Frances Dinkelspiel

A curious book. The author has her roots in the California wine country, and part of this book traces some early history of wine-growing in Rancho Cucamonga (yes, that Cucamonga) near Los Angeles. The winery her family was involved with, through various curious mishaps, had bequested a number of bottles of wine to the family. Many of these bottles were destroyed in a totally senseless, enraging crime committed by a feckless embezzler who lied, cheated and stole from many vineyards and wine collectors, and who destroyed tens of millions of dollars worth of wine, as well as a number of businesses. You want to strangle the man convicted of the crime (he ended up, some years after the book, being released because of health reasons).… (mehr)

In her landmark biography of Isaias Wolf Hellman, Frances Dinkelspiel, his great-great-granddaughter, presents a prototype of a California rags-to-riches pioneer. His attributes, all prodigious, included intelligence, need, ego and prudence (don't lend to those who can't you pay back), plus shrewd partnering, in marriage and business. In 1859 at seventeen, Isaias left Reckendorf, Bavaria, to join a Hellman relative in Los Angeles, population 4,000. Gold gone, new rushes had erupted in California commerce, agriculture, industry, finance and transportation. From greenhorn clerk, Hellman progressed to merchant, banker, investor, philanthropist and community leader. By 1890, he was a multi-millionaire, ensconced in San Francisco banks, businesses and philanthropies. One constant in his ascent was his wife, Esther Neugass, who gave him companionship, three children and access to her brother-in-law, Meyer Lehman, founder of Lehman Brothers. In 1850, at the first Yom Kippur service in San Francisco, the lay rabbi noted: "California, in her infant state, asks you aid to build her cities. . . . Few, if any, rushed through that open door and contributed more than Hellman."… (mehr)

In Towers of Gold, Frances Dinkelspiel explores the history of California, using Hellman – her great-great-grandfather – as a compass. As the subtitle explains, this is the story of “How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California.” Hellman soon outgrew his modest storefront, going on to become a banker and financier with his hand in the industries that shaped California.

The book moves along at a good clip, written in a clear, journalistic style that reflects Dinkelspiel’s decades in the newspaper business. Although Dinkelspiel is related to Hellman, Towers of Gold is no mere family memoir, of interest only to Hellman’s scattered descendants. She keeps her eye on the bigger picture, looking first at economically significant events such as bringing the railroad to Los Angeles, starting the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and the University of California in Berkeley, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and the discovery of oil in Southern California, and then explaining Hellman’s significant role in each of these events.

Full review posted on Rose City Reader.… (mehr)