Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson nearly died in Carmel Valley in 1879, but maybe, in a funny way, the incident was the best thing to ever happen to him. While here on a visit, the 28-year-old Scottish author set off alone on a horse, but he collapsed miles from anywhere, surviving for three days by drinking coffee. He barely pulled through. (He was weakened by lifelong tuberculosis.) Stevenson subsequently wrote several classics including "Treasure Island" and "Kidnapped." Could it be that his creative juices were somehow jarred loose by his close encounter with death? (Incidentally, "Treasure Island" contains passages probably inspired by Point Lobos.)
(Portrait by Girolamo Nerli, 1892)

The Greatest Meeting of Land and Water

(Photo: Whalers Cove in Point Lobos state reserve. Permission
is granted to copy and distribute this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.)

Point Lobos is the "greatest meeting of land and water in the world." Many sources credit this quote to Robert Louis Stevenson. (For example, United Airlines magazine in January, 1996.) In fact, the statement was made by Francis McComas (1875-1938), who came here from Australia to paint. Sports Illustrated, in June, 1999, claimed that Stevenson described Carmel Bay as "the mostfelicitous meeting of land and sea in creation." But Stevenson didn't say that one either, according to Roger G. Swearingen, an expert on the Scottish author, based in Santa Rosa. "The Sports Illustrated quote sounds to me like somebody's embellishment of the McComas comment," says Swearingen. So, McComas gets full credit for a memorable remark.

(Video: Underwater video of Point Lobos)