In late November 1970, Abigail Lois Cleaves, a Los Angeles resident of more than fifty years, passed away. Gail (as she was more commonly known) had been a Civil Engineer with the Los Angeles County…
On March 7, 2025, the New York Times included me, well, more precisely, something I owned, in a feature story regarding materials that were salvaged from the Eaton Fire. By the time the item and my…
We left Sarah Bernhardt accepting a very lucrative offer to perform in Southern California, and despite reports to the contrary, it was not the only prospect—but it was the only realistic prospect. To…
Just before 6 p.m. on the afternoon of May 18, 1906, twenty-year-old Highland Park resident Elizabeth Beatty stepped onto the boardwalk of the newest amusement pier in Los Angeles County. Jutting out…
On a pleasant summer evening in 1891, the Los Angeles Herald's theater critic attended a play that ran for exactly one night. The play was conservatively described by the critic as "interesting," but…
Ste. Ostrich in Manhattan: The Visitations of a Martyr (1990) was written and illustrated by Lois Morrison, with Julie Chen serving as the paper engineer. This artist's book represents what is known…
The Derringer Press ConferenceThe Derringer press conference is what Judge Cannon became infamous for, and the blowback would be mighty. The popular narrative often goes something like this: Judge…
On Wednesday, May 17, 1967, a petite woman sporting a pink babydoll dress and white patent leather Mary Jane shoes pulled a pearl-handled Derringer revolver and pointed it in the direction of Los…
1923 proved to be a banner year for construction in Los Angeles. While discounting structures like Angelus Temple, the Hollywoodland sign, and the Memorial Coliseum, the 1924 Los Angeles Times…
This is the final part of a seven-part blog series exploring the long-forgotten Los Angeles arts & culture magazine The Graphic. The Los Angeles Public Library owns what is likely the most complete…
Read me, L. A.: a book lover’s celebration of Los Angeles by Katie Orphan explores L.A.’s literary heritage and the people, places and events that gave it life. Orphan, a writer and manager of a local bookstore, has written a book that is ostensibly marketed as a literary tour guide...
Sam Wasson, a Los Angeles writer specializing in film and theater, has written a book that examines the making of Roman Polanski’s film, Chinatown. This book stands as the most comprehensive examination of the film’s production, and will please cinephiles, as well as others. Wasson focuses on four men, who...
This book follows the machinations of Los Angeles real estate mogul William May Garland as he attempts to bring the 1932 Olympic Games to Los Angeles. Barry Siegel, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and UC Irvine Professor, rewards the reader with an enjoyable account of a winsome individual with a dogged...
Fay Wray and Robert Riskin: A Hollywood Memoir is a meticulous and heartfelt account of the lives of the titular couple that was written by their daughter, Victoria Riskin. The book is a traditional biography, however the author’s relationship to the subjects gives the book resonance and depth that few...
