I dislike the question “how do you like retirement?” I mean, this is like asking “how do you like breathing?” Life is a one-way street and there are no U-turns on the way toward the great unknown. So…
“I’m going from my valley. And this time, I shall never return. I am leaving behind me my fifty years of memory. Memory. Strange that the mind will forget so much of what only this moment has passed…
While today’s Olympic athletes are breaking records in Tokyo with the help of modern science and training methods the event is no more incredible or impressive than the “little games that could” in…
After admiring her maps for several decades I began to ponder why the great Ruth Taylor White does not have a place in Tooley’s Dictionary of Mapmakers or even a Wikipedia page. After all, she must be…
Dear History and Genealogy Department: I am 8 years old.Some of my little friends say there is no Central Library anymore.Papa says, ‘If you see it in on the website it’s so.’Please tell me the truth…
We don’t have a typical Christmas season here in L.A., like the ones in syrupy movies with snow, ear muffs, winter coats, and people standing in a blizzard preparing to jump off a trestle. We do have…
Libraries are empty of customers and that is sad as hell. Sad for library workers who not only love the musty smell of the stacks but also the everyday challenges of actual patrons! We pine for our…
It was a time when Angelenos should have been preparing to head out into the streets waving victory flags and knocking back belts of whiskey before the commencement of the dreaded Volstead act. The…
Chinatown in Los Angeles has been demeaned and misunderstood for about a century and a half. It has never been considered the equal of the much more famous entities in San Francisco or New York but it…
Halloween has become a huge, month-long celebration in these modern times and not just for candy and death as I recall it meant when I was a brat. Adults dress-up as much as kids now, and parties…
