View from Mt. Tam

With 2008 well under way and our resolve to keep those New Year’s resolutions already backsliding, February is the ideal time to renew mind, body and spirit. Julie Keller tells us how with a guide to eight wonderful spas. They exist right at our doorstep (Stinson) as well as the other side of the world (Thailand).

For people who prefer to be here and there at the same time, take a lesson from designer Linda Applewhite and her husband, Marshall Miller. They’ve managed to add a cozy casita in Santa Fe to their local life in Belvedere, giving them diverse options in climate and culture.  P.J. Bremier has the whole story.

From New Mexico, we head farther south and cross the border into very old Mexico, where photographer and writer Klaus Larsen takes us on a visual journey through the cobblestoned callecitos of the colonial cities of San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato. Bienvenidos!

Here in Marin, editor-at-large Tim Porter examines the state of local philanthropy. With more nonprofits per capita than any other community in California, and one of the largest private foundations in the country, is Marin giving enough?

In this issue we also meet Julia Flynn Siler of Ross, author of The House of Mondavi; Marco and Terri d’Ambrosio, who put the music in the movies from their studio in Novato; and, in Dialogue, former broadcaster Jim Lange and his wife, Nancy, of Mill Valley.

In Play, we’re off to Sonoma, where we find daring young (and not so young) women and men at a trapeze arts school. Microclimate visits Sycamore Park and Tamalpais Park in Mill Valley. And Neighboring ’Hoods ventures up the coast to Bodega Bay.

As always, our wish is for your good reading. Enjoy Marin Magazine, as we continue to celebrate this extraordinary place!

Lisa Shanower, Publisher
Nikki Wood, Editorial Director
Jim Wood, Executive Director