Charles F. Surendorf (1906-1979) was a painter, printmaker, poet, and novelist. He was also a husband-twice-and the father of three. Surendorf was a maverick, a strongly opinionated nonconformist who was outspoken about his views on art, and who nursed a lifelong romance with what he called "booze." An adventurous world traveler, Charles was ever in search of artistic inspiration and timeless beauty, and always found it. He mourned what the California State Park system was determined to do, in the name of progress, to his beloved town of Columbia, where he lived and worked for many years.

When he passed from this life, Charles Surendorf left poetry, letters, news clippings, and diverse printed materials, including an unpublished novel, in the care of his son, Charles F. Surendorf III, in Comptche, California, where hundreds of paintings and prints are housed in a vault built specifically for that purpose. This biography has been gleaned from those materials.