BOOK REVISITS SIMI'S HISTORY; SOCIETY MEMBERS' `JOURNEY' NEARS END.

Byline: Douglas Clark Daily News Staff Writer

A comprehensive city history that has taken six years to compile finally will be shipped to the printers next week.

And Patricia Havens, the Simi Valley Historical Society member who has organized the project, hopes that bound copies of the 512-page ``Simi Valley: A Journey Through Time'' will be ready for sale long before the holiday season.

``I will not believe it's done until I see it loaded on the truck,'' Havens said. ``These last three years have been excruciating, painful labor.''

But the labor also has produced a tome that Havens proudly describes as a celebration of Simi Valley life.

``It will be like an encyclopedia of all that has happened here,'' she said.

Throughout this past week, Havens and Simi Valley photographer Bill Appelton, who helped compile and design the book, have been putting the finishing touches on the book's 17 chapters and four-color cover at the Strathearn Historical Park and Museum.

At a cost of $30,000, the Historical Society will publish 2,500 copies of the book. About 75 percent of that number will be softcover, at a price of $29.95, with a $3 discount for society members. Hardbound copies will cost $49.95, with a $5 discount for members.

Also 100 souvenir editions of the books will be sold for $100 each. About 35 of those have already been sold, Havens said.

One aspect of the book that Appleton is particularly proud of is the more than 525 photographs - 85 percent of which have never been published.

Among those photographs are some taken by Appleton's great-grandfather, John Sparkhawk Appelton, with a camera bought in 1906. Though the photos capture simple subjects, such as family gatherings, Bill Appleton is impressed with the quality.

``The amazing thing is, he was very accomplished. Although he was probably limited technically by the quality of the camera, he had a good eye for composition,'' he said.

The idea for the book began in 1991, when Havens began soliciting memories from Simi Valley old-timers. About three years ago, she started contacting experts - some local - who contributed articles about the geology, plant and animal life, and the development of Simi Valley.

Despite the plethora of historic and scientific Simi Valley facts contained in the book, Havens said it is also rich in reminiscences. The oral memories and photographs illustrate a way of life that Appelton believes will surprise many present-day Simi Valley residents.

``A lot of people who live here now have no idea what Simi Valley looked like,'' he said.

Putting together the book, which Havens originally thought would be a mere 400 pages, was both aided and exasperated by the use of computers. Though software like Quark Express make it possible to design a book entirely on computer, contributors used various software. Appelton said it was ``a long process'' to standardize all those programs, some of which refused to be adapted to Quark.

As a result, next week Appelton and Havens will mail two versions of the book to the Chelsea, Mich.-based publisher, Book Crafters: one on computer disk, and another an old-fashioned ``dummy'' of the book, made by pasting photocopies of photographs to pages of text. The second version will give the publisher a model of what the Historical Society wants the finished product to look like.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1--Color) Patricia Havens, with help from Bill Appelton, is completing a book about Simi Valley.

(2) ``Simi Valley: A Journey Through Time'' includes historic photographs.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News