When Linda Pequegnat enjoys the view of La Jolla Shores from the second story of her home on Paseo del Ocaso, she thinks: Feb. 21, 1926. “It was the day La Jolla Shores residential development celebrated its opening day,” she said. “Almost 10,000 people came and 120 lots were sold at $2,000 each.” Pequegnat wasn’t a face in the crowd that day. She is the author of “This Day in San Diego History,” published by Sunbelt Publications in 2009. The book features a historical narrative pertaining to San Diego for each day in the year, with about 60 relevant to La Jolla specifically. A conversation with Pequegnat is like referencing an encyclopedia or perusing a scrapbook of local lore. From the day the two brothers bought the first pieces of land in “La Joya” as it was spelled on Feb, 27, 1869, to the moment San Diego experienced its first television broadcast —thanks to a transmitter crowning Mount Soledad on May 16, 1949 — there is little left of La Jolla’s past that Pequegnat has not unearthed. Born in southern Indiana, Pequegnat first moved to La Jolla in 1954 as a graduate student at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography where she received her master’s degree. “I rented a little apartment in the Shores for $100 a month, which seemed high at the time,” she said. “I used to walk along the beach every day to get to my classes at Scripps. That’s when I first fell in love with La Jolla.” Pequegnat then moved to Texas with her husband, who got a teaching position at Texas A&M University. Pequegnat earned her Ph.D. in biological oceanography from the same university and the couple spent the next two decades researching marine life in the Gulf of Mexico. Finally, 20 years later, they returned to La Jolla. “Being away from the place I loved so much inspired me to study and learn more about it,” she said. Despite her background, Peqeuegnat didn’t want to research for her book in a traditional fashion. Instead, she spent a total of seven or eight years compiling dates and stories into a collection of overflowing notebooks, before the project was ready for compilation. “I did it backwards,” she said. “Whenever I saw a month, date and a year together, I wrote it down.” When she finally finished, Pequegnat said she had amassed five or six stories for some dates. She then selected her favorites. “It was a labor of love,” she said. La Jolla’s notable historical figures, especially local philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps and her half-sister, Virginia, adopt fresh personalities through Pequegnat’s eyes. “Ellen was very serious and staid, and she did so many wonderful things for the community,” Pequegnat said. “Then there was Virginia. She was a character. She was a little wild.” Pequegnat said she inherited her passion for history from her mother, who moved to France at age 68 to research the family’s genealogy. “My mother was very daring,” she said. “I was an only child and she would tell me whatever she was thinking. I learned about history by osmosis.” Local history holds a special appeal for Pequegnat because of its relevance to daily life and the small details that make a community. “Knowing what happened in the past is so important to being able to appreciate where you live,” she said. “This Day In San Diego History” was a finalist in the “Local Interest” category at the 2009 San Diego Book Awards and is available for purchase at Warwick’s Books, 7812 Girard Ave., or on Amazon.com.