desert and has no coal, iron ore. yet no great industrial city that continues to pull people. southern california and los angeles did this through desire and engineering in institutions. it went out and found the water, the energy to much-publicized itself quite well and continues to do that the southern california has unable to succeed too much success and has thus far been able to work its way through the stresses and continue to function. and i think we are well eclipse to continue to do that. in terms of cleaning up the air, an enormous amount of renovation and terms of efficiency, an electric economy, cleaning up the energy sources.

and then southern california is utterly vulnerable is based on pulling water from all over the western united states. those supplies are, frankly, all marble and quite questionable. the region as a whole gets it and is trying to era solve the problem. one of the interesting things is simply by ceasing to say we eric as if there is no water here not a desert, a semi arid environment. reuse, recycle and become more self-sufficient. post true and hopeless. also true that there is an enormous amount of innovation and clearer assessment of vulnerabilities.

i would have the next verdict about it. a very interesting thing to watch. >> how did that turn out? >> quite lovely. steichen a lot of subtropical plants. >> we have been talking with way gramm. "american eden." what our guards tell us about who we are. and book tv on location at pepperdine university. >> pepperdine university joel fox is next. he spoke to book tv about california politics and the history behind his mystery novels. >> host: you like to say you have a long rap sheet. >> guest: i go back to 1970 find chart to the 1979 joining howard jarvis, the author of proposition 14 and the california tax revolt as of the country.

in talking to marty anderson, economic adviser to ronald reagan, he said of proposition 13 passed it gave the reagan campaign some impetus to push forward with taxes. so i go back to the beginning working at howard's eight, was not there at the campaign. higher just afterward. travel around the country. i worked with him on a number of other issues. he passed away in 1986, and i took over as the president of his taxpayers association i had that job for a decade. in all but a lot of california ballot propositions. i then went out on my own to do some consulting. the small-business advocate. been involved and a lot of ballot measures in the state of california and worked on a couple of political campaigns. don't do that too often. policy director for former mayor of los angeles when he ran for governor unsuccessfully than i was a

senior policy advisor for arms schwarzenegger when he ran successfully against mr. davis the following year that -- and involved with things in the los angeles area as well. >> host: has brought 13 of a lot of that successful? >> well, it has the same two to one supported add in 1978 when it passed. it did what it was intended to do. it put some controls on the tax structure. now, you can talk to a particular interest in california will say this not a good thing, but we asked the voters principles as asked the voters constantly. the people who want to do away with it ask the voters constantly. they don't see that kind of

support. the people look pretty happy with what it did what has the proposition dollar infrastructure in california gotten out of hand? >> it is certainly being used. people think that if you have all the money in the world you can change the law you can qualify measure if you have money. there is no question you can get enough signatures. the way the system works as you gather a certain amount of signatures with and one under 50 days. depends on how many people voted for governor. if you gather the signatures your on the ballot and you have your campaign and go for it. however, a lot of studies have been done on this. if you have a lot of money in the bank you can qualify because you will hire signature gatherers to get the signatures. that does not necessarily mean you pass the measure on the ballot. there have been a number of recent examples where a

company wanted to change the law that benefited themselves and outspent their opponents 18,200,000 lost. there have been a number of examples like that. the final decision is still in the hands of the voters. they have, i think, for the most part, made decisions on some of the measures of,. it is still something that the voters seem to really relish year in california. constantly the public policy, what you think of the ballot measures to back the initiative process, should we change it? there is always some sentiment changes, but no one agrees on what they should be. but, 75 percent of the people said they like the process. a legislature wishes they have this kind of numbers. n. >> host: what is your connection to pepperdine? >> guest: i teach one course a year as an adjunct professor in the graduate

school of public policy. i have been doing it for seven years now. with my connections in the political world by bring in a lot of folks from different aspects of life from elected officials to reporters to bureaucrats to give the students a particular slice of the real world. and from across the political spectrum. last semester at the speaker of the state assembly. i try to reach out to everyone that i can to bring them down here and induce them to come to malibu for an afternoon. my lead character and my mystery novel series. he is an fbi agent. he gets involved with a couple in which she had to solve not only a current modern-day mystery and murder but something that

involves an american president, puzzle on the best of american president. that is the only way he will solve a murder mystery. the first one was called lincolns and. that is based on the true story that there was an attempt to steal abraham lincoln's body 11 years after it he was assassinated they actually opened up the sarcophagus and pulled the coffins are way out before there were reported in runaway. moore, the people who guarded the tomb were so concerned that there would be another attempt that the move in the coffin around. some are was tabulated that president lincoln's coffin was moved 17 times. historical fact. i use historical fact is the basis of my stories and then embellish the modern-day murder mystery. in fact, for two years in the lincoln and tehran there

is terrorist, and below that there is -- would not call it a seller, under for. mr. lincoln's coffin was above ground for couple of years is covered with wood planks and largest of. and they actually buried him for nine years before moving him back into the room areas today. but even as late as 1901 when his son was alive they were setting at -- they buried him again below the surface, but 60 below the surface and set up an alarm system from the tomb to the caretaker's house. robert lincoln came and said that is not enough. of want more protection. he was an attorney would work for mr. paul none of the palm. and mr. paul man who was not exactly loved by everyone decided he wanted to really be protected. that is where we're going to do for my dad. president lincoln is now

buried 10 feet below the surface with concrete under ryan fence. silicon's coffin was moved again when the reconstructed the to amended this final burial. it was actually opens twice, 1887 in 1901 to make sure he was there. the premise of my novel is is an abraham lincoln in his coffin? if not, where the heck is the end abscam people are dying to find out. >> host: u.s. has used an. >> guest: a cruiser that was franklin roosevelt's favre worship. he took it out of number of times. fishing expedition on the uss houston. in fact, he took it three times to cocos island off the coast to recoup. about 300 miles west of the pacific off the coast arica. supposedly there are a number of buried treasures

on that island. mr. roosevelt was a fisherman. he lacked sufficient. in fact, he caught a 110-pound sailfish. this bizarre incident. but he went back there a number of times. one time he had entertained a couple of british treasury hunters on the houston to talk about the potential of is a treasure and where can i find treasure. the houston unfortunately during world war ii was sought by the japanese. 110 with the agent asper from australia. still associations today that honor the men of the houston. children of survivors. a famous book called a ship of ghosts.

if anyone saw the movie the bridge on the river quad and william holden, the american naval officer who is in with the british prisoners at the bridge, they asked him how he ended up there. he was of the houston windsock. it is true that some of those survivors of the uss houston did, in fact says. >> guest: the mystery. so well, it is created by the fact that the -- there is the speaker of the house it wants to deal with polarization going on in washington d.c. of course that is not true. he is -- he has this scheme, a plan that he is going to deal with. he wants to expand mount rushmore. he wants to add or reagan and franklin roosevelt.

icons from either party to try to solve the polarization. well, a journalist, a nasty guy. i have some history around crack roosevelt. you don't want upon amount. the speaker to be safe context the fbi and says i have to find out about this. ordered reluctantly, does not like to do this kind of work, but he is off to find out. he is rejected but initially he goes back and finds out what he knows. and he goes back -- is a journalist as an art. so he is ready to give up on the case. the speaker says i have to know what the journal's new or i can't go ahead with my project. so the fbi agent has to find out why the journalist was killed and with the back story, so he goes off

initially to see what he can find out about the treasure. they're is a subplot that runs through both books, a terrorist in this country who tries to disrupt america by attacking its monuments. we call him the monument. in the first book the lincoln memorial is in jeopardy. the second book mount rushmore which is the goal of the speaker to expand is in jeopardy. so we have our agent who has to deal with the terrorist and solve the puzzle of the president and find out why people are being murdered. >> host: trying to teach history come politics. >> guest: well, i think i have always believed that history has been really important to understand. beyond that i believe that those people who seem to

reject history, a history professor, high-school profuse and, i teach the second least popular subject in school aftermath. and that should not be the way that it is. i think history is dynamic. all of the ingredients of the drama that we watched today. love affair, black mayor, tension. i don't know if it is taught well. i know that i am not the only one. the young lady came out who had a student in middle school. i want my students understand history. the best way to do it is to get them involved in the adventar