D.J. Waldie is a historian of Los Angeles, a memoirist, and a translator. He is the author of Holy Land: A Suburban Memoir (1995),...
LAPL Blog
Latest Posts
Pages
Hang Onto Your Hashbrowns—it’s Haiku Friday! Time to Enjoy the First Batch of Haikus About Your Favorite Food
Last week we threw out a new poetry prompt for the month of May, asking Los Angeles Public Library staff to write a poem about their favorite food or dish.
Read it First: At Home Television Edition
A common complaint leveled against film adaptations is that they often cut too much of the original material to fit their run time. This is where miniseries and television shows can really shine. With more time to tell the story, they can often provide a more faithful adaptation.
Sharing Stories: LA COVID-19 Community Archive
History is more than government documents, statistical reports, and newspaper headlines. History isn’t just the chyrons running across the bottom of your television screen. It is the stories of everyday people.
The Power of Empathy: Library Values Outside the Library
As the COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Public Library has to adapt to a different world.
Cherry Blossoms and Our Asian American Pacific Heritage
Are you ready for a springtime of cherry blossoms? Like the countless petals carpeting the ground beneath the cherry tree, there are many ways to enjoy celebrating the return of warm sunshine, cool breezes, and the pale shades of pink of these five-petal flowers.
California Books for California Kids
California, the golden state, has always inspired people. Over the years movies have been made, songs have been recorded, and books written. But are there any children’s books about our fair state?
Which Pantone Color of the Year Are You?
In the year 2000, Pantone, a company most known for its precision color matching system, announced its very first Color of the Year. By 2007, the December announcement of Pantone’s Color of the Year had become a much-anticipated event, forecasting graphic design, fashion, and product trends.
Hydroponic Gardening
The name hydroponics for the practice of growing plants using only water, nutrients and a growing medium—i.e., without soil—was coined in 1937 by UC Berkeley scientists Dr. William Setchell and Dr. William Gericke. The name derives from hydro, the Greek word for water, and ponos, the Greek word for labor.
Face Shield 3D Printing 101
Over this past month, the Octavia Lab has transformed itself from a hobbyist makerspace to a light manufacturing powerhouse to help produce PPE (personal protective equipment) face shields for the local medical community.
Interview With an Author: Margarita Montimore
After receiving a BFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College, Margarita Montimore worked for over a decade in publishing and social media before deciding to focus on the writing dream full-time.