The Pagoda was a lesbian residential community and cultural center on the beach near St. Augustine, Florida, from 1977 to 1999. Rose Norman interviewed founders, residents, and guests for the story of how it came to be and how it lasted so long.

Barbara Esrig. Photo by Elizabeth Daneman and Tammy Bernard.

Barbara Esrig, a founding member of Southern Lesbian Feminist Activist Herstory Project, describes her work as a midwife, and her recovery from a near-fatal car accident.

Mindy Dyke sought out the dykes when she moved from the Bronx to Miami when she was twenty-two, and did she ever find them!

Lorelei Esser with the artist statement from an exhibit of her work. It reads: I see my present work as a Display of the Sustainable Spirit. Creating form from energy that has been dormant, lost or fallen from an animal or tree, from the sea, washed up and breaking down, man-made materials left behind to rust, rot, or wear away, making its way, rock to grain, to the eternal. These things that we see as lifeless are in a constant state of change and gradual movement. I gather wood, stone, plastic, metal, glass, paper, rubber, peeled paint, any material that I can read into the story. I design by form and find, and I am amazed at what is revealed in the process, the energy has come together from the memory of what once was, a purpose, a sentimental journey, an attachment to us.

Lorelei Esser discusses her unconventional life, her art, and many fascinating adventures in other countries.