Carmel was one of the richest towns in the United States, and it proudly celebrated itself as an arts community. Tor House, with its accompanying Hawk Tower, was a unique and strikingly beautiful home that had been built mostly by the writer himself on a spectacular point overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The home of a great American writer needed to be safeguarded for posterity by raising a significant but not enormous amount of money. Some local literati organized a campaign and a few out-of-town authors, including myself, were asked to help.The challenge seemed quite simple. Although a foundation had been created in 1978, it was a small volunteer group of limited resources. The family wanted to preserve the famed stone house, tower, and gardens, but they lacked the financial means. The poet’s son Donnan had died some years earlier, leaving a widow and a mortgage. California Poetry: From the Gold Rush to the Present, edited by Dana Gioia, Chryss Yost, and Jack HicksĪ little more than fifteen years ago, I joined a small group in Carmel that was raising money to save Robinson Jeffers’ Tor House.

Tor house carmel by the sea