'Honey English' Offers Snapshot of 1960s Malibu Beach Colony

Growing up in Malibu in the late sixties, Bernadette Benson recalls rich details of her care-free childhood in the Malibu Beach Colony in her book Honey English.

“It was a totally different time,” Benson said. “We had our horses back on Crosscreek Road and would ride them down underneath PCH right up to our house. You could ride on the beach in Malibu, it was just fabulous.”

The book chronologues details of Benson’s life, which is rich in travel and adventure.

Benson, who was born in England, moved to California when she was 2 and then, when she was 17, her father retired and picked up her entire family, seven kids, two horses and three dogs, and transported them all to a 40-room castle in Dordogne, France.

In Honey English, Benson tells the story of a much simpler time in Malibu.

One thing that particularly stands out about her childhood was going on “Grunion hunts.” Grunions are small, anchovy-like fish that swim in schools at night off beaches in Southern California, during their spawning season.  

“All of us as teenagers used to go out at night usually around 11 o’clock. The grunion would swim -- we'd call it running -- and everyone would scream and yell ‘the Grunions are running, the Grunions are running!’” Benson said. “We’d run up and down the beach trying to catch these fish and avoid the big waves And then we'd all go home and fry them up the next morning. It was just fantastic.”

The other thing that that Benson strongly remembers about her childhood is the forest fires.

“They came down right behind my house,” Benson said. “I remember my father standing on the roof, hosing it down, while everyone else -- the police, the fire department, everyone --would say, ‘Get out, get out, you have to get out of there, you're crazy.'”

While her father hosed down the roof, Benson and her sister went to save their horses.

“There we were, trying to get these horses to the beach,” Benson said. “There was ash falling, soot falling, as the fire went down the canyon. I literally saw the hillside explode in fire. But we got back down to the ocean with the horses. I’ll never forget it, it was just unbelievable."

Honey English is as much a reflection as it is a memoir. Benson sat down and started to write the book after having a fight with her daughter.

“She slammed the door and went out into the night. My heart just broke and my mind left me,” Benson said. “I walked over to the computer, sat down and started typing. The book just wrote itself.”

Benson and her daughter shortly made up, but Benson kept writing.

“Every night, stories would come out and I’d write them down,” she said. 

Writing became therapeutic for Benson and she said surprising things came out of the process like a list.

”It’s called 'To My Beautiful Teenage Daughter: Thoughts from Me to You' and it’s a list of things to help teenagers survive dating, romance, everything, without going crazy,” Benson said. “I write about how important it is to respect yourself, how it’s not good to spend time with anyone who separates you from your friends and family, or doesn’t support your dreams.”

Benson said that her book is about family and forgiveness, which Benson said is not about forgiving the other person necessarily but more to about letting it go yourself.

She also said hopes her book inspires others to travel and leaves them with a feeling that anything is possible.

”This is a true adventure book,” Bensons said. “I hope reading it shows you that can have a wonderful, fun journey traveling to places you haven't been,” Benson said.

Benson added that another thing she hopes readers get from her book is that if she can write a book, anyone can.

“Just pick up a pen and start writing,” Benson said. “Write by the bedside, by the car, whenever story hits you write it down.”

Since leaving Malibu at 17, Benson she has been back to Malibu many times. One of her most cherished photos in fact, is a picture of her daughter running on the beach next to her old house.

If you’re interesting in learning more about the book or the author visit the Honey English’s website.