Arts Alive - Book Signing and Live Music at Eureka Books!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Eureka Books in Old Town and local author John Ash will present a book signing and live chamber music event as part of the monthly Arts Alive celebration on Saturday, June 6th. Ash’s newly published debut novel “The Road to Oracle” will be available for purchase and signing during the meet and greet with the author. The live sound track for the evening will be provided by the Watershed Quartet, a string quartet made up of fine local instrumentalists who will play a variety of chamber music from the upstairs gallery. The event will run from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and is open to the public.
Meant to be much more than background music, the Watershed Quartet is comprised of violinists Cindy Moyer and Julie Fulkerson, violist Karen Davy, and cellist Elizabeth Morrison. Between the four of these musicians, they have many decades of combined local music-making under their belts, as well as being enthusiastic supporters of the performing arts in Humboldt County.
John Ash has melded his experience as a college journalist, U.S Navy combat photographer, and professional architect specializing in historic preservation with his love for writing and story telling, producing a powerful inquiry into the architecture of the mind which explores creativity, love, and survival in the face of Dissociative Identity Disorder rooted in childhood trauma.
“The Road to Oracle” follows twins Kate and Nate Windsor, a photojournalist and architect, each accompanied on their respective journeys by multiple inner personalities, as they come together at the wild coastline of central California in search of healing. Referred to a radical therapist know only as the “Oracle,” they arrive at Big Sur’s “Esalen,” where memory loosens, inner voices surface, and long-buried truths begin to speak.
“Stories rarely arrive fully formed,” explains Ash. “They begin as fragments—whispers in the dark, sudden shifts of light, the faint hum of memory rising like a song you can’t place. “The Road to Oracle” is a novel born from such fragments. It follows a brother and sister who carry fractured identities inside them, navigating the delicate edge between trauma and transformation. Their journey is at once psychological and surreal, rooted in reality yet drifting into dreamlike spaces where healing sometimes wears a stranger’s face.”
His turn to writing came later in life, shaped by discipline, observation, and the hunger to make meaning. He studied the craft during four unforgettable summers at Esalen, learning under the mentorship of “Wild” author Cheryl Strayed. Her guidance—and the creative energy of that Big Sur coastline —deepened his commitment to writing stories that are both emotionally honest and structurally sound.
“It still surprises me— maybe even more than it surprises my wife—that I’ve taken up writing after spending forty years as an architect, preserving historic buildings across California. Some of them were irreplaceable—structures that, if lost, would have left a hole in the heart of their towns. I came to see architecture not just as the shaping of space, but as the quiet storytelling of place.”
Before architecture, Ash served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War, trained as a combat photographer. Through the lens of a military-issued camera, he learned how to see not just what was visible, but what lay beneath. Bearing witness in that way left its mark. Somewhere between architecture and writing, Ash trained for and completed the Ironman Triathlon. It was grueling, humbling, and strangely clarifying. Ash discovered something essential in the long swim, the wind on the bike, and the sound of his own breath during the run.
“My paths—architecture’s sense of structure, photography’s way of seeing beneath the surface, and the endurance of long races—have converged here,” says Ash. “The Road to Oracle” is the book of my heart, shaped by discipline, observation, and the hunger to make meaning. It is both a return and a beginning, and I am grateful to share it with you.”
In Humboldt County, Ash has been active in both the arts and community service, contributing to local preservation, cultural, and environmental organizations. His work has included involvement with the Sequoia Park Zoo Foundation during development of the Redwood Sky Walk, as well as board service and support for organizations including the Eureka Symphony, North Coast Dance, and Explore North Coast. A longtime advocate for historic preservation and adaptive reuse architecture, Ash has also contributed to restoration efforts and cultural initiatives throughout the North Coast community.
In addition to “The Road to Oracle,” which is also available at Eureka’s Booklegger, Ash writes bold, surreal short stories that can be found on his website johnash-writer.com. He lives in Eureka with his wife and their standard poodle.
DATES/TIMES
- Saturday, June 6 : 6-8 p.m.
WHERE
PRICE
- Free
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