Keith and I thought it would be fun to get together with Daily Mirror readers for lunch at Philippe at noon on June 13. We can chat about mystery photos, Chavez Ravine, Mamie Van Doren, Gail Russell and anything else that interests you. See you there!
"Chavez Ravine," by Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas and Herbert Siguenza, is being performed at Cal State Long Beach through Saturday. Tickets are $12/$15. Further information is here.
An upcoming conference
will focus on the legacy of Allensworth, a town financed and governed
by African Americans founded by Col. Allen Allensworth. The conference
is being promoted as the first in the Hidden Stories Series of the
California State Parks Foundation.
The conference will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on May 4 at Doheny
Memorial Library. Registration is $60 and includes meals, an evening reception and membership
in the parks foundation.
Sessions include African Americans in the Gold Rush; recreation and
beach culture during the days of segregation; a keynote speech by
former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, the former mayor of San Francisco; the history of African Americans
in San Diego; and workshops on ways to highlight African Americans'
contribution to California.
Frank Howard signs autographs during "Nuns' Day" at Dodger Stadium, 1963
"Throwback" Thursby pulled this picture for a post coming up later this week and it was too good not to share. Isn't it wonderful?
Here's what we're working on:
On Monday, Keith takes a look at old-school college basketball tactics before the shot clock was introduced. On Tuesday, he's got buglers playing "Charge" at Dodger games at the Coliseum and on Wednesday, he'll write about Frank Howard.
As always, we have the Movie Star Mystery Photo on Monday morning and I've been
going through historic photos of the Fire Department for something
Wednesday. I'll also be taking a look at what was found in the Burbank time capsule.
We're continuing our daily 10 a.m. posts on Raymond Chandler in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of his death, and our daily spin through The Times' old movie ads at noon, working forward from 1909. And we have Paul Coates at 2 p.m. and Matt Weinstock at 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday to re-create the feel of an afternoon paper. (And you thought PM-ers were virtually extinct). Look for a Nuestro Pueblo and other surprises as the week unfolds!
One other note: The Daily Mirror is getting ready to say farewell to Catriona Lavery, our UCLA intern for this quarter. Catriona did terrific work on the Norbo Grill and other research projects, as well as transcribing Coates and Weinstock. We will miss her and wish her well, but we are also looking for an intern--or two--for next quarter. If you're interested, drop me a note. The unpaid internship is for a grade, and involves lots of digging in microfilm and musty archives.
The Los Angeles Conservancy is sponsoring a self-driving tour of five landmarks in the spiritual history of L.A.: Angelus Temple, the Self-Realization Fellowship Mother Center, Chapel of the Jesus Ethic, the Philosophical Research Society and the Bonnie Brae House, home of the Pentecostal movement. The tour is March 14, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $10/$25/$20.
I would have been tempted to add the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation, 3950 W. 6th. Maybe next time.
The rest of the world may peer into a darkened crystal ball, but at the Daily Mirror, we know what the future has to bring.
In 1959, Los Angeles won the series and we lost Errol Flynn and Raymond Chandler. Nikita Khrushchev paid us a call. Schoolchildren designed 50-star flags to welcome Hawaii and Alaska into the U.S. And a municipal judge named David Williams wonders why the LAPD mostly arrests African Americans for gambling; 5,210 blacks compared with 482 whites for 1958.
It's going to be quite a year--stay tuned!
Flynn discusses his 1959 trip to Cuba.
Raymond Chandler's obit runs on Page 4 of The Times.
Baby Boomers rotted their minds with "Clutch Cargo."
While their parents listened to Miles Davis--or Arthur Godfrey.
And Jack Kerouac turned up on Steve Allen's TV show.
"The Maltese Falcon" will be shown at the Warner Grand in San Pedro at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22, 2008. Tickets are free for L.A. Conservancy members--while supplies last. If you're a member of the Los Angeles Conservancy, RSVP to Deandra Rosales or Debra Espinoza at 310.548.2493 by 5 pm on Friday, November 21, or bring your membership card to the box office on Saturday after 3 p.m.
Tickets for non-L.A. Conservancy members are $5/$10 and can be purchased at www.warnergrand.org
Steve Hodel's "Black Dahlia Avenger," inscribed to James Ellroy, as listed on EBay for $19.99, in 2006.
Steve Hodel is bringing his "Black Dahlia Avenger" presentation to the South Pasadena Public Library at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 7, 2008, with a theory that is more battered and dismissed than ever.
Since the hardback came out in 2003, it has taken some well-deserved
lumps: James Ellroy, who wrote a laudatory introduction, abandoned the
idea that George Hodel was the killer and his inscribed copies were sold on EBay; a character actress from the 1940s and '50s named Marya Marco
has surfaced as one of the women whose photos (found in George Hodel's belongings after his death) were presented as being
Elizabeth Short; and Short's family has announced that Hodel's
photographs aren't of Elizabeth Short.
The latest blow comes from Gary Ingemunson, an attorney who works with the Los Angeles Police Protective League and represents LAPD officers. Ingemunson
has taken on the complicated task of defending 1940s police
officers, most of them dead, against "Dahlia Avenger's" accusations of a cover-up,
just as if they had been charged with misconduct today. His
presentation, or Skelly Response, is thorough, elaborate and even exhaustive. I would
recommend it to anyone who is deeply interested in the case or thinks
there is any validity whatsoever to "Dahlia Avenger."
Ingemunson also takes on some of the accusations in Charles Stoker's alleged LAPD expose "Thicker 'n' Thieves," the basis for "Avenger's" claims. Although it was rightly dismissed as a crackpot book when it came out, "Thieves" has gained some acceptance in the last few years and sells for far too much money if you can find a copy. Debunking it would be a life's work and I would invite anyone with several idle years to fact-check it.
Larry Harnisch. The leading Black Dahlia expert and a collaborator in the 1947project, Harnisch has been a copy editor at The Times since 1988. He has appeared on many TV shows discussing the Dahlia case, notably "James Ellroy's Feast of Death."
Join him for a spin through old Los Angeles in the Mirror's radio car. Keep your eyes open for Mickey Cohen and Tempest Storm. It's quite a ride.
The reporter's badge belonged to Sid Hughes (1908-1958), legendary reporter who worked at nearly every newspaper in Los Angeles.
Keith Thursby. Keith has been an editor at The Times in news, sports and design since 1986. The Rams moved to St. Louis on his first day as assistant sports editor of the paper's Orange County edition. He grew up in Norwalk and lives in Irvine.
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Larry Harnisch. The leading Black Dahlia expert and a collaborator in the 1947project, Harnisch has been a copy editor at The Times since 1988. He has appeared on many TV shows discussing the Dahlia case, notably "James Ellroy's Feast of Death."
Join him for a spin through old Los Angeles in the Mirror's radio car. Keep your eyes open for Mickey Cohen and Tempest Storm. It's quite a ride.
The reporter's badge belonged to Sid Hughes (1908-1958), legendary reporter who worked at nearly every newspaper in Los Angeles.
Keith Thursby. Keith has been an editor at The Times in news, sports and design since 1986. The Rams moved to St. Louis on his first day as assistant sports editor of the paper's Orange County edition. He grew up in Norwalk and lives in Irvine.