In 1918 writer, sportsman and yachtsman, Zane Grey relocated to California. Historian Kevin Starr wrote that in his mid-forties, when he first came, 'Grey was making more than $100,000 a year from the sales of his novels and from movie rights. Seventy-five years ago $100,000 was a fortune. Initially established in Hollywood, Grey moved his family to a Spanish-style mansion in Altadena in 1920, and in the summer months, to a home atop a hill overlooking Avalon Bay ƒ The Avalon home perfectly served Grey's passion for deep-sea fishing.'

Grey knew exactly what he wanted and, in 1924, directed the construction of that hilltop home, a large, four-level structure in the style of the Zuni and the Hopi, the Pueblo Indians of the Southwest.

Today, operated as a hotel with no connection to the Grey family, the pueblo still draws the eye to the heights above Avalon and is a lasting tribute to the imagination of Zane Grey.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Grey fished around the Channel Islands and in Mexican waters in several of his own yachts. These majestic vessels were always an awe-inspiring site when they pulled into the harbor.

He also traveled the world over, looking for fresh challenges. He landed a tiger shark off Australia in 1936 that weighed an incredible 1,036 pounds. Another of his trophy fish was a 660-pound black marlin. There were giant hammerheads and sunfish among his prized catches as well.

On Oct. 21, 1939, Grey kept an appointment to sign copies of his novel, at a bookstore in Pasadena. He seemed to be in good health, but two days later he died at his Altadena home as the result of sudden coronary thrombosis. Sources differ on his birth year: Grey was either sixty-seven or sixty-four at his death.