On Monday, 4/9/18 The Neary Book Club members were treated to a lively and fascinating discussion at my home by the Author, Steven Jay Griffel, about his historical fiction novel, The Ishi Affair. The book tells the story of Ishi, who was recognized by historians as being the last Stone Age Indian of the Yahi tribe in Northern California in the early 1900’s. In his book, Steven recounts how Ishi (which means man in Yahi) wandered out of his Stone Age cave in the foothills of northern California near the town of Oroville, and was found by local authorities. Anthropologist, Thomas Waterman came to see Ishi and took him back to San Francisco, almost starving, and then to the Berkeley Museum where he was taken care of, and studied extensively by other anthropologists like Alfred Kroeber. In 1916 Ishi was put on display as a living Indian exhibit for the remainder of his life. Steven shared how he wove this true story of Ishi into a fictional account of whether Ishi was truly the last Stone Age Indian, and if in fact there were any of his tribe members still alive today. He captivated us with details of how he intertwined his own life’s fascination with Ishi's story, how his brain was preserved after his death, and the search for his modern day tribal family. By intertwining those parts of his story, Steven recounted how The Ishi Affair came to be a suspenseful filled novel set at the turn of the 20th century and in modern day.
What a wonderful and interesting experience, having Steven share how he came to be an author, how his career took a markedly different path for some 40 years, but ultimately how he found his way back to writing, and back to the story of Ishi he started a very long time ago. It made for quite the interesting and exciting evening, with great questions and discussion from everyone who attended.
We thank you, Steven, for coming to our book club sharing your love of writing and of books, your incredible story and your candor in describing your journey to today.
----Robin A.
