World War II came along and Edward Steichen invited Horace to become one of the five members of his famed photographic unit in the U.S. Navy where he served as Lt. Commander until the end of World War II. At this point, Fortune magazine sent him to Asia for a two-year assignment and he was stationed in Japan for the next 25 years covering Asia.While in Japan, one of his little known talents came to life and he built 10 houses in Japan, which he rented. It was here that his wife Virginia died, and where he met and married Masako. They had two children, Akiko and Henri.In 1976 the family returned to Ventura County and settled in Ojai. Since this time, much of Horace’s photography has come to light and he has become quite famous in the photographic field. Much has been written of him, and many exhibits have displayed his photography. One of the latest displays will open at the Ventura County Museum of History & Art on Friday, November 5. Also featured will be the work of Dorothea Lange.Horace lost his battle with colon cancer August 4, 1997 at his home in Ojai. He has certainly put Ventura County on the map photographically.
Richard “Horace” Bristol, Class of 1926
October 29, 2004
Santa Paula High School
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By B. J. Harding, President, SPUHS Alumni Association
Biography #239 (Have you submitted yours?)“Horace” Bristol was born in Whittier, California and came to Santa Paula at age 8 in 1916 with his parents, Laurence Albert Bristol and his wife Edith McPhee. Horace attended McKevett grade school and Santa Paula High School, but before graduation the family moved to Hollywood, so he received his diploma from Hollywood High School.Horace’s grandfather was Horace Greeley McPhee, the editor of the Santa Paula Chronicle. His cousin Roxanna McPhee had graduated from SPUHS in 1921 as president of her senior class.Following graduation, Horace went to the University of Southern California and the University of Redlands and Stanford before marrying his high school sweetheart Virginia. After his marriage he traveled by freighter from San Pedro to Hamburg, Germany and spent two years in Hamburg studying architecture. Their son Horace Richard was born in Paris, France, and son Christopher was born in Los Angeles, California.Following the crash of the stock market, Horace returned to Santa Paula, attended the Art Center School in Hollywood, and supported his family by running a photographic studio in Santa Paula. He then moved to San Francisco and met some equally poor photographers, including Ansel Adams and Edward Weston.In 1937 he was hired by Life magazine as a staff photographer. It was in this position that he approached John Steinbeck to write a photo essay with him for Life magazine about the migrant workers in the San Joaquin Valley. After six weeks of photographing the plight of the “Okies,” Steinbeck backed out of their agreement and decided, instead, to write a novel. This became the prize-winning novel and later the movie called “The Grapes of Wrath.”
