Alumni Travel Back in Time
Award-Winning Press Gets Its Start from SDSU
It would not be an overstatement to say that SDSU has played a pivotal role in the development of my company, Sunbelt Publications. It all started with my master’s thesis on the history of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Unbeknown to me, my instructor, Dr. Abraham Nasatir, sent a copy of my thesis draft to his friend, Richard Pourade, editor of Copley Books. Shortly thereafter, I was surprised to receive in the mail a contract to publish my thesis as Our Historic Desert. The book’s publication and the presentation of my master’s degree both happened in 1973.
Continuing interest in the state park led to a collaboration with my husband, Lowell, to write The Anza-Borrego Desert Region, published by Wilderness Press in 1978 and now in its 5th edition.
The experience of working with publishers was infectious. In 1984, we created Sunbelt Publications, then wrote and published The Southern Overland Route: Cyclists’ Guide to a Major Scenic and Historic Route through the Southwest. In 1987, we published The Southwest America Bicycle Route and Bicycling Baja by Bonnie Wong, and a publishing dynasty was born.
I had been distributing our books out of the back of my Volkswagen bus to local stores when, in June of 1985, I landed my first major bookstore chain – Waldenbooks. In 1986, I added B. Dalton and the U.S. Navy as customers and purchased a Dodge van that became the portable warehouse. Lowell officially joined the company in 1989 and was able to dedicate his full attention to the development of the business (he is now CEO).
Our dream of owning a publishing house became a reality with the formal establishment of the publishing division in 1993 and the hiring of its first full-time employee. In January of 1995, we purchased and moved into a 22,000 square foot building, which is where you’ll find me today and every day I’m not out in the desert or up in Sacramento working for my other favorite cause, the preservation and conservation of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. I have served as a trustee for the Anza-Borrego Foundation and Institute for almost 25 years.
Sunbelt Publications recently won national publishing awards for two new books: Fossil Treasures of the Anza-Borrego Desert and Oasis of Stone: Visions of Baja California Sur. Fossil Treasures won the Independent Book PublishersAssociation’s Ben Franklin gold medal in the science category at Book Expo America (BEA) held in New York City in June (past Franklin-winning titles published by Sunbelt include Journey with a Baja Burro, Mission Memoirs, and Gateway to Alta California: The Expedition to San Diego, 1769). Oasis of Stone won a silver medal in ForeWord magazine’s Book-of-the-Year Awards in the science/environment category, also at this year’s BEA (Sunbelt’s Tequila, Lemon, and Salt won silver for Short Fiction in 2005.).
Fossil Treasures, co-edited by Lowell and George T. Jefferson, also won a first place award at the San Diego Book Awards in May. Previous Sunbelt titles winning San Diego first place awards include Marshal South and the Ghost Mountain Chronicles, Follow the Sun, California’s Cornerstone, La Jolla: A Celebration of Its Past, and Tequila, Lemon, and Salt. The latter also won the Geisel Award for its author, Daniel Reveles, in 2005.
In the larger world of regional book prizes, A Good Camp: Gold Mines of Julian and the Cuyamacas by Leland Fetzer won a Southern California Booksellers Award in 2002, and The Outdoor Writers Association of California named Marshal South and the Ghost Mountain Chronicles (which I edited and wrote a foreword to) “Best Book of the Year” for 2005.
In addition, I received the San Diego Business Journal’s “Women Who Mean Business” Award in 1998. So I guess I’m doing something right! And just think – it all became possible because of SDSU’s demand for excellence and its outstanding staff that stays connected to the community.
Diana Lindsay,
President of Sunbelt Publications
