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S.F.B. Mor se Por trait Finds a Home in Pebble Beach B Y M I C H A E L C H AT F I E L D S portscaster and Pebble Beach resident Jim Nantz is enamored of the founder of his community, Samuel Finley Brown Morse—so much so that he and his wife Courtney named their daughter Finley after the man known as "The Duke of Del Monte." "I admire so much what he did for this area," Nantz says. When he learned that the only known life portrait of Morse was available, he jumped at the opportunity. Pacific Grove artist Jesse Corsaut painted the portrait in 1957 or 1958. "Mr. Morse saw and liked my work and com- missioned a 'sketch portrait,'" Corsaut says. "I just painted the face and head. I wasn't charging much for them." But Morse wanted more detail, returning to pose again, and asked him to fill in the back- ground. "It started to get overworked, so I decided to do a second, in the sketch style I had originally planned," Corsaut says. Morse took his detailed version home, and Corsaut stored his version away and forgot about it. "Years later, one of Morse' heirs con- tacted me to restore his painting," he explains. "That reminded me of the one I kept and I wondered if anyone would want it." Indeed, someone did. The painting today occupies a place of honor in the Nantz family guest house. SHORTCUTS NEIGHBORS Pacific Grove artist Jesse Corsaut (left) painted Pebble Beach founder S.F.B. Morse in the late 1950s. It now hangs in the home of sportscaster Jim Nantz. 68 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 1 6 Photo: Kelli Uldall

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