches by California-based organization Heal the Bay.
NOVEMBER We got the behind-the-scenes on three Marin artists: Zio Ziegler, who creates monumental oil paintings and murals; multimedia artist Laura Kimpton, who centers words and thought in her art; and muralist, ceramicist, installation artist and sculptor Ian Ross.
Remembered
Robin Williams
In the summer of 2015, the Waldo Tunnel (the “rainbow tunnel”) marking the entrance to our county became the Robin Williams Tunnel. He passed away in August 2014.
2016
The news lit up with election coverage, and Californians lit up for the first time — wink, wink — with the legalization of recreational marijuana. Local improvements promise a new chapter for Marin: the SMART Train prepares to debut, Stafford Lake bike park opens and a 1930s-era gas plant in downtown San Rafael transforms into BioMarin’s new headquarters. We also sat down with the Marinites planning Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium. It must have been a success, since it’s coming back for an encore next year.
Remembered
Bill English
Bill English, Marin resident
and engineer, built the
first computer mouse in
the 1960s. On dubbing it
the mouse, English said
“We had this box and a
tail came out of it. Why not
call it a mouse?” English
passed away in 2020.
Sound Bites
JANUARY In the aftermath of a devastating earthquake in Kathmandu, Teri Goldstein reflects on the people, culture and beauty of Nepal.
MARCH Jim Wood interviewed architect Mark Cavagnero about the Seminary housing project in Strawberry. Cavagnero said he, “is in for the long haul.” Debate still continues over the project, for which an environmental impact report was published in July 2024.
MAY Out of 200 submissions, Barrie Barnett’s painting Marin Rowing Association Juniors wins our cover contest.
JUNE Acclaimed chef Ron Siegel joins Rancho Nicasio as chef and partner. Siegel would deepen his connection to Marin dining in 2017 by opening Madcap, the county’s only restaurant with a Michelin star.
Trend Alert
We explored the subculture of a
novel form of transport taking Marin by storm: e-biking.
2017
In the wake of the year’s many Northern California wildfires, a few powerful Marin Magazine articles shared both personal experiences and advice from experts to encourage healing within the community. Marin Magazine also called upon local residents for their input with August’s annual Best of the County issue for the first time. Some niche interests of Marin residents were highlighted, including kayaking, mushroom hunting and radio operating.
Sound Bites
APRIL Now retired Marin County Public Health Officer Matt Willis talks to us about a variety of health-related concerns, such as opioid addiction, the vaccination debate and more.
AUGUST We share the stories of generational Marin families and their ongoing construction businesses, including the Ghilottis of Ghilotti Construction Company and Ongaros of Ongaro and Sons.
OCTOBER Local and beloved award-winning sports journalist Amy Gutierrez sat down with us to answer 10 questions about her career, what brought her to it and what advice she’d share.
DECEMBER To celebrate Mission San Rafael’s 200th anniversary, we did a deep dive into the history of the penultimate California mission and center of our county’s most populated city.
Trend Alert
More residents are finding an
interest in brewing their own
beer — some have even built
businesses out of it such as Chris Coomber of East Brother Brewing Co., pictured left.
Remembered
Jerry Jampolsky
Child and adult psychiatrist
Gerald “Jerry” Jampolsky was the founder of Sausalito-based Center for Attitudinal Healing and author of a long list of books, all of which carry on his legacy. In a 2017 interview, Jampolsky shared about growing up with dyslexia, and his path as an author and psychiatrist. He passed in 2020.
2018
Marin and the Bay Area reached new heights in 2018 — literally, in some cases. The newly opened Salesforce Tower transformed San Francisco’s skyline, and Marin’s own Gavin Newsom reaches the peak of state politics in the governor’s office. Meanwhile, Marin Magazine got new carpets as part of an office remodel. Our award-winning coverage spanned topics like social media dependency, the county’s high suicide rates and the deepening opioid crisis, which was declared a public health emergency in 2017.
Remembered
Anna Halprin
“What interests me is an art that is connected to life, where the social, political, spiritual and aesthetic threads are all interwoven in a real way,” said Anna Halprin in a September 2018 interview. We asked Halprin, then 98 years old, about her decades-long career as a dance artist and choreographer, and her conviction in dance as a healing art — a practice that continues at her Tamalpa Institute. Halprin passed in 2021 at age 100.
Sound Bites
FEBRUARY We “meat” the future of dining with the growing adoption of the Impossible burger, among other meat alternatives.
MAY Our first Celebrating Women issue highlights women business owners and entrepreneurs.
JUNE Harrowing numbers about the prevalence of plastic straws in beach garbage prompt Marin businesses to opt for paper.
OCTOBER A “Looking Back” column by Jim Wood finishes the issue off with the story of the eponymous horse memorialized at Tiburon’s Blackie’s Pasture. Blackie often stood in one favorite spot — where his statue stands today.
DECEMBER Mountain bike racer and (now) Olympian Kate Courtney talks her favorite spots in Marin: tacos at Mi Pueblo and the trails at Tamarancho.
“We live in an era defined by the issue,
and it is our generation’s issue to fix.”
— Adam Friedman, then a senior at Marin Academy. Students
across Marin and the country walked out in protest of school
gun violence one month after the shooting at Marjory
Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
2019
We saw many familiar faces in our 2019 issues — 2024 Model of the Year winner Alex Consani is one, featured on our September cover and inside. Some well-known local residents made appearances too, including Sausalito’s Melissa Blaustein and Rustic Bakery founder and president Carol LeValley. Other important topics of conversation in the county this year include fentanyl overdose, homelessness, food sustainability and sea level rise.
Sound Bites
JANUARY We talked to David and Nic Sheff, writers of the two memoirs that inspired Hollywood hit film Beautiful Boy.
MARCH The San Quentin Handicraft Shop is highlighted as a hidden gem in our currents section.
APRIL Ever wondered why you always hear “420” in reference to marijuana? It was actually born in our own backyard — you can thank five San Rafael teens.
DECEMBER San Francisco Ballet celebrated its 75th year of performing the Nutcracker.
Famous Faces
Alex Consani
Consani pictured standing in front of the Bay and a view of the San Francisco skyline for our memorable September cover.
2020
You know what they say about hindsight. 2020 started off optimistically in Marin Magazine. The March issue even began by declaring, “Happy March. Happy Future.” Little did we know that on March 16, Marin and five other Bay Area counties would institute shelter-in-place orders to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Subsequent months saw the rise of Zoom meetings, persistent wildfires and a nationwide movement against racism and police brutality, spurred by the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, among other deaths. A year to remember? More like a year that’s hard to forget.
Remembered
Dr. Martin Griffin
Activist and “rebel with a cause” Dr. Martin Griffin answered our questions about his years of efforts to protect the Bay Area’s natural environment. Griffin highlighted the need to protect the National Park Service and defend the environment from a grassroots level. He passed in 2024.
Sound Bites
MARCH Maria Finn detailed the decline of coho, chinook salmon and steelhead trout in California’s rivers, highlighting efforts to “rewild” San Geronimo Golf Course to restore key habitat. Today, the golf course is public land, called San Geronimo Commons.
MAY Our special issue, titled Our New Reality, focused on the community reaction to coronavirus. We interviewed public health officer Matt Willis, who contracted one of the county’s first cases of the virus.
JUNE Marin Magazine’s Summer Guide debuts the “Marin Decathlon,” a 10-step outdoor challenge to get moving during social distancing.
JULY Beekeeper Bonnie Morse dispels rumors about the Asian giant hornet, dubbed “murder hornets,” that some feared would threaten honeybees.
NOVEMBER A Marin couple saved for a birthday trip of a lifetime to the Himalayas. Only problem: they arrived Feb. 29, 2020. Cassie Corless wrote a first-person story on their riveting journey back home.
“I’ve always been more of a supporter,
in the audience, not a leader. So when I got
to the parking lot on Tuesday and I turned
around and saw so many more people still
pouring in for the protest, I couldn’t believe it.”
— Mikyla Williams, at 16 years old, co-organized Marin City’s protest for racial justice, which drew over 1,500 people.
2021
The pandemic’s grip still held on tight into and throughout 2021, and we covered it all, from the strengthened sense of community felt in Marin (remember the “nightly howl” for health care workers?) to negatives like the mass Covid outbreaks at San Quentin. Pandemic aside, 2021 was also the year Oakland native Kamala Harris was sworn in as the first female vice president of the United States.
Sound Bites
FEBRUARY San Anselmo Community Foundation gave $45,000 worth of $1,000 grants to businesses committed to staying open through the pandemic.
MARCH The West’s first racially integrated summer camp was in Marin, so we took a look at its history.
SEPTEMBER Located at the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge, Equator Coffees brought the iconic Round House Cafe back to life.
NOVEMBER Writer Mark Anthony Wilson explores the legacy of Marin County’s namesake, Miwok Leader “Chief Marin,” by looking at the different key spots of Miwok history in the county.
Trend Alert
In the midst of isolation, people looked for ways to travel and vacation while still being Covid-conscious.
Famous Faces
Alicia Garza
Marin native and co-founder
of the Black Lives Matter
Movement Alicia Garza sat
down with us to talk about her
book The Purpose of Power:
How We Come Together When
We Fall Apart.
2022
It’s a new chapter for Marin Magazine. In October, some of the original Marin Magazine crew returned under the new parent company 270 Media, joining the brand to sister site Local Getaways. Marin sees a number of new business openings, plus some milestone anniversaries, like the Golden Gate Bridge’s 85th birthday and Marin City’s 80th anniversary since founding. Though Covid-19 was still on everyone’s mind (it was the era of the Omicron variant), re-openings and in-person events signaled new beginnings.
Famous Faces
Sammy Hagar & Guy Fieri
Mill Valley’s Sammy Hagar answered questions about being a restaurateur and rockstar, including how he met Sonoma County chef Guy Fieri.
Sound Bites
JANUARY Entrepreneur Jennifer Maxwell talks drumming, nutrition and the launch of her new venture JAMBAR — three decades after Maxwell and her late husband Brian co-founded PowerBar.
FEBRUARY The legacy of redlining comes into focus when the Austin family files a lawsuit alleging discrimination, after an appraisal of their Marin City home significantly increased once they concealed their Black identity. The suit settled in 2023.
SEPTEMBER Mill Valley Film Festival hosts its first in-person festival since the pandemic began.
It was a big year for business openings. Among them were:
Petite Left Bank and Squalo Vino Tiburon
Active Culture Café and Trailhead Novato
Club Evexia and Mamahuhu Mill Valley
Cloudbreak Yoga Sausalito
Ounces Outdoors San Rafael
A new and improved museum, Angel Island
2023
2023 was a big year for us — we launched our Local Getaways app and celebrated our one-year anniversary of getting Marin Magazine back under the 270 Media umbrella. We explored local history in many of our articles this year, such as Mt. Tam’s scenic railroad and the stories of old architecture. Additionally in 2023: Black bear sightings increased in Marin, AI entered the conversation and trade school talk gained some popularity.
Sound Bites
FEBRUARY Jazz music has strong historical roots in Marin. We explored the musicians who have lived, played and recorded here, and how it’s still relevant to the present-day music scene.
APRIL Marin County begins issuing rebates for swapping gas appliances with alternatives that are less harmful to both people and the environment.
Trend Alert
Marin hops on the pickleball bandwagon,
with folks picking up paddles and courts
popping up around the county.
Famous Faces
Bob Minkin
Pictured above is one of local photographer Bob Minkin’s images for his then newly
released book Just Bobby with nearly 200 photos of
Bobby Weir on and off stage.
2024
The Olympics, solar eclipse and major elections were just a handful of happenings in 2024. In this busy year, Marin County topped lists nationwide for electric vehicle usage, and within California as the most charitable and second happiest county. Marin Magazine coverage also included hard-hitting topics like the home insurance crisis, digital privacy, homelessness in Marin and cancer-causing chemicals that threaten firefighters.
Famous Faces
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda and Margaret O’Leary launch a poncho to
raise funds for climate change.
Sound Bites
FEBRUARY A group of Marin County youth visit sites of Black history in Alabama and write essays about their experience.
JUNE Our June issue flips out for summer: One side is Marin Magazine, and the reverse side opens up to the Local Getaways Summer Guide.
JULYJim Wood explores the arguments surrounding California Forever, an ambitious development project for a new city in Solano County. As of writing, the project is in limbo, with many organizations opposed and a referendum to rezone the area for housing withdrawn.
NOVEMBER Marin teen Anya Duggal of Ross meets Pope Francis in the Vatican as part of his Pelota de Trapo program. Then, the Pope requests a copy of Marin Magazine.
