A murder at the laundry, stinky trees and rogue librarian : Jim Silverman of SonomaPlazaHistory.com

Everyone talks about Sonoma Plaza's history, but no one does anything about it.

Until now.

Jim Silverman, retired librarian (he got kicked out of library school a few times first!) and man with a plan, has launched www.SonomaPlazaHistory.com as a way for visitors to experience the unique stories of the jewel of Sonoma County: the eight-acre Sonoma Plaza.

A few things he mentions includes the fact that the Plaza originally was a dusty, muddy square in the middle of town and it took time and lots of changes to make it what it is now, the story of the Chinese immigrants to Sonoma Valley (up to 30% of the population!) as part of the Gold Rush and general migration to California and their legacy of opening businesses around the Plaza, and how insurance maps from the 1800s are basically the Google Street View of today, and allow us to see what the Plaza was like in times gone by.

But Jim isn't just a guy interested in Sonoma history, he's also an expert on children's literature in Gold Rush California, and details the first book ever published in California during the Spanish colonial period. And we hear about "Ho! For Elf-Land!" a tale by California writer Alice Kingsbury that details a young girl's journey to the moon. (He also had the FIRST bachelor's degree in children's literature in the United States. Put that in your giant peach and...)

As befits his background as a librarian, he acts like he is on the Ready Reference desk and answers YOUR questions during our popular segment, "We Get Questions."

This week he takes on:

- Hi!!! We will be visiting Sonoma the weekend of October 29. We will be visiting from Minnesota. This is the weekend of the rivals Packer/Viking game. Here is our question: Can you recommend a venue-bar, restaurant, vineyard that is known to broadcast games Thanks for your time! (via text)

- We are bringing a group of 35 people to Sonoma Valley in January. What kind of non-wine activities should we look at booking for them?

- What are your favorite wineries in Sonoma, Glen Ellen and Kenwood areas?

Got questions about Sonoma Valley? You can email us at info@sonomavalley.com, text us or contact us through Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or just walk into one of our two visitor centers.

It's Sonoma Valley's top podcast and you find it wherever you find fine podcasts, including
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sonoma-spiel/id1634467429
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UuskGhmJ3EkWQk8DObR9b
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiSa7rAVobsI8O_3xp7hIDPKRO9nBuvNF