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In MISSION MEMOIRS writer-photographer Terry Ruscin states that his aim was to capture on film images of the missions as they had been. It is soon apparent that in the process of travelling the state to do so, he found himself on a spiritual odyssey as well. The title of the book tells us that this is a subjective work, one person's special reaction to the missions. The walls, gardens, and art of the missions spoke to him and he to them. That he found tranquility there, away from the freeways and the urbanization of present California is as much a comment on the hub-bub of of modern life as it is on the missions themselves. In any case, his comments on the inner peace and serenity that he found in mission surroundings form one thread that runs through the book.Ruscin is well aware of the diametrically opposed viewpoints people tend to have about missions and the missionaries who established them. People either adore them or revile them. MISSION MEMOIRS tends more towards romantization perhaps, but the author does not glorify the missionaries nor excuse their misdeeds. Instead, he shifts the focus to the Native Californians who built the missions by dedicating the book to their descendants. Throughout the book he reminds us in little ways of the native presence. His respect and admiration for them is another leit-motif that unifies and enhances the work.
Although this is a very personal book in which we see the missions through Ruscin's eyes and that of his camera, it has a great deal of information that will be of interest to the general reader, more than one might expect in a "coffee-table" book. He has done his homework. For each mission, for example, he gives basic information (date of foundation, the name of the founder, where in the chronology of the 21 missions it fits, the name of the patron saint), all of which is available in many books on missions, but then he goes one step farther by including the name of the Indian village nearest which the mission was located. He also includes a nice summation of the subsequent history of each site (e.g. if the mission was moved from its first location, when the church was built, later destroyed, then reconstructed, etc.) He has drawn a fine map and included along with it information about which today are parish churches, historical parks, or occasional-use chapels. He includes historical photos from various museum archives which provide an effective and informative contrast to his own color photographs. The missions' addresses and phone numbers are listed, and a glossary covers important terms. Photos and text also include often neglected asistencias (mission sub-stations), estancias (mission-ranches), and three of the four presidios. It is clear the author wanted to create a book that people would find not only aesthetically pleasing and inspiring but useful as well.
All in all, this is a beautiful work of art, intelligently presented and organized. Monsignor Francis Weber of Mission San Fernando wrote in his forward that if only ten books were to survive a purging of books on missions, this should be one of them.