Lisa used to visit her grandparents during the summers in their house in Inverness. When she grew up, she decided to move to West Marin. She has watched West Marin change over most of her life.
Photos by Maricela Mora
Lisa Doron has worked numerous jobs in West Marin, including teaching eighth grade drama, working at Point Reyes Books, and running a haircutting studio. She is a playwright, actress, and artist. She sat on the Board of Directors for CLAM, and continues to serve on the board of the Inverness Association.
“When I was eighteen, I packed up my Volkswagen and came to Point Reyes,” says Lisa. She was one of many young people that came to the area during the sixties and seventies. The owners of vacation homes would rent them out cheaply during the off season, and work was easy to find. “There was great energy, aliveness, a lot of young people,” says Lisa.
“The Dance Palace was in the space where Cabaline is now. I helped start the Palace Players and later the Hot Tomales Theater Company. We did a tremendous amount of theater all through the seventies and eighties.” The atmosphere in Point Reyes Station changed drastically during the nineties, with the increasing popularity of the area. Many townspeople sold their property and moved away. The price of land rose and rentals became harder to find. “In 1995, I became homeless for a year,” says Lisa. “I think I moved ten times that year. I did a lot of house sitting and stayed on friends’ couches. My daughter Scout was with me and she was in the third grade. I saw how easily a person could become homeless.”
Each year, Lisa’s eighth grade drama students perform for the entire school. “When I started, a lot of students had never had a drama class, had never seen a play.”