Author/Artist Audrey Moe is set to sign copies of her book, Celebrities in Hiding at Cabot’s Pueblo Museum
On Sunday, Dec. 8, at 1 p.m., Cabot’s Pueblo Museum will welcome Coachella Valley water-colorist and author, Audrey Schumacher Moe, for an afternoon of tales about famous visitors to the desert.
As an author Moe is known for her books, “Beachwalk” and “Desertwalk,” that look at the cross-pollination and interdependence between place and animals (including humans) and plant life that live in the region.
Her most recent work, “Celebrities in Hiding” captures the stories of famous and sometimes infamous, visitors to Desert Hot Springs. Many of whom we would never suspect of preferring the quietude of Desert Hot Springs over the glamour of Palm Springs its more celebrated neighbor that lies south of Interstate 10.
“Celebrities in Hiding” was inspired, Moe has said, when she was dining at Two Bunch Palms Spa and Resort and spotted Barbra Streisand at a nearby table. “Where else,” she wrote, “could Streisand have had dinner out and remain totally undisturbed?”
After Moe spied Martha Stewart at another DHS restaurant some time later she realized these celebrity stories would be lost if not gathered and written down. As she began interviewing longtime local residents about their interactions with the stars, she says, “Stories about movie stars and famous people exploded like popcorn in a microwave.”
“Celebrities in Hiding” preserves the firsthand accounts of interactions with people such as Marilyn Monroe, Gene Autry, Frank Sinatra, Peter Lorre, John Travolta, Jennifer Jones, Cary Grant, Mamie Eisenhower and Al Capone. “They came to the area,” Moe said, “to hide out, help out, and hang out.”
Moe holds a B.A in English and history from Lawrence University in Wisconsin and a B.S in art and design from Woodbury University in Los Angeles. Before she turned to writing, she worked as a teacher, librarian, and interior designer. She is a resident of Desert Hot Springs, where she lives with her husband, one indoor cat and a 100-pound Rhodesian Ridgeback dog.
Like the celebs that came to relax and revive themselves, Cabot’s Pueblo Museum builder, Cabot Yerxa, came to the desert to reinvent himself. He began building his unique home in the early 1940s and continued working on it, using mostly recycled materials, until his death in 1965.
Built in the Pueblo Revival style, it is a Hopi-style pueblo that contains artworks, Native American and Eskimo cultural artifacts and memorabilia of early desert homesteaders. It is called Cabot’s Old Indian Pueblo Museum on its National Historic Places application and is also known as “Yerxa’s Discovery” by the California State Parks Office of Historic Preservation.
The museum is located at 67-616 East Desert View Ave. in Desert Hot Springs. Hours from October 1 through May 31 are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, and closed Mondays. Guided tours are available at 9:30, 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. June 1 through September 30, hours of operations are from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., with tours at 9:30, 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. Tours are limited to a 12 guests at a time and are on a first come, first serve basis. Arrival at least 15 minutes before the start of the tour is recommended. Admission $11 for adults, $9 for seniors 65 and older, active military and children, 6-12 years.
