Alexander "Sandy" Treadwell found Ojai when his wife Libby took out a compass and drew a circle around a map, looking for a new home within 90 miles of Los Angeles, close enough for their LA grandchildren, rural for their farm animals, and with a thriving arts community.

Treadwell's varied career included covering college football at Sports Illustrated, state GOP Chair in New York, and 10 years as New York's Secretary of State, working for the three-term Republican governor George Pataki. He is now an acclaimed pen-and-ink portraitist and member of the Ojai Studio Artists.

We talked about how the modern iteration of the Republican Party has lost its bearings in the age of Donald Trump, why Ojai's allure is so strong, the political process of running campaigns, including his own quixotic bid for congress against now-U.S. Senator Kristen Gillibrand, and sports.

We did not talk about emerald ash borer beetles killing off the wood baseball bat industry, the wildfire mosaic of the chaparral or Dolly Varden fisheries in British Columbia.

Learn more about Treadwell at SandyTreadwell.com or OjaiStudioArtists.org