While scouring microfilm in the History & Genealogy Department at Central Library a few months back, I was startled to see a name that seemed entirely out of place in a particular publication. The…
In 1987, an elderly gentleman named Forman Brown stepped inside the indie bookstore, A Different Light Books, at 4014 Santa Monica Blvd in search of a novel. The book Brown was looking for was…
Charlotta Bass, a name well known in Los Angeles history circles, has surfaced recently on a national front thanks in part to the ascension of Senator Kamala Harris to the position of Vice President…
I cannot begin to tell you how much I love this new book, Read Me Los Angeles: Exploring L.A.’s Book Culture from Prospect Park Books. I purchased a copy of right before the Safer at Home initiative…
For someone who only spent about 25 years in Los Angeles, Edwin Cawston made a lasting impression on the cultural history of our great city and he did so through, of all things, a farm. Dubbed by the…
In a city where no structure is guaranteed permanence, the iconic Bullocks Wilshire building turns an astounding 90 years old this week. The building has superseded its retail beginnings and is seen…
Los Angeles is a city whose theater scene is typically overlooked, yet every now and then we are host to a production that is monumental. One such occasion descended upon Los Angeles 40 years ago this…
It's a rare instance when a junior high school yearbook has implications on the social history of a city so when you see it, it’s pretty amazing; the winter 1937 edition of the John Burroughs Junior…
A number of travelogues have been written about Los Angeles throughout the decades with a myriad of opinions on the cultural and social climate of the city. The City of Angels has been both praised…
Long before Divine, Charles Pierce, Craig Russell, Jim Bailey, or any contestant on ‘Drag Race’ brought the art of drag performance to mainstream audiences, there was Julian Eltinge. Although…
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...
