CANCELLED – Writing History, Finding Community: One Historian’s Journey with Richard Schwartz – October 19, 2025
This event has been cancelled
Unfortunately, this event has been cancelled. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Some attendees have offered to donate the cost of their ticket but we’d be happy to refund the price of your ticket and we have already sent an email about this. Thank you for your understanding.
Our November speaker will be Renee Swindle, who will be talking on “Discovering Your Author Voice.” Stay tuned for more information soon.
Meet fellow writers at Gilman Brewing Company
This is our first event at our new location–that’s right, we’re meeting LIVE and in person! The new location is Gilman Brewing Company at 912 Gilman St, Berkeley, CA 94710. They have food and drinks so arrive hungry! Check out their menu here. The event is located in the Sixth Street shopping district in West Berkeley. If you need help getting there, contact Jordan at the berkeley.cwc@gmail.com to arrange ride share.
Writing History and Finding Community with Richard Schwartz
Author historian Richard Schwartz’s writing life began while fighting fires for the U.S Forest Service. He didn’t plan it, but a fateful visit to a local historical society lit the spark. He’ll share how his writing evolved and guide participants into finding their own paths. The changes in his life that occurred from his books percolated into the hearts of so many, and the lonely times of much effort with no visible effects were simply endured. Richard’s success was first an interior adventure, and that metamorphosed into a sharing and constantly changing experience, presenting his historical world to his communities.
About Richard Schwartz
Richard has had a life that focused on his love of the outdoor world and its ethereal dimensions. After time as a forest fire fighter in the Sierra, evolving from a carpenter with his uncle to a career as a general building contractor, he spent his time outside and with his animals. After spending some years playing Brazilian street music, Richard felt the siren call of history and had no choice but to follow this passion. He fell into writing history by first coming upon a stone circle 65-feet in diameter in a Sierra Nevada valley and then making a fateful visit to a historical society when they were about to throw away a stack of 100-year-old newspapers. He has written five books on local and national history on topics that were always forgotten or lost. They have won numerous awards and acclamations. The public reaction to the books spurred him to burn the midnight oil and wet his curiosity about how such amazing stories were ever lost. Richard also has, for decades, been finding and recording with the State of California historical archive previously unknown Native American sites in the Bay Area. He has found over 1,000 locations and is called on by archaeologists. Richard loves what he does and feels he is made for his custom life.
You can check out his website
http://www.richardschwartz.info/
Schedule
$5 for members, $10 for guests, free tickets available*
Community
1:00 Doors open
1:30 Welcome and networking with members & guests
Program
2:00 p.m. Club Announcements
2:30 p.m. Member Spotlight: None
3:00 p.m. Featured Speaker: Richard Schwartz
5:00 p.m. Author Support Group more info here.
See meetings for more info.
Our November speaker event will Renee Swindle and will also be at Gilman Street Brewing. Tickets available soon!
Discover more from The Berkeley Branch of the California Writers Club
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Ann Harlow 10/08/2025 (8:42 pm)
Is it possible to just pay at the door? And is this a one-time or permanent change of schedule from 1 pm start time?
Karma Bennett 11/03/2025 (3:40 pm)
We are still deciding whether the time change should be permanent. People feel that the meetings were too long when they were on Zoom, but it’s different live when you want time to talk to people. I would love your feedback on this topic…we’ve been putting together a survey about it, but have had to put that project aside as the loss of a board member recently has put us in triage mode.