The Japanese American Museum of San Jose (JAMsj) presents a Book Talk
by John McReynolds, author of Vanished Lompoc’s Japanese on Saturday, October 15, 2011, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The book covers the experience of Japanese Americans, who lived
in Lompoc, California for over 40 years, and were blocked from returning to their homes, after the closure of the internment camps. The book exposes rural California’s anti-Japanese sentiment and the organized campaign to deny Japanese-Americans return to Lompoc. Which included anonymous threats, a mysterious fire, and racial exclusion clauses in farm leases. The blocking, initiated by a packing shed owner, a deputy sheriff and a farm advisor, was 98 percent successful.

McReynolds interviewed more than 80 survivors and gathered information from
candid reports by a War Relocation agent. Those who returned, faced racial prejudice and harassment, and by 1948 only two Japanese-Americans remained.
McReynolds’ wide range of investigative writing has appeared in twelve California Central Coast newspapers and magazines. 

Vanished and his first book, Lompoc: Padres to Pinot (2009) are available at the California State Museum in Sacramento, the Japanese American National
Museum in Los Angeles and the Japanese-American National Museum of San Jose.

To make a reservation to hear the talk or more information about this event, please e-mail Eva@JAMsj.org