Fish Head Beach: The Silent and Senseless Murders of Lindsay Cutshall and Jason Allen

Fish Head Beach: The Silent and Senseless Murders of Lindsay Cutshall and Jason Allen
Author: Marques Vickers
Publisher: Marquis Publishing
Total Pages: 83
Release: 2014-09-08
Genre: True Crime
ISBN:
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“Fish Head Beach: The Silent and Senseless Murders of Lindsay Cutshall and Jason Allen” is a photo edition showcasing the Sonoma County beach and infamous 2004 crime site. Marques Vickers 95+ photographs capture the picturesque ocean and isolated shoreline that captivated the young midwestern couple prior to their execution during the late evening of August 14, 2004. Cutshall, 22 and her fiancé Allen, 26 were shot to death as they slept in separate sleeping bags on an obscured stretch of Fish Head Beach. They settled upon their sleeping arrangements during a weekend getaway from work because all of the nearby town of Jenner’s accommodation properties were fully booked. Their bodies were not discovered until Wednesday, August 18, when a Sheriff's helicopter was dispatched following a report of a man who was stranded on a cliff above Fish Head Beach. The helicopter spotted the bodies and notified the department. None of Cutshall's or Allen's belongings had been taken, ruling out robbery as a motive, and neither of the campers had been sexually assaulted. Their car, a battered red Ford Tempo was parked in a pullout spot on the side of Highway 1 in Jenner and untouched. A silent, single bullet to the skull had killed each. The evening overcast, common to northern Sonoma County, masked the moon and neither likely had any advanced warning that they were not alone. Despite exhaustive efforts by detectives, the scant evidence, no apparent motive and minimal clues have yielded no solid leads or suspects. A decade later, the case remains cold but open. The principal beach landmarks and disturbingly potential clues described in police reports have changed little. Sonoma County’s Russian River empties into the Pacific Ocean through a gulch severing Goat’s Rock Beach and Fish Head Beach adjacent to the town of Jenner, California situated on a winding stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway (California Highway 1). Like generations of precedent visitors Cutshall, 22, and Allen were moved by the splendor. Each recorded their impressions during the sunset of August 14, 2004 in a personal travel journal. “The sun is going down in the horizon,” Lindsay wrote. “All I see is the beams shining on the cliff face. And I know that God is awsome (sic). I look around and I see his creation all around me.” Jason wrote: “As I stir this Mac & Cheese I think to myself what a wonderful life. I’ve just spent two awsome (sic) days with my fiancé Lindsay. Can life ever be so perfect. Only with a person who is so great. God gives me this privilege in life and He has given me a wonderful woman to enjoy it.” It was the final entry recorded in their travel journal the day of their death.

Murder in California: Rage and Revenge Murders

Murder in California: Rage and Revenge Murders
Author: Marques Vickers
Publisher: Marquis Publishing
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2019-05-24
Genre: True Crime
ISBN:
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Murder in California: Rage and Revenge Murders profiles some of California’s most infamous murder cases. The edition photographically transports you to actual murder sites along with images related to the case and perpetrator(s). The images and accompanying profiles offer a descriptive account and follow-up aftermath providing an important understanding into the far-reaching effects of each crime. The captured snapshots portray visual testimonies of extinguished lives removed by acts of violence. Crime scenes often revert back into unremarkable landscape or unassuming buildings over the ensuing years and decades. Several have altered little since their moment of infamy. Many are passed daily by pedestrian and vehicular traffic unaware of a location’s unique significance. California has been the site for many notorious homicides. The following are portrayed in this edition: South of the Border Escapade Funded By A Murder Victim’s Credit Card McDonald’s San Ysidro Restaurant Massacre Site: Artie and Jim Mitchell: Contemporary Cain and Abel Playboy playmate Dorothy Stratten’s killing and perpetrator suicide Ewell Family Killings: Delayed gratification thwarts a near perfect killing John Morency: A Vindictive Collapse To An Illusionary Refinement Laci Peterson: When motive convicts beyond the body of evidence Lyle and Erik Menendez: The sins of the son’s bury their parents The Nicole Brown-Simpson and Ronald Goldman Murders: An American travesty The Marin County barbeque murders A convincing performance behind the killing of Bonnie Lee Bakley Vincent Brothers: The convicting insects on the radiator An Illusionary Friendship That Stimulated an Embezzlement Murder A Bondage Murder With An Unconsensual Victim A Gunfight That Ultimately Becomes A Supreme Court Precedent Diane Whipple: Defining accountability with vicious pet owners Eastside Salinas: An invisible war Rages streetside Slaying of Ennis Cosby on an isolated freeway off ramp Father Eric Freed’s Brutal Slaying: A Lost Coast of fractured souls The Silent and Senseless Murder of Lindsay Cutshall and Jason Allen Haing Ngor: An extended and consequential journey curtailed by a random killing Huey P. Newton: A tarnished messenger with feet of clay Johnny Stompanato: Lana Turner’s fatal attraction Barbara Graham: An unsympathetic film portrayal Marvin Gaye: A visionary dishonored within his household Ned Doheny and Hugh Plunkett: The Greystone Mansion murder-suicide The Unexplainable Orcutt freeway sniper attack Phil Hartman: The shocking murder-suicide from an unanticipated source Phil Spector: The Crumbling legacy of a musical genius Ramon Novarro: The gruesome torture of a closeted screen idol Ronni Chasen Shooting: When two divergent worlds collided Sal Mineo: A career comeback curtailed The Abrupt departure of Soul Music legend Sam Cooke in his prime Ryan Jenkins: Jealousy Consumes A Reality Television Contestant A Convicted Killer Finds Conjugal Affection But Never Release The Covina Christmas Eve massacre by a Santa impersonator Edward Allaway: The questionable case for cured insanity Mel and Elizabeth Grimes: The consequences behind a one-ton stone The Helzer Brothers: Children of Thunder slayings The disintegrating mind and schoolyard entrance massacre by Brenda Spencer Dr. Victor Ohta: The execution and incendiary of the house on the hill The vindictive rampage of Elliot Rodger The Golden Dragon massacre: The gang who didn’t shoot straight Lynwood Jim Drake: A loose wire springs a rampage Marcus Wesson: The cult and tragic murder consequence traced to family abuse Scott Dekraai: Revenge for a punitive divorce settlement Holzer Family stabbing spree: Spiraling out of control mental illness The Oikos University Massacre: Piecing together a disjointed puzzle San Diego State Engineering graduate student’s rage against his perceived academic tormentors Santana High School: Adolescence angst with a gunfire solution A Synagogue Shooting By A Self-Deluded Solider

Murder in California: The Topography of Evil

Murder in California: The Topography of Evil
Author: Marques Vickers
Publisher: Marquis Publishing
Total Pages: 521
Release: 2015-09-30
Genre: True Crime
ISBN:
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The second edition of “Murder in California: The Topography of Evil” is Marques Vickers’ visual return to 108 infamous crime scenes detailing the shocking and often searing narratives behind each tragedy. Over 225 images amplify insight by escorting the reader to the crime location, offering a critical context and perspective for understanding. The captured snapshots portray visual testimonies of extinguished lives removed by acts of violence. Crime scenes often revert back into unremarkable landscape or unassuming buildings over the ensuing years and decades. Several have altered little since their moment of infamy. Many are passed daily by pedestrian and vehicular traffic unaware of a location’s unique significance. California has been the residence for many notorious profiled individual and serial killers including the Zodiac, Ted Unabomber Kaczynski, Charles Manson, Sirhan Sirhan, Jim Jones, Richard Allen Davis, David Carpenter, The Menendez Brothers, Juan Corona, Rodney Alcala, Phil Spector, Dan White, Juan Corona, Richard Ramirez and Scott Peterson. The media has christened some monikers including the Trailside Killer, Children of Thunder, Co-ed Killer, Vampire of Sacramento, Zebra Killers and the Death House Landlady. The state has been the death site of notable victims including Senator Robert Kennedy, San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, Supervisor Harvey Milk, Mobster Bugsy Siegel, Black Panther Huey P. Newton, Journalist Chauncey Bailey, Nicole Simpson-Brown, Rapper Notorious B.I.G., Polly Klaas, Lacy Peterson, the Heaven’s Gate cult, singers Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke and actors Haing Ngor, Ramon Novarro and Sal Mineo. The Murder in California edition profiles are segmented into nine categories including assassinations, abductions, historical legacies, reckless homicides, chance encounters and manslaughters, law enforcement fatalities and controversies, unsolved murders, rampage and serial killers. Within the context of examining each profile, many important issues and questions are raised without necessarily culminating in resolution. These include capital punishment, racial perceptions, contributing parental influences, media reporting, public opinion, juvenile sentencing, self-incrimination protections and the impartiality of our judicial system. An extensive and updated listing of fatality victims is included along with convicted and deceased killers. Each living convict still registered within the United States penal systems is identified by their current penitentiary residence. Vickers’ own introduction to the consequences of murder began with the 1968 killings of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jenson by the Zodiac killer in the author’s hometown. Faraday was an acquaintance of Vickers through Boy Scouts and his older sister knew both victims. His reflections on the trauma inflicted on his intimate suburban community correspond with the realization that a single homicide affects far more individuals than simply the victim. Hundreds and often thousands may be touched by the arbitrariness and unfairness of life being terminated abruptly and prematurely. Cases Profiled (By Sequential Order and Category): Assassinations: Oakland School Superintendent Dr. Marcus Foster, Mobster Bugsy Siegel, Journalist Chauncey Bailey, Mickey and Trudy Thompson, San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, Rapper Christopher Wallace (Notorious B.I.G.), The Marin County Courthouse Shootout Massacre, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Hitman Joseph The Animal Barboza, Vic Weiss and the Wonderland Gang. Abductions: Patty Hearst, Nicholas Markowitz, Brooke Hart, The Onion Field Killings, Polly Klaas, Ramona Irene Price, Cal Poly Student Kristin Smart, Kevin Collins, Rachel Newhouse, Aundria Crawford and Karen Mitchell. Historical Legacies: Fung Little Pete Jing Toy, Charles Crawford, US President Warren Harding, Ned Doheny and Hugh Plunkett, Mary Ellen Pleasant, Orcutt Freeway Sniper, Miles Archer and Eastside Salinas Gang Killings. Chance Encounters and Manslaughter Killings Ennis Cosby, Diane Whipple, Haing Ngor, Huey P. Newton, Johnny Stompanato, Barbara Graham, Marvin Gaye, Phil Hartman, Phil Spector, Ramon Novarro, Ronni Chasen, Sal Mineo, Sam Cooke and Father Eric Freed. Unsolved Murders: The Black Dahlia, Lindsay Cutshall and Jason Allen, Bob Domingos and Linda Edwards, Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders, Crips Gang Founder Raymond Washington, David Nadel, Geneva Ellroy, Virginia Rapp, Kym Morgan, William Desmond Taylor, Ted Healy and the Visalia Ransacker. Rampage Mass Murders: Elliot Rodger, The Helzer Brothers, Bruce Pardo, The 101 California Building Rampage, John Linley Frazier, Edward Charles Allaway, Golden Dragon Restaurant, Meritage Salon, John Kenney, Frederick Martin Davidson, Lynwood Jim Drake, High School student Andy Williams, Oikos University Shootings, Nicolas Holzer, the Cleveland Elementary Schools in San Diego and Stockton and Marcus Wesson. Premeditated Murders: Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratten, Laci Peterson, John Morency, Artie Mitchell, Nicole Brown-Simpson, Menendez Brothers, Bonnie Lee Bakley, Vincent Brothers, Marin County Barbeque Killings and Ewell Family Executions. Law Enforcement Fatalities and Controversies Captain Walter Auble. Oscar Grant III, Newhall CHP Massacre, Office Thomas Guerry, Oakland Macarthur Boulevard Shooting, Demetrius DeBose, Policeman Matthew Pavelka and the North Hollywood Bank of America Shootout. Serial Killings: Zodiac Killer, Charles Manson, Dorothea Puente, Efren Saldivar, Ted Unabomber Kaczynski, The Two Night Stalkers, The Zebra Killings, Heaven’s Gate Suicide, Edmund Kemper III, Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris, Juan Corona, Richard Trenton Chase, Speedfreak Killers, Herbert Mullin, David Carpenter, Reverend Jim Jones and the People’s Temple Massacre, Hillside Strangler and Rodney Alcala.

Unsolved Western American Murders and Extended Cold Case Resolutions

Unsolved Western American Murders and Extended Cold Case Resolutions
Author: Marques Vickers
Publisher: Marquis Publishing
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2020-07-18
Genre: True Crime
ISBN:
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This edition profiles 75 illustrated murder cases committed within California, Oregon, Washington, Northern Idaho and Montana. Accompanying photography returns the reader to the scene of the crime with precise listed locations. The most daunting dilemma of a murder investigation is typically uncovering proof beyond a reasonable doubt that a perpetrator committed a killing. The evolution of forensic technology has enabled investigators to match DNA profiles from evidence obtained at a crime scene with specific individual samplings. This development has resulted in several high profile cases ultimately achieving resolution. Some of the accompanying profiles have developed promising suspects and probable perpetrators, but lacked the tangible evidence or persuasive courtroom presentation to convict. In a few instances, due to the notoriety of the trial, the court of popular opinion did convict the defendant, yet they remain free of incarceration. Other cases have simply lacked accompanying evidence from the outset and subsequent clues or confessions have never materialized. For a victim’s immediate circle of family, acquaintances and even society in general, a lack of closure becomes an accompanying torment. Stolen lives deserve accountability and one cannot fully understand the enormity of loss without concrete explanations of motive. Given time, some of these cases may one day find closure. Some murderers do have a conscience and scientific advancements may one day piece together the fractured incoherency of inconclusive evidence. CALIFORNIA Unsolved Murders: The Zodiac Serial Killer, Black Dahlia, Rapper Notorious B.I.G>, Gangster Bugsy Siegel, Bonnie Lee Bakley, Nicole Brown-Simpson and Ronald Goldman, Joseph The Animal Barboza, Kevin Collins, Actress Virginia Rapp, Gangster Fung Little Pete Jing Toy, Film Director William Desmond Taylor, Actor Ted Healy, Sleepy Lagoon Killing, Geneva Elroy, Vic Weiss, Crib Founder Raymond Washington, Wonderland Murders, Karen Mitchell Disappearance, Susan Berman, Kristin Smart, Eastside Salinas Gang Killings, Santa Rose Hitchhiker Murders, Bob Domingos and Linda Edwards, Kym Morgan and Ramona Irene Price. Extended Cold Cases Resolved: Lindsay Cutshall and Jason Allen, Mickey and Trudy Thompson and Golden State Serial Killer OREGON State Prison Director Michael Francke, Diane Hank, Roma Ollison, Anne Jeanne Tingry-Le-Coz, Old Town Pizza Phantom, Alice Wells, Frank Akin, 1946 Willamette River Murder, Larry Peyton and Beverly Allan and Kyron Horman Extended Cold Cases Resolved: Federal Public defender Nancy Bergeson WASHINGTON Ann Marie Burr, Edwin Pratt, Judge Tom Wales, Chalisa Lewis, Louis Bellessa, Labor activist Laura Law, Charles Mattson, Nathan Trigger Gilstrap, Marsha Weatter and Katherine Allen, Tacoma’s Puyallup Avenue Prostitutes, Oleg Babichenko, Roseanne Pleasant, Susette Werner, Timothy Alioth and Donna Plew, Tia Hicks, Fred Cohen and James Jimmy Smith Extended Cold Cases Resolved: Barbara Hickey, Brian Cole, Michella Welch, Jennifer Bastian and Serial Killer Donna Perry NORTHERN IDAHO Remains of Fatty Carroll’s Murder Victims MONTANA Union agitator Frank Little, John Bozeman, Marjorie and Nancy McQuiston, Julianne Stallman, Florence Beauty Salon Massacre, Paul Maclean, Sheila Fallang-Jordan, Bobby Kelly, Mrs. John Dougherty, Nyleen Kay Marshall, Dr. Henry Cayley and Eva Hart Extended Cold Cases Resolved: Verna Joy Kvale and Donna Meagher

The Topography of Evil: Notorious Northern California Murder Sites

The Topography of Evil: Notorious Northern California Murder Sites
Author: Marques Vickers
Publisher: Marquis Publishing
Total Pages: 310
Release: 2015-04-16
Genre: True Crime
ISBN:
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“The Topography of Evil: Notorious Northern California Murder Sites” is author and photographer Marques Vickers’ visual return to 43 infamous crime scenes detailing the shocking narratives behind each tragedy. Over 95 visual images amplify the experience by escorting the reader to the precise physical location, offering a critical context and perspective for understanding. Obscured by time and collective memory, revisiting a dormant crime scene is a process of comprehending the convergence of evil absorbed into a physical space. Crime scenes typically revert back into unremarkable landscape or unassuming buildings over the ensuing years and decades. Many are passed daily by pedestrian and vehicular traffic unaware of a location’s unique significance. The captured snapshots portray searing testimonies of extinguished lives removed by acts of violence. Northern California has been the residence for many notorious individual and serial killers including the Zodiac, Ted “Unabomber” Kaczynski, Dan White, Edmund Kemper III, Jim Jones, Richard Allen Davis, David Carpenter, Juan Corona and Scott Peterson. The media has renamed some such as the Trailside Killer, Co-ed Killer, Children of Thunder, Vampire of Sacramento, Zebra Killers and the Death House Landlady. Over 40+ convicted or deceased murderers are profiled including 24 who remain incarcerated and 5 awaiting execution at San Quentin Prison. The region has also buried notables among the profiled victims including San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, Supervisor Harvey Milk, Black Panther Huey P. Newton, Journalist Chauncey Bailey, Oscar Grant III, Polly Klaas, Lacy Peterson and 412 unclaimed bodies from the People’s Temple Massacre in Jonestown, Guyana. The Topography of Evil edition is segmented into seven categories including assassinations, abductions, historical legacies, reckless homicides, unsolved murders, rampage and serial killers. Within the context of each profile, crucial issues and questions are raised regarding capital punishment, American racial perceptions, parental influences, media reporting, public bias, self-incrimination protections and the fairness of judicial sentencing. A controversial alternative of voluntary euthanasia for the condemned is raised following the observation of California’s hopelessly backlogged number of inmates awaiting execution. Currently 743 inmates are sentenced to Death Row. Florida is second with 403 and Texas third at 276. The last California execution was in 2006. An extensive listing of fatality victims is included along with convicted and deceased killers. Each living convict still registered in the California penal system is identified by their respective current penitentiary, verdict and length of original jury sentencing. Vickers’s own introduction to the consequences of murder commenced with the 1968 killings of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jenson by the Zodiac killer in the author’s hometown. Faraday was an acquaintance of the author through Boy Scouts and his older sister knew both victims. His reflections on the trauma inflicted on his intimate suburban community correspond with the realization that a single homicide affects far more individuals than simply the victim. Hundreds and ultimately thousands may be touched by the arbitrariness and unfairness of life being terminated abruptly and prematurely. While acknowledging that some of the killings defy understanding and others may not properly be defined as evil, each remains uniquely tragic and generates substantial consequences. Remembering the legacies of the slain can seem uncomfortable for the living. Although absent from immediate view, the author stresses these victims should never be forgotten and merit our remembrance. Their legacies and the acts that ultimately killed them were final and irreversible. History weighs the significance. Cases Profiled (By Sequential Order and Category): Assassinations: Oakland School Superintendent Dr. Marcus Foster, San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, Journalist Chauncey Bailey, The Marin County Courthouse Shootout Massacre and The Contract Killing of Joseph “The Animal” Barboza. Abductions: Kevin Collins, Cal Poly Student Kristin Smart, Brooke Hart and the Resulting San Jose Public Lynching, Patty Hearst, Polly Klaas and Rex Allen Krebs Historical Legacies: Miles Archer, Mary Ellen Pleasant, Fung “Little Pete” Jing Toy, Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle and Warren Harding Reckless Homicides: Oscar Grant III, Artie Mitchell, Diane Whipple, Huey P. Newton, Laci Peterson and Lovelle Mixon Unsolved Murders: David Nadel, The Santa Rosa Hitchhiking Murders, Lindsay Cutshall and Jason Allen Rampage Mass Murders: Reverend Jim Jones and the People’s Temple Massacre, The Helzer Brothers, The 101 California Building Rampage, Dr. Victor Ohta, The 1977 Golden Dragon Bloodbath, Mel and Elizabeth Grimes, The Oikos University Shootings, Eastside Salinas Gang Killings and Lynwood “Jim” Drake. Serial Killings: Ted “Unabomber” Kaczynski, Edmund Kemper III, Richard Trenton Chase, Juan Corona and Herbert Mullin, Dorothea Puente, David: Carpenter, The Zebra Killings and The Zodiac Killer.

The Twilight Tree Graveyard of Rialto Beach, Washington

The Twilight Tree Graveyard of Rialto Beach, Washington
Author: Marques Vickers
Publisher: Marquis Publishing
Total Pages: 106
Release: 2015-09-05
Genre: Art
ISBN:
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“The Twilight Tree Graveyard of Rialto Beach” features over 105 photographic images capturing the stacked bleached tree lined shorelines and bordering forest. Rialto Beach’s shoreline is the most distinctive and scenic of five La Push, Washington regional beaches. The region is home to the Native American Quileute Nation, renowned for a folklore descending from wolf tribalism. Author Stephanie Meyer incorporated this ancient mythology into a popular book and film fantasy compilation entitled the Twilight Series. She injected the culturally popular themes of vampires and werewolves into the story lines. In Meyer’s work, the Vampire community has staked out the adjacent town of Forks and the Werewolves, nearby La Push. One of her primary characters, Jacob Black is a Quileute with the propensity to transform himself into a werewolf. Tourists and readers have invaded the region hoping to pinpoint the literary icons with their actual physical reference locations. Movie viewers are frequently disappointed. The actual filming was completed in Oregon and Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Rialto Beach features the stark duality between darkness and light highlighted by the phantom ghost trees that line its shores and layer its sands. The severe vision mirrors a contrast between life and death. The bulk of the adjacent forest pulsates with lush growth. The trees fronting the forward fringe slowly capitulate towards their intended destiny. Their skeletal remains resemble phantom monoliths awaiting a nemesis of death and decay. A subsequent generation of growth nudges them annually closer to oblivion. The graveyard forests stretch across ebony and silted sands. The purification of their carcasses is accelerated by the scathing winds and inhospitable waves scrapping bark bare and bleaching color absolutely. Each tree becomes honed, polished and smoothed until ultimately broken and disposable. Periodic lightening strikes enflame the vulnerable mounds. Twisted and gnarled rootstock accentuates texture, punctuated by gaping holes and splintering surfaces.

Death of a Post Office: The Bruised Legacy of Architect William H. Corlett

Death of a Post Office: The Bruised Legacy of Architect William H. Corlett
Author: Marques Vickers
Publisher: Marquis Publishing
Total Pages: 114
Release: 2017-01-22
Genre: Architecture
ISBN:
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“Death of a Post Office: The Bruised Legacy of Architect William H. Corlett” details the abrupt 2014 closure and aftermath of the Franklin Street Post Office in Napa, California. The Art Deco style building, constructed in 1933 sustained significant structural damage during the August 23rd Napa earthquake closing the facility to public access and mail sorting operations. Author Marques Vickers began photographing the exterior damage on the morning of the quake and continued in intervals until January 2017. Over 70+ images display the building’s exterior wounds. Vickers’ narrative follows the history and complexity of restoring local architect’s William H. Corlett’s design, originally financed by Franklin Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration. The brick edifice features exterior terra cotta friezes of shields, ram heads, eagles, and decorative cornices. Sizable bronze urn lanterns front the entrance and exit doors. The interior showcases an elaborate lobby featuring detailed woodwork, ceilings and lower walled marble paneling. In 1985, the building was added to the National Register of Historical Places. The repair cost evaluation in July 2015, prompted the US Postal Service to announce their intention to demolish the building. A subsequent concerted public outcry resulted in the authority modifying their decision and offering the building for sale. The stipulation that the structure be restored to its original architectural integrity has become problematic. Napa is destined to lose their main post office but potentially gain a commercial development. The book photographs another Corlett designed building, the Alexandria Hotel that sustained significant damage during the quake. Privately owned, restoration work began immediately and was completed in 2016. An additional 30+ photos document the stages of repair and five additional Corlett structures in Napa. Despite the severity of the structural destruction, Corlett’s legacy remains intact.

The Architectural Elevation of Technology

The Architectural Elevation of Technology
Author: Marques Vickers
Publisher: Marquis Publishing
Total Pages: 134
Release: 2016-03-16
Genre: Architecture
ISBN:
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“The Architectural Elevation of Technology” is a photographic survey of 75 prominent Silicon Valley corporate headquarters buildings. The 134-page edition is photographed and authored by California artist Marques Vickers. The geographical territory included with the book is framed to the north by Redwood City and extended to the south until Cupertino. Corporate headquarters are included within the cities of Palo Alto, Santa Clara, Mountain View, Menlo Park, San Jose, Sunnyvale, Milpitas and Fremont. Notable structures include the Oracle, Samsung and the Apple 2 campus, currently under construction. Background is provided on each building’s history and when each present tenant began their occupancy. “The photo project’s motivation was based on my curiosity as to the public face of the information technology sector,” notes Vickers. “Did the more prominent companies mirror the aesthetic polish of their online renown and presence? Would their architecture reflect the affluence and prosperity many of these industry icons have come to represent?” “Silicon Valley technology parks, corporate campuses and headquarters appear indistinguishable from other more traditional office construction. Their appearance is generally consistent with contemporary design trends favoring reflective glass framed by steel and masonry.” Vickers observes in his accompanying commentary several distinctive traits regarding high-tech constructions. Among those include decentralized layouts, lack of streetfront parking and the significant shielding of inside views by landscaped trees and foliage. “The true innovation and resources appear to have been concentrated on interior space management schematics and novelty design.” Vickers adds, “The intention is purposeful. By creating a playful and aesthetic interior environment for employees, many are inclined and stimulated to spend significant additional hours on work-related projects in the facility. Social bondings are encouraged, creating a synergy of professional comradery. Working hours assimilate into lifestyle preferences.”

You Can’t Return Home Except Through Photographs and Memory

You Can’t Return Home Except Through Photographs and Memory
Author: Marques Vickers
Publisher: Marquis Publishing
Total Pages: 178
Release: 2017-03-03
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:
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Author Marques Vickers returns to his hometown of Vallejo, California with his memoir “You Can’t Return Home Except Through Photographs and Memory”. The personal narrative traces his formation within a community that through his eyes has slipped a notch from both the middle-class and affluence. Vickers employs a light but candid tone on a gravely perceived subject, Vallejo’s regressive deterioration. The suburban San Francisco Bay Area town of 120,000 was formerly the California State Capital twice and home to the Mare Island Naval Shipyard. The base closed in 1996 creating an employment void that prompted stagnation within the downtown core. Vickers was raised locally during the 1960s-70s. He traces the specific causes for decline as the proliferation of long simmering racial tensions, homelessness, aggressive criminality and drug trafficking. Returning in 1987 as an adult following a twelve-year absence, he was struck by the town’s smallness of scale. In spite of the successful recruitment of Marine World Africa USA in 1986, the addition has not elevated Vallejo into a desirable extended stay tourist destination. He observes that seemingly for every positive step forward, the city tends to relapse two steps backwards. Despite the deterioration, most Vallejoans he knows are proud of their grounded heritage. His text is far from bleak and bitter. He cites the town’s distinctiveness, attractions and diversity that positively impacted his personal development. His photo compilation was prompted by a return for the funeral service of a 90-year-old friend Andy who died on New Years Day 2017. Andy, a former longtime resident, avoided local visitations noting the degenerating conditions from his residence in adjacent Benicia. The author’s own series of memories were exhumed at the same time as the body of his friend was being lowered into the ground for burial. Vickers surveys the present tense community with his camera lens portraying a bittersweet reality. Although he cannot overlook the obvious, he hopes the current downtown may ultimately be viewed as an isolated puzzle piece fitting into a larger positive legacy. Balancing his criticism with objectivity, humor and insight, Vickers attempts to accurate portray a subject he mourns and knows intimately.

The Red-Light District of Butte Montana

The Red-Light District of Butte Montana
Author: Marques Vickers
Publisher: Marquis Publishing
Total Pages: 159
Release: 2017-06-20
Genre: Social Science
ISBN:
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This edition is an intimate photo examination of the infamous Butte, Montana sex trade once nationally recognized during the late 19th and early 20th century. Over 135 current photographs document the remnants of the famed copper mining town’s prostitution core. The work details historical anecdotes, narratives on colorful personages and perspective on an era when prostitution was locally institutionalized. The remaining Dumas Brothel is a profiled parlor house noteworthy for its operational longevity between 1890-1982. The Dumas is the longest tenured American house of prostitution. The property weathered numerous reform movements and attempts towards forced closure by governmental authorities. Owner tax evasion ultimately shuttered the property. Across the road is the Blue Range Building, the last street-facing example of the lowest extremity of prostitution once employed within the district. The seven sets of ground floor doors and adjacent windows housed segregated cubicles called cribs. Diminutive cribs accommodated only a single bed and an occasional washbasin. Lower esteemed prostitutes serviced clients from these utilitarian spaces. Butte’s prostitution industry reinforced a rigid hierarchy of distinguishing elite mistresses for the affluent and influential, from lowly street solicitors. The lifestyle of sex professionals was plagued by drug addiction, financial debt, sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, abortion, violence and abuse by their patrons and jealousy-motivated clients. Suicide was common even amongst the highest regarded women within such a cannibalistic environment, During the turn of the twentieth century, Butte was one of the largest Rocky Mountain population centers. Its licentious reputation mirrored contemporary Las Vegas. Unlike many western frontier settlements, cowboy culture made minimal intrusion. Butte’s red-light district is a haunting environment with a complex past.