Jeff Norman warmly remembered
March 2008

The Big Sur community as well as friends and family gathered together to give an emotional farewell to a much-loved resident and local historian on Saturday, March 8. Over 300 people met at Post Ranch to celebrate the life of a brilliant naturalist who had compiled oral histories, copious notes, and several books on the early settlers of Big Sur and their descendents. Jeff Norman, 56, passed away following complications from heart failure last October 31.

Jeff grew up in Pebble Beach and attended Pacific Grove High School. He was interested in biology from a very young age. He is credited with discovering a rare fern at Pico Blanco at 14 and is the youngest person to serve as a lab technician at Hopkins Marine Lab at 15.

Jeff was always drawn to Big Sur and became close with the homestead families such as the Posts, Pfeiffers, Ewoldsens, Harlans and Trotters. As a young man he lived in Palo Colorado and Post Ranch before acquiring his beloved sanctuary, Alta Vista, a remote cabin built in the 1920s where he lived for 28 years. Alta Vista sits on 20 acres off the Tan Bark Trail about 3 steep miles up from Hwy. 1 with no road access.

Throughout his life, Jeff acquired a staggering amount of cultural and biological knowledge of Monterey County and especially the coast. He was considered an expert botanist and worked as a consultant and editor for various nonprofit and government organizations. He collaborated with several local authors on books relating to nature and history and, most recently, authored Images of America: Big Sur, a collection of historic photos with commentary on the region and its families.

Jeff was a great friend to many Club members and often provided background and expert advice on projects and natural history in the Ventana Wilderness and the Big Sur coast. His passion and commitment to the area inspired Representative Sam Farr to dedicate a section of U. S. Forest Service land with a rich inventory of maritime chaparral at Pfeiffer Point as the Jeff Norman Botanical Reserve.

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