Joan Didion is an American writer of novels, essays, short stories, and screenplays. In the College Writing class I teach, I include Didion’s essay, “The Santa Ana,” on my syllabus as an example of a descriptive writing. Recent events in California, particularly the fires in Los Angeles, remind me of Didion’s work because of the news reporters’ continual reference to “the Santa Ana” winds. In her essay, Didion, who is a native of California, describes the phenomenon as, “a hot wind from the northeast whining down through the Cajon and San Gorgonio Passes, blowing up sand storms out along Route 66, drying the hills and the nerves to a flash point.” Make no mistake, the essay is not about the weather; Didion goes on to explain the effects of the wind on people, writing that “Surgeons are said to watch the wind, because blood does not clot normally during [the Santa Ana winds],” and “some teachers do not attempt to conduct formal classes during a Santa Ana, because the children become unmanageable.” It is a short, informative essay that originally appeared in the Saturday Evening Post in 1967, but is still relevant today.
Sources: Didion, Joan. “The Santa Ana.”The Writer’s Presence, A Pool of Readings. McQuade, D. and Atwan, R. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2018.
Image is of Joan Didion, saved from The Marginalian website.
