Former resident publishes book on area

By Sun Advocate

Nancy Taniguchi, a 13 year resident of Carbon County, recently published her book, Castle Valley America.
Her book covers the saga of Castle Valley (Carbon and Emery Counties) from 1776 to 2004 through stories of settlers, miners, triumphs and disasters.
In 2005 her work received the “Book of the Year Award “given by the Utah State Historical Society.
The book has recently garnered national recognition. Taniguchi will be the recipient of an Award of Merit from the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) Leadership in History Awards for her research. She was honored at a special banquet during the 2006 AASLH annual meeting in Phoenix, Ariz. on September 16, 2006.
Taniguchi was a history professor at the College of Eastern Utah from 1984 to 1989. Prior to teaching she worked for the Utah State Historical Society where she began interviewing long time residents of Carbon and Emery Counties in relation to historic buildings and preservation.
She continued her research until she departed to accept a history position at California State University, Stanislaus, in Turlock, Calif. This book took 25 years to produce. It was written to make the people of this area understand what a rich and varied history they have.
Taniguchi was also named the top researcher of her university in 2005-2006. Her research and articles stretch from topics as varied as the fur trade in Pacific Northwest to the Okies arriving in California during the Great Depression. She has also written about the Japanese-Americans in addition to her primary work on Utah history. She is about to write her third book on California history.
Bob Taniguchi, a Carbon County native, and former CEU math teacher and athletic director is married to Nancy Taniguchi. He has been teaching at Merced College for the past 17 years. Their two children, Dashiell and Darcy, were both born in Price. Dash graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and majored in business. He is an administrator for a biotech firm, Stryker, in San Jose, Calif.