Magnus Toren

Magnus Toren

DIRECTOR OF THE HENRY MILLER MEMORIAL LIBRARY IN THE BIG SUR, CALIFORNIA
text by AJA PECKNOLD
portrait by ANNABEL MEHRAN

 
“A car turned out in front of me, I slammed into it. My body flew over the car only to land on the asphalt somewhere ahead. I have no memory of anything after that until I woke up, sprawled on the hood of the car I had just hit, my hand being held by a beautiful girl.”

A few of us are seated in the shadow of magnificent redwoods, nestled backstage in Big Sur, at California’s Henry Miller Memorial Library, passing the time before the evening’s acoustic performance by Ben Gibbard. Wine is being poured, fog filters in, and Magnus Toren, the library’s director, is holding court with yet another of his captivating adventure stories.

There’s a seemingly bottomless well of tales for…