At 103 years old, Kathrine “Kay” Dana Shaw, the oldest living relative of Dana Point’s namesake, Richard Henry Dana Jr., has her own story to tell.
It’s a story of starting tradition and community in south Orange County alongside her husband, Fulton Shaw. Through her journey of being a publicist and play producer in the 1950s — and then her transition to becoming a business owner and philanthropist — Kay Shaw is a key player to the lore of early Orange County.
Kay Shaw, along with members of her family, visited the O’Neill Museum in San Juan Capistrano on Tuesday, Nov. 22, to read from her book, “Mover and Shaker: Remarkable Woman Making Her Mark In A Man’s World.” The book, which came out in March, tells the tale of Kay Shaw’s life, outlining her ongoing support for the Mission Viejo, Dana Point and San Juan Capistrano communities through her own eyes.
“My parents have been influential in the San Juan Capistrano area and were both business owners who knew how much vision and sweat equity went into establishing a business from the ground up,” said Cynthia Shaw Bowers, the Shaws’ daughter and co-author of the book. “With this in mind, they wanted to help other business owners flourish.”
Kay Shaw’s story started at her first business, Cathrine Coleman’s Charm School. The theater company provided the means to meet Walter Knott, owner of Knott’s Berry Farm, who recognized her publicity skills and allowed her to own and lease the Bird Cage Theatre which she later sold to her partners, Woody Wilson and George Stuart, according to Bowers.
Kay Shaw produced and performed many plays at the Bird Cage Theatre such as “The Streets of New York” and “Riverboat Revenge.” The recognition of her plays and publicity work drew crowds to the theater and Old MacDonald’s Farm, a petting zoo farm on the Knott’s property.
It was at the farm where Kay and Fulton Shaw met. They married, and when Fulton Shaw moved the original Old…
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