Creator, OC life-style maven to talk on Orange County’s movers, shakers

How did Orange County develop into Orange County? Answering that query may take years, however a faster response is accessible to anybody in a position to come out on Sunday to Costa Mesa’s Norma Hertzog Community Center.

That’s the place native writer, content material curator and O.C. tradition maven-turned-historian Greer Wylder will share her notes on the individuals and locations who’ve formed the area, as showcased in her 2024 ebook, “Born in OC: Artists, Entrepreneurs and Visionaries Who Shaped Orange County, California.”

The newest installment within the Costa Mesa Historical Society’s Speaker Series, the afternoon dialogue will cowl Wylder’s mission to inform the tales of the county’s movers and shakers and trade leaders, each in her analysis for the ebook and thru her web site, “Greer’s OC,” and on-line publication “Daily Dose of OC.”

Wylder’s interview topics vary from businessman/philanthropist Anton Segerstrom and best-selling writer Dean Koontz to Zoey Stevens, a scenic painter for Disneyland, and A.G. Kawamura, a third-generation produce farmer and former state secretary of meals and agriculture who was the driving power behind the Farm + Food Lab at Irvine’s Great Park.

“Everyone who I’ve interviewed could basically live anywhere, but everyone loves Orange County very much and they all give back in some way,” mentioned the Costa Mesa resident.

Wylder’s foray into publishing started within the early ’90s, when she coated new retail openings and different happenings within the Daily Pilot column “Best Buys.” But a 2005 layoff compelled the columnist and mom of 4 sons to shift gears.

“I was extremely upset, obviously, and one of my sons was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, so I decided to start my own publication,” she recalled Thursday. “This was pre-social media, so I started a website and a daily newsletter. And I’m celebrating my 20th year of that this month — it’s bananas.”

The website Greer’s OC focuses on the newest traits in style, journey and eating and places its creator in contact with regional visionaries throughout industries, lots of whom are featured in Q&A-style profiles, whereas the Daily Dose delivers notes on rising life-style and tradition manufacturers on to subscribers’ inboxes.

One day in January 2020 whereas out on a run (she has to date accomplished 36 marathons), Wylder started hatching a plan for a brand new creation.

“Everything I’d been doing for so many years and everything I’d done was so ephemeral — it’s all online,” she mentioned. “I just wanted to do something tangible, something you can hold. And for 10 years, I’d had this idea for ‘Born in OC’ in the back of my mind.”

So she plumbed her community of contacts and engaged in untold hours of interviews, many held by way of Zoom in the course of the pandemic, working with an editor to compile the narratives right into a completed product that will likely be obtainable for buy and signing at Sunday’s occasion, which takes place from 2 to 4 p.m. on the Costa Mesa group middle, 1845 Park Ave.

Costa Mesa Historical Society President Mikelle Fish, who organizes the bimonthly speaker-led occasions, mentioned Wylder’s work and “Born in OC” had been an ideal match for the sequence.

“This history touches on all the different areas we participate in — shopping, restaurants, parks and even cities’ streets and schools — and how they came to be,” Fish mentioned. “By honoring that history, you learn about how and why we have the public spaces we do today.”

Sunday’s discuss is free for members, $15 for non-members. RSVPs are really helpful. For extra, go to costamesahistory.org.