Malibuite Melina Sempill Watts will be hosting a series of book events for the community. The first takes place on Thursday, Dec. 7, at noon at Malibu High School, where she will be talking to the ecology club. The second takes place at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 9, with a talk on ecological history for the National Park Service at King Gillette Ranch. Lastly, Watts will do a talk on Buddhism and her book, “Tree,” at the Zen Center in Los Angeles at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 10.
Watts’ book “Tree” follows the story of a 229-year-old California live oak from the tree’s point of view. Professors at UCLA and Loyola Marymount University are integrating the book into their forthcoming curriculum.
According to a description of the book, the author uses a “Tree-specific pronoun: e instead of he or she.”
Watts is a graduate of UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in history. She started her career in Hollywood in many roles: development executive, writing consultant and story analyst. The author has also worked as a watershed coordinator.