Kate MacMurray—Guest Speaker Vivacious Kate MacMurray, daughter of movie stars Fred MacMurray and June Haver, told of her family’s long love affair with Sonoma County Saturday (Mar. 24). More than 140 people attended the annual banquet of the Sonoma County Historical Society at the Fountaingrove Golf and Athletic Club. Actor MacMurray found the Russian River as a fly fisherman in the 1930s and later bought what is now known as the MacMurray Ranch from Sonoma County pioneer George Porter. MacMurray told friends of the joys of Sonoma County, often getting a puzzled reaction from southern Californians who thought San Francisco was the northern border of California. At first, MacMurray raised food crops on his spread but later focused on raising several hundred head of Black Angus cattle. Kate said her father made some 100 movies and did My Three Sons on TV for 12 years but loved his “relationship with the land” in Sonoma County the best. He often appeared with his animals at County and State Fairs. At age 6, Kate said she and her twin sister remembered taking part in blind taste-testings of yellow, green and red tomatoes.
Her mother and father met on the set of a movie after his first wife had died. He was 36 and she was 18. Kate said her mother gave her practical advice, telling her to learn to type so she would always be able to get a job when times were tough. In case her Hollywood career didn’t pan out, June Haver practiced typing on the set. To avoid irritating the sound man, she would disappear into a closet to improve her skills. Kate said her father especially liked the fact that he was treated as “just another guy” rather than a Hollywood superstar when he was in Sonoma County. He died in 1991 at age 83. Ms. Haver died in 2005 at age 79. Vineyards have been planted at the MacMurray Ranch and Kate, a screen writer for many years, now lives on the ranch and promotes MacMurray Ranch wine. She has made numerous appearances in recent times to tell more of the fascinating story of the ranch and its inhabitants. People seeking more information on the family can check out numerous websites, using the names of Fred, June or Kate MacMurray. Some of Fred MacMurray’s favorite quotes: “I once asked Barbara Stanwyck the secret of acting. She said, ‘Just be truthful - and if you can fake that you’ve got it made.” “The two films I did with Billy Wilder, ‘Double Indemnity’ and ‘The Apartment’ are the only two parts I did in my entire career that required any acting.” “A cowboy actor needs two changes of expression - hat on and hat off.”

2007 Sonoma County History Society Award Winners:

*Mariano Vallejo Government Award, to Breck Parkman;
*Campbell Augustus Menefee Scholastic Award to Christopher Wasden;
*Jeanne Thurlow Miller Individual Award, to historian Dan Markwyn;
*Editor’s Awards for Historical Scholarship, Joseph Honton and Anna Warwick Sears of the Laguna Foundation for two volumes on Enhancing and Caring for the Laguna; and to Tom Whitworth, for a biography of Robert H. Cannard, Sonoma’s Last Pioneer;
*B.B. Bonham National History Week Award, to Tessa James, a participant in Sonoma County History Day competition from fifth grade to high school senior;
*Sonoma County History Day awards to Danny Correa, Josiah Sorensen, Johan Eide, Sheryl Cherian, Matt Connolly and Peter Dottie.