On Wednesday, August 19, the Floating Homes community will celebrate a milestone that is both historic and deeply personal: the first Larry Clinton Day.
The City of Sausalito has officially proclaimed August 19, 2026 — Larry Clinton’s 86th birthday — as Larry Clinton Day, recognizing his decades of extraordinary service to Sausalito and the Floating Homes community.
The day will also mark another important milestone: Larry’s retirement as editor of the Floating Times, a role through which he has chronicled, connected, and championed our community for decades.
For so many of us, it is difficult to imagine the Floating Times without Larry. Under his stewardship, it has been far more than a newsletter. It has been the voice of the Floating Homes — telling our stories, introducing our neighbors, preserving our history, keeping us informed and reminding us of the remarkable community we share on Richardson Bay.
Larry’s contributions, however, extend far beyond the Floating Times.
Multiple Accomplishments and Accolades
Over the decades, he has served multiple terms as President of the Floating Homes Association, served as President of the Sausalito Historical Society, and has been a long-time historian of the Floating Homes community. Through his leadership of the Annual Floating Homes Tour, Larry has helped welcome thousands of visitors from around the world and shared with them the history, architecture, creativity, and independent spirit that make our waterfront neighborhood unlike any other.
Perhaps most importantly, Larry has understood that our history is worth preserving.
Through his writing, research, volunteerism and seemingly endless institutional memory, he has documented the people and events that shaped the Floating Homes community and helped ensure that those stories will not be lost. His work has helped preserve not simply a collection of houseboats, but the character and culture of an extraordinary Sausalito neighborhood.
A Celebration Aboard the Lady Jane
On August 19, Sausalito Mayor Steven Woodside will personally deliver the Larry Clinton Day proclamation to Larry aboard his beloved Lady Jane on Gate 6½, surrounded by a small gathering of friends and representatives from the City of Sausalito, the Floating Homes Association, and the Sausalito Historical Society.
It is especially fitting that the proclamation will be presented to Larry at home, in the heart of the Floating Homes community he has spent so many decades serving, preserving and celebrating.
The proclamation honors Larry as a “leader, historian, author, and ambassador”. It also recognizes his lifetime of exceptional leadership, service, and commitment to preserving the history, character, and spirit of the Floating Homes and the City of Sausalito.
It is also fitting that all three organizations — the City of Sausalito, the Sausalito Floating Homes Association and the Sausalito Historical Society — will come together to recognize someone whose life and work have connected them for so many years.
And the occasion allows our community to say something that cannot be said often enough:
Thank you, Larry.
Thank you for the countless stories.
Thank you for preserving our history.
Thank you for the Floating Times.
Thank you for the Floating Homes Tour.
Thank you for your leadership, your advocacy, your curiosity, and your commitment to this wonderfully unconventional community.
And thank you for making sure that the stories of the Floating Homes — and the people who created them — will continue to be told.
August 19, 2026: Larry Clinton Day
As Larry celebrates his 86th birthday and officially retires as editor of the Floating Times, August 19th gives our community an opportunity to celebrate the remarkable legacy he has created over decades of service.
Editors may retire.
But the stories they preserve live on.
Happy 86th Birthday, Larry. Happy retirement. And happy first Larry Clinton Day!
By Julie Durbin