Columnist
Columnist's Latest Posts
Around the Town: High Tea, Sheba gala, ‘Gutsy Women,’ history events and BBBS Big Bash
“Meow, my little pretties — come have a purr-fectly good time.” And, so, more than 70 ladies descended upon the most ‘terrifying’ and beautiful “fur-midable” Las Palmas home of Margo O’Connell for her haunted High Tea Oct. 19. Her porcelain Buddhas were outfitted in black masks and skullcaps topped with kitty ears. The sculptures surrounding […]
On Preservation: Tragedy on Citrus tells of loss of ‘memory, continuity and identity’
Few names in the recent memory of our neighborhood have fallen further into ignominy than that of Reuven Gradon, who through mendacious flattery and lies purchased the Tudor gem of a home formerly located at 361 N. Citrus Avenue and then promptly carried out its demolition. He also made the decision to forego the statutory […]
On Books and Places: 1919, a big year in Los Angeles
As readers of the Larchmont Chronicle know, many institutions and places around the neighborhood have celebrated a centenary in 2019. Just last month, John Welborne called attention to several, including Musso & Frank Grill, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Wilshire Country Club. John’s point was that the region’s growing sense of itself, its relief […]
Chevalier’s among independents that actually care about books
Articles on the death of bookstores have appeared so often over the past decade as to become a kind of genre — complete with a conventional theme, predictable structure, and prevailing tone. But these elegiac notices of passing shouldn’t obscure an important fact: independent bookstores that remain are doing quite well. Of course there is […]
Fictional tale tells of Warhol’s early years
Who or what inspires and/or influences an artist, famous or otherwise, has always been an elusive query. Andy Warhol’s Tomato by Vince Melocchi explores the answer and the journey. Part of Pittsburgh folklore tells of a working-class bar where a teenage Andy Warhola (the final “a” was dropped later in his career) drew on napkins […]
On Books and Places: Permanence and renewal expressed in Marciano Art Foundation
No building in the Greater Wilshire area so self-consciously expresses permanence and solidity as what is now the Marciano Art Foundation. The former Scottish Rite Cathedral was completed in 1961 — a near past relative to the construction dates of churches, libraries, theaters, and schools from surrounding neighborhoods. But while most of those older structures […]
