36 FEATURE
would provide seaweed for health.”
In those early days, the Lewallens had to
scramble for accounts. Today, the story is
reversed. “We have no marketing problems
today,” says John, who notes the seaweed is
featured in fine restaurants across the coun-
try. “Mendocino seaweed is the most prized
in the world, and about to become rarer.”
Eleanor Lewallen, staunch advocate for
ocean protection and co-author of their
well-known book: Sea Vegetable Gourmet
Cookbook and Wildcrafter’s Guide, passed
away in 2001. Little did John know that
the stage was being set for another partner-
ship which would help him continue the
family legacy of preserving the ancient tra-
ditions of seaweed collection.
Barbara Stephens was raised in New
England. “I remember finding seaweed
on a menu in a macrobiotic restaurant in
Boston,” she notes. “Locals used to harvest
seaweed for clambakes, and I used seaweed
in my health care practice for 24 years.”
As an adult, Barbara had an opportunity
to visit her family’s property in Maine. “I
remember thinking I had never harvested
seaweed before. I was curious. I asked
around and was directed to a little island
between Maine and Canada. I took a ferry
to the island and met a man who was har-
vesting a seaweed called dulse,” Barbara
explains.
Barbara was introduced to a group of
people who were taught by native tribes of
the region the proper techniques for dulse
harvesting. “I stood there and thought, this
is amazing. The tide was way, way out, and
the seaweed was glistening everywhere. I
said, this is what I want to do for the rest
of my life.”
Barbara began to write stories and
seaweed recipes throughout that winter.
“I came to California the following sum-
mer to find out about harvesting in this
area. I saw packages of seaweed from the
Mendocino Sea Vegetable Company, and
found out their seaweed was used in a
signature dish at The Ravens restaurant. I
got a phone number for John.” Something
happened when she met him. “The sky
changed. I’ve never left. That was seven
years ago.”
The couple, who shared an immedi-
ate bond, was married. “John believes the
Dulse Goddess brought me here,” Barbara
laughs.
The collection of seaweed is like a religious calling for the Lewallens. “It’s got
all that irrational exuberance,” says John.
There are several thousand species of marine algae. “It is the oldest multi-celled life
form,” says John, citing that algae can be
traced back 400 million years. “Before seaweed, there was single-celled life. Seaweed
Road Taken the not CAROLE BRODSKY
By Carole Brodsky
John and Barbara Stephens-Lewallen have walked “the road not taken” for decades. As husband and wife, business
partners and ocean activists, the Lewallens
made a commitment to themselves and the
world: that the pristine Mendocino coastline would forever be a place where people
may fish and gather life-giving, nutritious
foods from the sea.
John Lewallen has had a long love af-
fair with the ocean. “I grew up on the west
coast from the Bay Area to Alaska,” says
John. Moving to Mendocino County in
1978, John, his first wife Eleanor and his
children were part of the back-to-the-land
movement. “I was an over-educated hippie
with a family who wanted to unite making
a living with hanging out at Elk Beach,” he
smiles. “At that point, the seaweed started
winking at me.”
The family started collecting seaweed
and carrying it from Greenwood Beach in
backpacks. “We gave the seaweed Japanese
names,” says John. “We designed one-
ounce plastic bags and hand-written labels.
I began distributing the seaweed on a route
from Berkeley and San Francisco back up
the coast.”
The Lewallens discovered and developed
seaweed varieties that had never before
been used as commercial products, learning
the cycles of seaweed growth and discover-
ing medicinal and edible uses for the many
varieties living off the Mendocino coast.
“We worked in harmony during the time
of maximum blade growth,” explains John,
clarifying the “blades” are the seaweed’s
leafy structures. “Even then I dreamed of a
group of cottage industry wild-crafters who
