Please join the Left Coast Writers for our celebration in memory of past LCW Member and beloved Wanderland Writers Contributor Ethel Mussen
Saturday April 12th, 2025 — 2PM
Book Passage- Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr. Corte Madera ||
Join us as we celebrate the life and work of writer, traveler and centenarian Ethel Mussen, who passed away this year, a few years ahead of her 104th birthday. Some of us had the pleasure of her friendship, of knowing and traveling the world with her. Many of us have been delighted by Ethel’s travel tales published in the Wanderland Writers anthologies and elsewhere.
Many of us have fond memories of Ethel Mussen, the world-traveling centenarian who—when she wasn’t out and about sharing her life stories, her wisdom and her the wide-eyed enthusiasm for ideas, people, places, good works and life in general— lived high on a hill above Berkeley.
Ethel, who spent fifty years in providing health care of various sorts—the last 35 in teaching about and treating speech and hearing disorders honed her anthropological approach to people and customs. through work and travel. A collector’s interest in potters and their ceramics offered the additional slant on
production and the business of local craftsmen. to her travel tales. Repeated spells of living in New Zealand, France and Italy gave more insight into the effects and variety of cultural assumptions in local politics, business and behavior. She always said her late husband, Paul, used to regale her and their two children with the assurance that with every discovery, good or bad, “This is a cultural experience!” She also made this her mantra.
On this the day before what would have been her 104th birthday, we gather at Book Passage in
celebration of Ethel’s work, her writing, her adventures, and her inspiring spirit.
Wandering in Japan: The Spirit of Tokyo, Kyoto and Beyond