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/ Oral History of Dore Coller

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Title
Oral History of Dore Coller
Contributing Institution
Mill Valley Public Library
Collection
Mill Valley History Online
Rights Information
Please contact the contributing institution for more information regarding the copyright status of this object.
Description
In this oral history, musician and songwriter Dore Coller recounts a life that brought him from the Hudson River Valley, where he grew up, to Mill Valley, where he found his home. Hailing from a musical and theatrical family with Eastern European-Jewish roots, Dore describes the centrality of music in his life as he was growing up. As a teenager in 1969, he came out to California for the first time on a spring break trip with his cousin's family and stayed in San Francisco where, among many other adventures, he saw The Grateful Dead perform at the Avalon Ballroom. Dore recalls driving over to Marin one day on that trip, and how he waded in the surf at Stinson Beach, looked up at Mt. Tam, and knew that he felt a strong sense of wellbeing and connection to this place. Four years later, in 1973, he made the permanent move out West. Dore recounts the many musicians he has known and played with over the course of his career, his extensive community involvement, including 15 years working with the Mountain Play, and his collaborations with Gary Yost and others to raise awareness about conservation and restoration projects on Mt. Tam. Dore concludes this oral history with a performance of "The Old Railroad Grade" and "The Way It's Supposed to Be," two songs he composed as a way of giving back to the community and paying homage to Mt. Tam.
Identifier
B942534E-9187-4D33-8D27-864684887504
2017.131.001
Subject
Old Railroad Grade" (song)
Silent Spring" (song)
The Way It's Supposed to Be" (song)
1970s
Ancestors
Avalon Ballroom
Bluegrass music
Champlin, Bill
Coller, Deborah
Counterculture
Environmentalism
Grateful Dead
Guitars
Gupta, Herby
Hippies
Hitchhiking
Hudson River Valley
Marin County
Mountain Play
Mt. Tamalpais
Music
Nature conservation
Pace of life - Mill Valley
San Francisco
Seeger, Pete
Singing
Thomashefsky family
Throckmorton Theatre
Yost, Gary

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