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your purchase. Thank you, Lumen,

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for sponsoring this episode. Hey,

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folks. It

1:21

is Nate. Before we get started,

1:23

I want to ask you to consider two things. I'm

1:26

talking to you today, kind of

1:29

a pivotal moment in the history of

1:31

this history project that you know is the memory

1:33

palace. Here's

1:35

the first one. On November 19th, I have a book

1:37

coming out, and I am delighted about

1:40

that. For years, I

1:42

have wanted to collect the sorts of stories that I do in

1:44

this podcast in a book, something that you

1:46

can hold in your hands, give

1:48

as a gift, something that could live

1:51

on your shelf. As

1:53

a kid, I grew up loving these old paperback

1:55

collections of Ripley's Believe It or Not. Also

1:58

things like Where the Sidewalk Ends. The

2:00

poetry book by Shel Silverstein. It's

2:03

collections of short pieces that you

2:05

could turn to again and again. You

2:07

could find new things every time you took it off the shelf.

2:10

And maybe find that they connect differently this time now

2:12

that you're that little bit older or

2:15

a little bit changed since last time you read it. And

2:18

I want to make one of those books, you

2:20

know, but for adults that might

2:22

have a little bit of that same magic. And

2:25

I'm excited now to see that if that magic

2:27

trick works. And so

2:29

I am here today, days before its release

2:31

on November 19th to encourage you to order

2:34

the book, to help it jump out of

2:36

the gate with some momentum so other readers

2:38

might find it, especially people who don't listen

2:40

to the show like you do. So

2:43

that is thing one. And

2:45

thing two is deeply related. This

2:48

show, book or no book, successful

2:50

book or flop, will go

2:52

on. And it will go

2:54

on thanks to listeners like you. Each

2:57

year we at Radiotopia ask you directly to support

2:59

the work that we do. We

3:01

are one of the rarest and I

3:03

am more convinced all the time in

3:06

this time of increased media consolidation and

3:08

corporate nonsense and private equity raiders that

3:11

independent media is vital. I

3:14

look around my industry and I see layoffs

3:16

and cost cutting at big podcast companies. I

3:19

see terrific shows getting worse because some corporate suit

3:21

says they need to come out more often the

3:23

episodes. And more often that the

3:25

people can make them or at least make them well. Or

3:28

these shows are just shutting down because some investor

3:31

needs someone to cut some bottom line to meet

3:33

second quarter estimates. And

3:35

that doesn't happen at Radiotopia. At

3:38

Radiotopia what shows sound like, how often they

3:40

come out, is up to people like me.

3:43

The people who make them. And whether

3:46

those shows survive and thrive, it's

3:49

up to you, honestly. Listener support provides

3:51

the foundation of each of these shows, including

3:53

mine. It allows me to keep the lights

3:55

on at the Memory Palace, even in times

3:57

like these when ad revenue is vanishing. It

4:00

has allowed me in this last stretch, which

4:03

has been fairly rough, honestly, to

4:05

wait out the storm. It

4:07

is thanks literally to listeners like you. So

4:10

if you would like to join the tiny fraction, the

4:13

select group, the elite squad

4:15

who contributes, if

4:18

you want to do it this time, in

4:20

this moment for this show, and for the

4:22

uncertain times here in these United States, it

4:25

is a perfect time to join them

4:27

and join us. You

4:29

can donate to help this show in the work

4:31

that Radiotopia is doing, the fight we are fighting

4:34

in this very strange landscape. We

4:38

are very proud of what we have built together, and we

4:41

would love you to be a part of it. So donate

4:43

today if you can at radiotopia.fm

4:45

slash donate. And

4:48

thank you so much. This

4:57

is the Memory Palace. I'm Nate DeMeo.

5:00

The tide would come in and everything

5:03

would turn beautiful. Adolf

5:06

Sutra would come to the land's end,

5:08

down the sandstone cliffs to the beach,

5:10

Point Lobos in San Francisco, to

5:13

the rocks crusted with bleached barnacles, blue-black

5:16

mussels cracked and gall-packed or

5:19

agape mid-gasp in the open air,

5:21

the shriveled anemones dormant and

5:24

dulled, dead-seeming, grayish-green

5:27

huddled together, clinging like the pale

5:29

pink sea stars, untwinkling

5:31

there in the sun. But

5:34

then the tide would roll in, water

5:37

would rush in and pour and pool, and the

5:39

rocks would hold the sea and its wonders for

5:41

a while. An

5:43

Adolf Sutra would walk, stepping

5:45

from still-dry rock to still-dry rock,

5:47

careful not to slip, let

5:49

his palm or soak the cuffs of

5:51

his woolen dress pants or the leather soles of

5:53

his leather shoes. And he

5:55

looked down at the small fish, deposited there to

5:57

swim about for a bit. scuttling

6:00

hermit crabs. See the

6:02

anemones bloom again to vibrant life. Stretch

6:06

out their tiny, wisping tentacles. Watch

6:09

their color return. Bright greens and

6:12

pinks. Scarlet-spined urchins.

6:15

Or purple. Or midnight blue in

6:17

the morning light. Starfish sparkling

6:19

now. Silvery clouds, too, reflected

6:22

in the tide pools. He

6:26

was an immigrant, Adolph Soutreaux. A

6:28

German and a Jew. Came to California

6:30

right after the gold rush. Sold

6:32

cigars in San Francisco and then in Nevada.

6:35

When the prospectors who'd rushed westward rushed a bit

6:37

backward for the silver that had been found there.

6:40

He made his first fortune and made his name

6:42

when he figured out a way to dig tunnels

6:45

that could draw waters that filled mines outside. Made

6:48

them safer. Made them more profitable. But

6:51

what made his name endure, in the

6:53

small way that it does, if only in

6:55

San Francisco, if only in stories

6:57

like these, was when he figured

6:59

out how to bring water inside. Soutreaux

7:02

left Nevada, put his money

7:04

into land in San Francisco, which is never

7:06

a bad investment. Eventually mayor,

7:09

and it seems, a lover of tide

7:11

pools. And so he bought a

7:13

mansion in a fire sale. Rebuilt it

7:15

into a grand resort above those pools at

7:17

Point Lobos. And at some

7:19

point during the building up of that resort, a

7:22

glorious Victorian, white turrets and gingerbread at

7:24

the cliff's edge. While he was building

7:26

up the business of it all, how

7:28

to draw in tourists, give guests things to do,

7:31

reasons to stick around the grounds and not seek

7:33

other pleasures in other parts of the city to

7:35

other men's profit. Planning gardens and

7:37

galleries, restaurants and a

7:40

museum of curiosities, anthropological

7:42

artifacts, taxidermied animals, natural

7:45

wonders, his thoughts turned back to

7:47

the tide pools. Did

7:51

the idea come in slowly? A

7:54

drip drip of thought and insight, bringing

7:56

his creative brain back to life. all

8:00

rush in at once, a wave

8:02

of inspiration. I don't

8:04

know. But I know

8:06

that the world's largest indoor swimming park opened

8:08

in that inlet at the land's edge in

8:10

March of 1896, a

8:13

massive structure with a stunning wall made

8:15

of 100,000 square feet

8:17

of glass panes letting visitors

8:19

look to the ocean just outside, out

8:23

to the horizon, and up to the

8:25

clouds, to the sun streaming

8:27

through the arched glass ceiling towering above.

8:30

There were gardens and galleries and restaurants,

8:33

a museum of curiosities, natural wonders, all

8:35

of that. What brought people

8:37

by the thousands, to the land's

8:39

end, to Sutro's Baths, was

8:41

the water. Seven swimming

8:43

pools, six salt water, one

8:45

fresh, each just huge,

8:48

each 500 feet long, 250 feet

8:51

wide, laid out side by side,

8:54

pointing out to sea, ringed

8:56

by wooden walkways, extending out from

8:59

bleachers and private changing rooms, snack

9:02

bars, everything, but the pools,

9:05

each with a slide, diving boards,

9:07

ropes, and rings, and things we're used

9:09

to now, but then, no, there

9:12

had never been a place like that, where

9:14

so many could run and jump and dive

9:16

and soak and splash. Year

9:18

round, some of the pools were heated

9:21

and warm and wonderful all winter. Stay

9:23

in for hours, let your

9:25

work day slip away, the

9:27

worries of the week, let Sutro's

9:29

Baths bring you back to life. The

9:33

boiler that would heat the water was also used to heat

9:35

the towels that were waiting for you when you got out.

9:38

Wrap yourself up, dangle your feet

9:40

over the edge of the pool, or lean

9:42

back in the bleachers, watching everybody have

9:44

the time of their life. Watch

9:46

the way the sunlight through the glass ceiling played

9:48

on the surface of the pools. The

9:51

way its reflection danced on your girlfriend's face, how

9:54

her wet hair shone, as the day's

9:56

light would change the color of that wall of windows at

9:58

the edge of the ocean. orange

10:00

sunsets, silver rainstorms, rosy

10:02

dusk turning dark, and then electric

10:04

lights blinking on when you still

10:07

weren't used to electric lights blinking

10:09

on. Seven swimming pools fed

10:11

by the tides, Adolph Soutro

10:13

had figured it out. Mid

10:15

tunnels and channels, spillways,

10:18

at high tide the ocean would supply all the

10:20

water he'd need. He'd fill the

10:22

whole place up in under an hour. It

10:24

was like that every day. Invite

10:28

the ocean in, invite the people

10:30

in, and it

10:32

would be beautiful. For

10:35

a while. The

10:39

baths aren't there anymore. There

10:41

was a fire at the resort. A

10:43

couple, actually. But

10:45

it was mostly business. It was

10:47

an expensive place to run. And

10:49

taste changed. Other entertainments

10:51

caught people's attention. Diversions

10:54

brought them to life instead. The

10:58

place started to fall apart. The upkeep

11:00

wasn't kept up. Turned one

11:02

of the pools into an ice rink. And that

11:04

was fun. But wasn't

11:06

enough. The place shut down. And

11:10

then burned down in 1966. The

11:14

tide comes in. The

11:16

tide goes out. This

12:16

episode of the Memory Palace was written and produced by

12:18

me, Nate Tameo. November of

12:20

2024, the show is a proud member

12:22

of Radiotopia, a network of independently

12:24

owned and operated listener supported podcasts from

12:26

PRX, a not for profit public media

12:28

company if you want to support this

12:30

show and this network and

12:33

mission driven, artist owned, independent media,

12:36

well now is the time. Go

12:39

to Radiotopia.fm slash donate

12:41

today. This

12:44

here in November of 2024 is

12:46

a remarkably busy, maybe

12:48

consequential time in the 16 year history

12:51

of this program. 16 years I've been doing this. I

12:54

have a book coming out on November 19th. I

12:57

think I've wanted to have a book coming out for

13:00

pretty much all of those 16 years, a

13:03

collection of stories from the show and

13:05

more. If you're listening to this episode after

13:07

that date, after November 19th, 2024, then it

13:10

is already in stores. It is already on the world. I'm

13:14

fairly nervous. I'm a little bit jealous of you right now

13:17

because you know whether this book

13:19

is doing anything. It

13:22

collects beloved stories from the podcast. It

13:24

has new exclusive stories. And

13:26

there's a series of memoir stories that are

13:28

like nothing I've ever done before that someone

13:30

told me recently kind of unlocked the whole

13:32

memory palace project for them, which I

13:36

think was kind of the goal. And this book

13:38

is lovely. It has photos and illustrations and

13:40

a cover I couldn't be more proud of. I'm

13:43

very curious to see what happens when it gets out into the world.

13:46

But on some level, whether anything happens, you know,

13:49

if this book has a chance

13:51

to take off and truth that will

13:53

probably hinge on listeners like you. This

13:56

book, like the show, doesn't quite fit into the

13:58

marketplace. It is

14:00

just its own thing. It is a

14:02

bit between genres. It is a bit difficult to

14:04

describe. And the marketplace doesn't

14:06

respond well to things like that. It's

14:10

kind of hard to sell this book. It's been hard to

14:12

get reviewers to review it. It's been hard to get people

14:14

to pay attention. I think readers

14:16

will like it. But first they

14:18

have to find it. And that might just require your help. So

14:21

let's start with buying a book, most

14:23

importantly, because sales drive sales.

14:26

But it is also going to require word of

14:28

mouth. So if you like this book, tell

14:31

somebody about this book, friend to friend, book

14:33

club to book club. If

14:35

you own an indie bookstore, if you have

14:37

a podcast or a book blog or a

14:39

TikTok account, head, help me

14:41

spread the word. And if there's

14:43

some way that I can help you do that, appear

14:46

on that podcast or do an

14:48

interview for your blog or whatever it is, drop

14:50

me a line and let me know at

14:52

nateathememorypalace.us. Help

14:55

this book find an audience that

14:57

might not be able to find it on its own. If

15:00

you want to follow me on Twitter or Facebook, I

15:02

am there at The Memory Palace. I am

15:04

also on Instagram and threads at The Memory

15:06

Palace podcast. I am on

15:08

Blue Sky even, because like this whole thing

15:11

is nuts. And weirdly, I think I might

15:13

like it there. I'm

15:15

at Nate DeMeo there. And

15:17

I am on Substack with

15:19

a newsletter at

15:21

thememorypalacepodcast.substack.com. And

15:24

that's a mouthful. And I'm sorry for all

15:26

the messaging, but I got books to sell. I

15:29

got a podcast to do. I have a

15:31

network to help during its

15:33

fundraiser right now at radiotopia.fm slash

15:35

donate. But

15:38

luckily I have you guys out there listening. So I really

15:40

appreciate it. Thank you so much. There

15:42

are more stories on the way.