Personal pages are the bumper stickers of the World Wide Web. Like waving a banner in an open field, the personal page is a chance to say "Hey, look at me." The trouble is most of them don't say much more than that. There are exceptions. Scott Trimble's page is one of them. He's got some good stuff here, and lots of it. A longtime resident of Terra Linda, Trimble has produced a page that will hold your interest a little longer than the average bumper sticker.

Why? What were you thinking?

Trimble: Probably my main motivation for putting much of the stuff online is the chance to share it with others. The Web pages are all for topics that I myself am very much interested in. It contains information that I have compiled or personally researched. If I were to just keep all that to myself, it would sit in my hard drive and take up useless space. By putting it on the Web, thousands of people can also benefit.

How does your page add to the betterment of society?

Trimble: I have received dozens of e-mails over the years from people who have benefited in one way or another from my Web site. Another Berkeley historian enjoyed the information about hte Stanford Axe Thefts. A girl in Estonia and a guy in Columbia found useful some information in one of my old health tips from when I was a health worker last year. Just last week a woman in Alabama ran across my family tree database and discovered that we are sixth cousins, both descended from the Suggs families of North Carolina. And these are just people who have chosen to take the time to write.

How many hits are you getting?

Trimble: Actually, I don't know anymore. I used to have a counter, but it was slow and only worked half the time. I finally took it off, figuring that it's the content that really matters.

What's next for your page?

Trimble: The latest addition was the Spens-Black Hall Web pages since I am now a resident assistant there for the academic year at Cal. I spent some time during the summer researching the Clark and Carpenter family histories, so I'll be putting that information online soon. One of my big projects will someday be a much more extensive Web page about Marin County's history, especially San Rafael and Terra Linda, my hometowns.

©1997 Marin Independent Journal