Ben Lomond author gives prolific inventor, John J. Montgomery, the long-overdue credit he deserves

Few Santa Cruzans know that some of the breakthrough experiments in aviation history occurred right in their own backyard. When humankind began to believe in the seemingly impossible notion of controlled flight in the early 1900s, the Wright brothers held the spotlight for their powered aerial flights in Kitty Hawk, N.C. Meanwhile, another man’s breakthrough inventions took to the skies above Aptos.

“Aptos was the Kitty Hawk of the West,” says Craig Harwood. The Ben Lomond resident recently co-authored the book “Quest for Flight,” which tells the tale of a prolific inventor named John J. Montgomery, whose breakthroughs in human-controlled air flight—many of which took place in the Santa Cruz region—fueled the legacy of American aviation. “It was this significant transition from idea and model to being fully demonstrated in a controlled flight hundreds of feet above the earth,” he explains.

Local author Cecile Andrews emphasizes importance of community engagement in newest book

Cecile Andrews, author of the new book “Living Room Revolution: A Handbook for Conversation, Community and the Common Good,” probably wouldn’t get along too well with Larry David’s character from HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, known for hiding his face and avoiding communication with anyone he runs into on the street. Andrews is a longstanding part-time Santa Cruz (part-time Seattle) resident who says something that’s struck her about this town over the years is people's willingness to participate in a practice she’s dubbed the “Stop and Chat”—which is exactly what it sounds like.

David Cay Johnston’s new book explains how big companies rob us blind

In his late teens David Cay Johnston started to ask questions. “Why do we have these guys in uniforms with guns driving around in cars all day?” “Why is the Santa Cruz County Courthouse being built in such an unusual shape?”

He wrote an article, while still living in his hometown of Santa Cruz, proving that the off-kilter courthouse building, which officials had promised would save money, actually cost more than a conventional building.

Vintage Faith founder sifts through the ‘mess’ of modern-day church in new book

Dan Kimball is not your average church founder. Having not grown up in a Christian family, his path to evangelical Christianity has been a circuitous one, which includes several years as a punk and rockabilly drummer.

Eventually, that colorful background led to the founding of Vintage Faith Church and The Abbey in Santa Cruz, and more recently, Kimball has used his unique perspective to write “Adventures in Churchland: Finding Jesus in the Mess of Organized Religion,” a book published by Harper Collins.

Editor’s note: The third annual Morton Marcus Memorial Reading, which will take place at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 10 at the Cabrillo College Recital Hall, will feature American Book Award Winner and Chancellor of American Poets, Arthur Sze. In honor of the free event, this week’s Poetry Corner features work by the renowned poet. Educated at UC Berkeley, Sze is the author of eight books of poetry, including “The Ginkgo Light,” “The Redshifting Web: Poems 1970-1998,” and “Archipelago.”