A DAUGHTER WHO RUNS AWAY AND A GRANDSON WHO IS FOUND AND BROUGHT HOME. UNTOLD SECRETS ABOUND IN THE CHARMING LITTLE TOWN OF CAMBRIA BY THE SEA. THE VILLAGE COMMUNITY KNOWN AS THE "GATEWAY TO BIG SUR". HENRY AND HIS GRANDSON TRY TO BUILD A LIFE TOGETHER, BUT HENRY IS HAUNTED BY THE LOSS OF HIS DAUGHTER AND CONTINUES TO SEARCH FOR HER. EVEN THE BEST PRIVATE DETECTIVE COMES UP EMPTY IN HIS ATTEMPTS TO FIND HER. UNTIL ONE DAY... FROM THE SEA COME SEASHELLS TAKES THE READER ON A ROLLER COASTER RIDE OF TWISTS AND UNEXPECTED TURNS AS IT EXAMINES THE LIFE OF STEVEN AND HIS GRANDAD HENRY BENSON. HENRY AND HIS FATHER, WAYNE BENSON, KEPT A HORRIBLE SECRET THAT THEY BOTH TOOK WITH THEM TO THE GRAVE. HENRY'S DAUGHTER AND SON-IN-LAW - ASHLY AND TERRY MARS - LEARNED OF THIS SECRET AFTER STUMBLING UPON EVIDENCE SHORTLY AFTER HENRY'S DEATH, YET THEY DID NOT SHARE THIS FAMILY SECRET WITH ANYONE WHILE THEY WERE ALIVE, NOT EVEN THEIR SON, STEVEN. STEVEN LEARNED OF THE FAMILY SECRET THROUGH THEIR WILL, AFTER HIS PARENTS DIED. HE KEPT THIS SECRET TO HIMSELF THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE, ONLY REVEALING IT TO THE PUBLIC IN HIS WILL UPON HIS DEATH. STEVEN NEVER MARRIED NOR HAD CHILDREN - HE WAS THE LAST OF THE BENSON CLAN LIVING IN CAMBRIA, MEANING THERE WERE NO PEOPLE LEFT TO FEEL THE INDIGNATION OF LOCAL TOWNSFOLK AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF HIS FAMILY'S SECRET. AT HIS PASSING, STEVEN'S DECISION TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT SETS AN EXAMPLE FOR US ALL. IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO DO THE RIGHT THING. -THOMAS FITZGERALD MANAGING EDITOR FOR CULVER CITY NEIGHBORS MAGAZINE, LA CRESCENTA-MONTROSE NEIGHBORS MAGAZINE, AND MANHATTAN BEACH SOCIAL MAGAZINE.
