Picked warm from a tree, a California apricot opens into halves as easily as if it came with a dotted line down its center. The seed infuses the core with a hint of almond; the fruit carries the scent of citrus and jasmine; and it tastes, some say, like manna from heaven. In these pages, Robin Chapman recalls the season when the Santa Clara Valley was the largest apricot producer in the world and recounts the stories of Silicon Valley's now lost orchards. From the Spaniards in the eighteenth century who first planted apricots in the Mission Santa Clara gardens to the post-World War II families who built their homes among subdivided orchards, relive the long summer days ripe with bumper crops of this much-anticipated delicacy. "Robin has lovingly 'canned' the unsung history of Santa Clara Valley's apricots so present and future generations will understand and appreciate their significance, not only to the area but to the country and World. It's especially significant to those who have moved to the region or were born after the apricot boom. The more high tech we get, the more we need to know our past....This enjoyable, well-written, definitive guide will capture your interest by entertaining and educating you on the value of this tasty treasure, which is chockfull of Anti-Oxidants, Vitamin C, Potassium, Iron and more." --C. MacDonald, See California "I spent the weekend engrossed in Robin Chapman's well-researched, amazing ode to the Santa Clara Valley's agricultural heritage, "California Apricots: The Lost Orchards of Silicon Valley." Chapman, whom you might remember from her time as a reporter on KRON-TV, grew up in a house built by her father in an apricot orchard in Los Altos. Her book is a love letter to the Valley of Heart's Delight, back when summer days meant fresh fruit sweeter than anything in a supermarket today. In addition to her own research and memories, History San Jose gave Chapman access to an amazing photo collection donated by late philanthropist Burrell Leonard (who eventually turned his Cupertino orchards into Vallco). The slim paperback volume even ends with a collection of apricot recipes that'll send you running to your nearby farmers market." --Sal Pizarro, San Jose Mercury News "It's time to sit back, slice of apricot nut bread in hand, and learn some apricot lore. TV reporter-turned-author Robin Chapman has just written California Apricots: The Lost Orchards of Silicon Valley, which chronicles the fruit's local history. She takes readers from the days of the Spanish padres to the time when the Santa Clara Valley ranked as the world's largest apricot producer to the years when housing subdivisions ate up the orchards. It's full of fascinating facts (even Steve Jobs called it "paradise") and historic photos. If the shot of the two boys sneaking a snack from the apricot drying trays doesn't make you misty-eyed about this region's agricultural past, nothing will." --Linda Zavoral, San Jose Mercury News "Los Altos author Robin Chapman's 'California Apricots: the Lost Orchards of Silicon Valley' (History Press), published in April, has vaulted into the top 10 of the publisher's 1,200 titles, sending it into a second printing six weeks after publication." -- Los Altos Town Crier , June 26, 2013. "Our family's series of lucky accidents placed us in a position to straddle the region's two economies. Agriculture was both the past of the Santa Clara Valley and its present when my parents came to California. Technology, which supported our family through my father's job at Ames, was a small part of its present but became all of its future. As my engineer father worked and the valley grew,  I never thought to ask anyone why there were so many apricot trees around us. But, since my parents lived on the same street in Los Altos for the rest of their long lives, the life of the valley remained part of my own. When they died, I wasn't surprised to find a small, newly planted Blenheim apricot seedling just outside their back gate. That tree started my quest to find the story of the apricot and how it had its time in the sun in California." Published by American PalateA Division of The History PressCharleston, SC 29403historypress.net "My parents moved from San Francisco to Mountain View when I was five ... Silicon Valley for the most part at that time was still orchards--apricot orchards and prune orchards--and it was really paradise." Steve Jobs, speaking to the Smithsonian Institution, April 1995. A native of Los Altos in Santa Clara County, California, Robin Chapman's career in television news took her to San Francisco, Oregon, Florida, and Washington, D.C. She now lives and writes in her California hometown and serves as a member of the board of the Los Altos History Museum.