Paul Coates, March 30, 1961

March 30, 1961: I had a terrible time scanning Paul Coates’ column for today, which is on the jump but barely legible. The ones in April are better.

Paul Coates, March 29, 1961

March 29, 1961: A fellow gives  up his charitable pastime after going for a walk in Beverly Hills. Irving Iscoe used to carry a pocket full of pennies when he went for a walk and would feed a few to parking meters that had expired to save drivers from getting tickets. He left a mimeographed note on the windshields, telling the drivers what he had done and telling them that they could repay him by donating to the Foundation for the Junior Blind. After a jaunt in Beverly Hills, however, he was warned by the police that he was soliciting without a license, Paul Coates says.

Paul Coates, March 28, 1961

 

March 28, 1961: Memphis Harry Lee Ward, one of Paul Coates’ regular correspondents, sends a copy of “Highways of Literature.”  Coates pages through the book and finds some interesting items….

Paul Coates, March 27, 1961

March 27, 1961: Paul Coates has the story of two students who went on vacation to Mexico and came back with a 12-year-old orphan.    And Mirror reader Jerry Feldner sends a letter about the artistry of bullfighting.

Paul Coates and Matt Weinstock, March 25, 1961

 

March 25, 1961: There was a prisoner who had a wooden leg, but that was only the beginning of his problems, Matt Weinstock says. One of Paul Coates’ readers has some urgent information for Red Skelton about his lottery ticket! DEAR ABBY: Where we live, it is the custom for parents to give their children $5 for every A and $2 for every B on their report cards. I am 13 and got two A's and four Bs and I didn't get anything. Do you think that is fair?

Paul Coates, March 24, 1961

March 24, 1961: Paul Coates dips into the mailbox for items on the mayor’s race and women’s measurements.

Paul Coates, March 23, 1961

March 23, 1961: Desi Arnaz, ABC and the National Italian American League to Combat Defamation reach an agreement that fictional characters in “The Untouchables” will not have Italian names. Arnaz also agrees to show the contributions of Italian Americans in a favorable light. Paul Coates uses this as a point of departure for a satire. I apologize for the poor quality of this scan. Sometimes it’s awfully difficult to get anything legible off the microfilm.

Paul Coates, March 22, 1961

 

March 22, 1961: Paul Coates publishes a personal testimonial from a woman advocating free school lunches for children. “It breaks my heart when I hear people say it's a waste of money to feed hungry kids at school," she says.

The Mirror, March 21, 1961

 

March 21, 1961: I’ve been on vacation, so I hurried down to the scanner in The Times’ library today and went through this week’s copies of the Mirror. Here’s the latest from Matt Weinstock, Paul Coates and Abby. Notice that the Mirror's front page has been resdesigned -- again. Our plucky little paper will be gone in January!

Paul Coates and Matt Weinstock, March 11, 1961

March 11, 1961: The unemployed man who turned in $240,000 that fell from a Brink’s armored car gets a job offer! An overturned propane trailer causes a five-hour jam on the Hollywood Freeway, Matt Weinstock says, back when such things were still a novelty.  Paul Coates interviews a woman whose husband was charged with abusing the couple’s young daughters after he inflicted second-degree burns by holding their hands over the flame on a gas stove. The girls’ crime? They “messed up” clothing in dresser drawers. DEAR ABBY: Your advice to "OFF MY SCHEDULE" should have been framed. Thanks, Abby, for having a kind paper shoulder for so many to cry on. Like "OFF MY SCHEDULE" I, too, had a young neighbor who would come to my home too often and stay too long. She had two little children and there were times when she kept me from my work. I became weary of her company. When she moved, she thanked me for my kindness in letting her come. She confessed she had been on the verge of becoming an alcoholic and when she felt she needed a drink she would come to my house instead. My only regret now is that I became weary at all.

Paul Coates, March 9, 1961

March 9, 1961: Paul Coates dips into the slush pile of press releases for an item on plastic cigarettes that provide a menthol flavor – but don’t light them!

Paul Coates, March 8, 1961

March 8, 1961: Paul Coates has an item about the possibility that the new postmaster general, J. Edward Day, might run afoul of obscenity laws because he wrote a racy novel that could be unfit for the U.S. mail. Day joked that he wrote the novel out of boredom during World War II and sent it home to his mother to proofread!