Straight Outta Summerland
Lee Heller started life as a wannabe academic, earning a Ph.D. in literature at Brandeis University and teaching for several years before relocating (fleeing) to Santa Barbara. Here she studied law (although she is not in legal practice), got deeply drawn in to animal rescue, and revived a youthful passion for politics as a means to effect social and environmental justice. She lives in Summerland with a fluctuating population of dogs and cats, and finds sanity in twice yearly retreats to her other home, in New Zealand.
Life in the Unincorporated Zone
Not Just Another Link in the Chain
All in all, I’m pretty happy to be in a little town/community/whatever that is both independent and without governance. Read story.
Ay! Chihuahuas?
Speaking Up for the Little Dog
Ten years ago our animal shelters weren’t hip deep in Chihuahuas – in fact, when people called looking to adopt one, we’d say, “Sorry, we don’t get them here.” Read story.
A Vegan Among the Deerstalkers
Another Dispatch from the Other Summerland
When I was a kid, I had this fantasy of farm life, where I’d have a barnyard composed of a happy harmony of pigs, chickens, cows, horses, and other suitably agricultural animals. Read story.
Possums, Hippies, and Politics
More Dispatches from the Other Summerland
Here are some more dispatches from the down under side of Summerland. Read story.
The Well-Lived Life
The Columnist's Kind of Heroes
Here’s what my dad and Selma had in common: They were both "unreasonable" people, the kind upon whom all progress depends. Read story.
Politics in the Age of Infotainment
Play the Clip!
So is it just me, or is everyone heartily sick of hearing about the Republican presidential candidates? Read story.
M.D. versus D.V.M.
I'll Take the Vet, Thank You
Given a choice between dealing with M.D.s or with veterinarians, I’m thinking, when my time comes, that I’ll be calling my vet for end-of-life care. Read story.
Fundraising Is Like Housework
Never Done
I like to go to fundraisers. It’s a nice way to socialize with like-minded friends while supporting a cause. But my God I hate planning and putting them on! Read story.
When the New Year Is Your Last
Readiness Is All
What must it be like, to sit at a restaurant surrounded by people celebrating the arrival of the New Year, knowing that it is almost certainly your last one? Read story.
’Tis the Season to Spend Frivolously
Where's My Pony?
I am from a Jewish family so profoundly secular that we didn’t even bother to call our Christmas tree a Hanukkah bush. Read story.
In Praise of Local Heroism
More Is Better
The essence of community is that everyone looks out for each other as best we can. That’s what makes it a community, not just a bunch of people living in the same zip code. Read story.
Of Parliaments and Hobbits
More Dispatches from the Other Summerland
I’ve been in New Zealand for two weeks this time out, in that weird in-between space where you’re outside the U.S. and yet still feeling attached — looking in as an alien at both your own society and the one you’re visiting. Read story.
Ban the Bloody Bag Already!
Dispatches from the Other Summerland
Plastic bags have been banned in our columnist's second home in New Zealand. Read story.
Slow vs. Smart
Or, How a No-Growther Learned to Love In-Fill Housing
To me, Santa Barbara is the Big City — I moved here 15 years ago from wooded, sprawling rural western Massachusetts, and knew I was getting good climate in exchange for a more uncomfortably urban life. Read story.
Pondering Pit Bulls
Nanny Dogs or Bullies?
Half of the dogs at the county shelter are pits or pit mixes. Read story.
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