"Books/movies" Top 5 Page for this destination Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument Favorite Tip by Dabs

Favorite thing: I found a book at our library called The Golden Days of San Simeon by Ken Murray, someone who had spent some time at Hearst Castle as a guest. The book is a little fluffy, obviously Mr. Murray would not be inclined to dish any dirt on Hearst but it has some interesting photos of the people, parties and the rooms at the Castle. Some of the practical information is a little dated as it was written in 1971.

Orson Welles starred and directed Citizen Kane, "loosely" based on the life of William Randolph Hearst and his mistress Marion Davies. Hearst was still alive at the time it was made and he exerted a lot of power to make the film go away. Indeed, it was only after much time, almost 25 years, had passed that the film was viewed as a masterpiece.

And there are a slew of biographies about Hearst, I just didn't have time to tackle a 700 page book before my trip.