Photos: Historian Kevin Starr, longtime chronicler of California, dies at 76

Kevin Starr receives the 2012 Robert Kirsch Award at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.   (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, right, and California State Librarian Kevin Starr smile after unveiling the design chosen for the California quarter during a ceremony in Sacramento in 2004. The winning entry, called John Muir/Yosemite, was submitted by Los Angeles artist Garrett Burke.

USC history professor Kevin Starr, left, and UC San Diego professor Bram Dijkstra view the mural “Department Store” by artist Frede Vidar at Coit Tower in San Francisco.

One of Kevin Starr’s later books, “Coast of Dreams: California on the Edge,” looked at the years 1990 to 2003 — the period when the state struggled to recover from earthquakes, riots and a steep economic downturn.