San Anselmo

“I think of the challenges, the indignities that my grandparents suffered on a daily basis” living under Jim Crow, Colbert said over lunch recently in his hometown of San Anselmo.

In 2013, Colbert, his wife and their daughter settled in San Anselmo, a charmy tree-lined community about 15 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge.

San Anselmo, with its rugged hillsides and red-brick downtown, has about 13,000 residents.

A friend I’ve known since 1973 from San Anselmo brought bouquets from her garden, and my next-door neighbor brought me art supplies.

Now 32, he has earned a master’s degree in environmental science and policy and works as the climate action coordinator for the California towns of San Anselmo and Fairfax.