Jerry Martien has lived on the northern California coast for more than half a century, supporting his writing habit as a book clerk, doorman, poet in the schools, carpenter, and writing instructor. He has served on numerous boards and committees advocating environmental and social justice and occasionally reads poems at public meetings and ceremonies. He is the author of several poetry collections and two histories of money, “Shell Game: A True Account of Beads and Money in North America” and “The Price of a Life: Shell, Gold, Carbon Notes & Weed in the Humboldt Bay/Six Rivers Region.”