Ella Young (Wikipedia)
My father, Jim Cain, did some research for a possible book on the Irish poet and story-teller, Ella Young back in 1966. Ella Young was from Ireland but made her home on the Central Coast of California where my family also grew up. In the course of my dad’s research, he was able to interview some very remarkable people including the son of a U.S. President, Gavin Arthur, who decided to live in the Nipomo dunes with other artists as a “Dunite.” He also had a chance to meet with the photographer Ansel Adams. These recordings are out there in the literature (distributed by others) with no attribution. They are cited correctly at the Dunes Center website but that page link is broken on the main site (it can still be found through a Google search). These recordings should be out there at historical sites and in academia, freely available for those who want to know or research the people and that time – they just need to be properly cited.
NOTE: I will be adding to this post after I interview my father on Feb. 16, 2018
Conversations about Ella Young
Gavin Arthur Talks About Ella Young, (Cain, James D. Recorded Interview, c. 1966)
Part 1 (11:56)
Part 1 (11:56)
Part 3 (06:52)
Part 4 (14:01)
Part 5 (06:28)
Ansel Adams Talks About Ella Young, (Cain, James D. Recorded Interview, c. 1966)
Part 1 (16:02)
Part 2 (19:35)
Part 3 (02:41)
John & Gundrun Grell Talk About Ella Young, (Cain, James D. Recorded Interview, c. 1966)
Part 1 (12:50)
Part 1 (12:50)
Part 3 (03:03)
Jane Thompson Talks About Ella Young, (Cain, James D. Recorded Interview, c. 1966)
Part 1 (10:13)
Part 2 (08:38)
Part 3 (03:57)
W.W. Lymann Talks About Ella Young, (Cain, James D. Recorded Interview, c. 1966)
Bonus Material
Not my dad’s research but it was included at the Pismo Dunes Collaborative website along with my dad’s work:
Ella Young interview from KPFA:
Hello, I published my hardback book Ella Young and Her World: Celtic Mythology, The Irish Revival and the Californian Avant-Garde in 2014. Two paperback editions were published by CreateSpace in 2019 + 2020. Our radio play The Morrigan was aired on Dublin City FM 16 December 2020 – the three protagonists are Ella Young Maud Gonne + Constance Markieviecz. I would be very interested in hearing about your father’s interest in Ella. It is hoped that we could do another radio play on Ella’s life in California. Kind regards from Dublin Ireland, Dorothea.
Thanks for reaching out to us. My dad will be delighted to see this note. I will certainly pass on your contact information to him. All the best, Geoff
Geoff, an update on our radio play. It was hoped that it could have aired in America around St Patrick’s Day 2021 but the re-editing was not done in time. It will be next year 2022 that it will be on PBS airways. Here is the link to the podcast: https://archive.org/details/done-delivered-the-morrigan-final-version. We are hoping to do another radio play on Ella’s time in America from 1925 to 1956. Do you think Berkeley University would be interested in funding the research and production or could you suggest any other interested university? Dorothea
Hi Dorothea,
I personally do not have any active connections to the Berkeley campus but if I were in your shoes, I would email everyone in the department there and ask “If you can’t help, do you know someone who is interested?” They are at https://celtic.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/. I can’t imagine that they would let this opportunity go by. Also, get a note out to Alexis Elias at the local history museum “The Dune Center” in Guadalupe, CA. They are just down the road from Halcyon where Ella Young lived and have posted information about her on their website. The email is director@dunescenter.org. Also, because it SHOULD be of great historical interest to San Luis Obispo County, send a letter to KCBX radio and ask about support or suggestions. https://www.kcbx.org/how-communicate-us#stream/0 What you really want is to find a U.S. non-profit that would be interested in sponsoring the work and then work on a grant together. It would help if you had even a tiny bit of support from an Irish org to partner with.
Pingback: The Morrigan – A Radio Play about Ella Yount | Fluxus Site
Dear Geoff:
I’m looking for any materials relating to the rituals that Ella Young brought to the California coast from Ireland. Some research by friends indicates that Young was involved in the Carmel crowd-Ansel, Edward Weston, et al, which overlaps with the Santa Fe art community, which included Mary Austin and her cronies.
Did you know that Ella Young went to Mt. Shasta looking for UFO’s?
Finally listened to all these recordings, The bonus material is not a conversation with Watts but the recording that Elsa Gidlow arranged between a KPFA staffer and Ella.
Correction noted! Thank you – I was thinking of another recording when I posted this. – Geoff
Hi are these still active. The links do not seem to work. Also are you in the central coast? We are restoring a historical relevant building in Oceano that has some Dunite connections. Love to listen to these.
Hi Debra,
The Dunes Center moved this page so my links don’t currently work. They will be updated from this pages where you can hear them: https://dunescenter.org/dunes-collaborative/dunes-collaborative-products/conversations-about-ella-young/
Also, I will be uploading those interviews to Archive.Org with an open license so they will be in a more permanent place where folks can listen to them and use them.
Regards,
Geoff Cain