In the new novel Deadman's Bust, former Humboldt grower Cory Marchese has written what Blogcritics.org calls "a real page-turner" about two brothers growing pot in the Humboldt hills in 1992:

The adventure takes us right into the heart of George H. W. Bush's "War on Drugs," the Medellin cartel, rogue cops, and a huge pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

It's Marchese's first novel. According to his biography on his own site corymarchese.com, Marchese moved from Minnesota to Humboldt in 1991 "to grow pot and learn to surf." Yeah, he's a bit of a cliché, but one many locals no doubt would cotton warmly to. As he writes:

Having been raised solo by a progressive mother in a not-so-progressive place -- a cold, hard, bleak, God forsaken place -- he felt an immediate affinity to Humboldt's people and culture. For years, he spent his time surfing, growing, and generally enjoying life until the DEA, like a drunk angry father, put the leather belt beat down on it. That bust would become a defining moment, having a most acute and lasting impact on the well-being of his psyche.

Marchese spent two and a half years in prison after he was busted. After that, in 1998, he started a construction company in the Bay Area, which he is still running today. And, he notes, these days he is "crime free, drives like a granny, and has a perfectly healthy fear of authority."

He's a novelist, now, too.