Brent C. Dickerson
In Pursuit . . .

Brent C. Dickerson, a proud descendant of resolute Swedes, Scots, and English (East Anglia), was born in Southern California, and has pursued his dreams in this challenging paradise ever since.

Many "tuning in" here will be interested in Mr. Dickerson's continuing exploration of old downtown Los Angeles; musicians and lovers of the music or ethos of the era 1900-1920 or so will pass some pleasant moments surveying the listing of items in the Brent C. Dickerson Sheet Music Collection (there are pix of a few of the entertaining covers of the sheet music); others will want to know about the results of his research work and publications concerning the development of Old Roses, those roses which were bred and grown before 1920. Mr. Dickerson began serious study of the subject of Old Roses and their history in 1983. Progress was such that his first book on them, The Old Rose Advisor, was published in 1992; a new, augmented, updated second edition was released in 2001. This work met with international acclaim due to its accuracy, fresh research, new information, and unique style. This long endeavor continued to bloom with a second volume, The Old Rose Adventurer, published by Timber Press of Portland, Oregon. His latest releases are Roll-Call: The Old Rose Breeder, listing the complete releases of all known breeders and introducers in the "old rose" era (to 1920); The Old Rose Informant, which includes not only the complete basic works of Jean-Pierre Vibert translated into English for the first time, but also many other extended excerpts from classic old rose literature, as well as original articles by Mr. Dickerson on the beginnings and progress of the groups of old roses most important to rose progress; The Old Rose Index, the complete and comprehensive index to all of Mr. Dickerson's books, indexing the book and page locations of text on not only roses but also those people, places, and concepts which play their parts in rose history; the book also includes a number of new entries on old roses not covered elsewhere—including the hitherto unknown first Pernetiana 'Pedro-Costæ'—as well as some new essays and translations; and, his latest book, the second edition of Old Roses: The Master List, listing, in dictionary format, all old roses (over 21,000) both extinct and existing—and it also has the way coolest cover of any book ever on old roses! Work on a third edition of The Master List vies with his labors on a text concerning Los Angeles in the pre-1870 era and his webmastering a site on the L.A. of ca. 1900-1915 In late 2009, Mr. Dickerson completed building a database comprised of those who were listed on the L.A. (and future Orange County, San Bernardino County, and Riverside County) censuses and padrones which were compiled between 1781 and 1870. Mr. Dickerson has begun working on a public cataloguing of his various holdings, beginning with his cactus and succulent collection.

Mr. Dickerson is also studying aspects of English literature, specializing in the Augustan age as well as Thomas Carlyle. Aside from Horticulture in general (particularly cacti, other succulents [especially genera Aloe and Agave], Cymbidiums, Epidendrums, bedding plants, and California native plants), his other major interests are the history of downtown Los Angeles, ethics, authentic piano ragtime, the keyboard music of Scarlatti, the operas of Rameau, 1920's "hot" jazz, classical ballet, and Stoic and Platonic philosophy. Other projects currently underway include a historical novel and a volume of poetry, as well as a reconstruction, to scale, of the Duomo in Florence (and its precincts) made out of a standard Pinochle deck, with trained mice representing the more pious 17th Century Florentine merchants. This project has recently met with unexpected delays, due first to the difficulty of teaching the mice the proper dialect of Renaissance Italian, and second to the expense of obtaining era-appropriate jewelry for their costumes.

Last of all, he is also engaged in rose-breeding as well as hybridization of other plants; below, following the list of links, are pictures of two of his creations, the spotted rose 'Papa Vibert' (on the left), and its sibling, 'Jane Welsh Carlyle'. Some of his other creations can be seen at his Horticultural Gallery.

Links of interest (for those not by me, you'll need to hit your "back" button to return here):

• First Episode of A Visit to Old Los Angeles and Environs, with an index to the many subsequent episodes.
• Currently in the Grab-Bag . . . On the Great White Steamer.
• Index to, and links to, past Grab-Bag essays and A Visit to Old Los Angeles episodes.
• Jean-Pierre Vibert home page.
• Old Rose history and synopsis.
• The Dickerson Cactus and Succulent Collection.
• Some interesting quotations from various sources.
• Poems Rhyming and Otherwise.
• Horticultural Gallery of New or Interesting Plants.
• A Gallery of Books by Brent C. Dickerson.
• Some quotes from Thomas Carlyle? —GREAT! (Not by me.)
• You'll never find anything better on the Net. —Well, hardly ever... It's the Gilbert and Sullivan site! (Not by me.)
• The Brent C. Dickerson Sheet Music Collection.
• A few examples of the silent comic strip Basil, by Gerry Lants.

Click on either picture for an enlargement and commentary.

(Note the marked differences between the two siblings!)

Comments? Correspondence? Suggestions?

odinthor@csulb.edu

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