The Last Lighthouse Keeper–4 Feb 2026

The Last Lighthouse Keeper tells the extraordinary life of Bill Owens, for 32 years a keeper with the United States Lighthouse Service on California’s coast. While raising six daughters at light stations with his wife Isabel, Owens experienced the Great Depression, World War II, dirigible disasters, storms, and plane crashes. At Point Conception, he encountered shipwrecks and rum runners. At Point Sur, isolation and hardship. At Point Arena, Japanese submarines and wartime beach patrols. And, finally, at Point Cabrillo, a stormy conclusion to a career threatened by the coming of automated lighthouses. Drawing from days of face-to-face interviews with Bill and Isabel in the 1980s, Stuart McDowell crafts a riveting portrait of a man, a family, and an era of lighthouse men never to be seen again.

Stuart McDowell is the author of two books, The Sinking of the SS Montebello and The Last Lighthouse Keeper. His writing has also appeared in the Epoch Times. A retired educational psychologist, he completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Oregon and San Diego State University. He earned his post-graduate degree at California State University, Long Beach. McDowell has pursued a lifelong interest in American history, especially as related to the California coast – including World War II submarine attacks, lighthouses, and their keepers. He lives in Pacific Grove with his wife, Caren.