Deborah Muth’s life-long passion for history was sparked by a fourth-grade school field trip to Mission San José and she has been a self-proclaimed “history nerd” ever since. She was a former real estate appraiser by trade, and Santa Cruz Through Time will be her second book after Images of Scotts Valley. Named the 2015 Woman of the Year by the Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce, Deborah is a thirty-five-year resident of Santa Cruz County, and when not writing, gardening, or spoiling her greyhound, Jinx, she serves on the Scotts Valley Planning Commission and the Scotts Valley Historical Society Board.