Yesterday was the anniversary of the death of Evelyn Ruth Billings. I wrote about her demise back when I was editor-in-chief at The Roundup, the student newspaper of Los Angeles Pierce College. From her tragedy came a personal triumph. My op-ed piece went on to take first place in the column writing category at the 1994 statewide …
The Beverly Boulevard/1st Street bridge is a bit of an anomaly nowadays, its graceful arc over Glendale Boulevard and 2nd Street seeming like literal and figurative overkill. But from this photo found — you guessed it! — in the LA Public Library digital archive you can see the span once served a more obviously cooperative …
Dipping into the LA Public Library’s digital archives again I came upon this pretty amazing image snapped from atop Hill Street near the Fort Moore Memorial. In the foreground is the intersection of Sunset Boulevard (now Cesar E Chavez Boulevard) and Broadway. And through the haze in the distance you can also see General Hospital …
In response to my post about helping my daughter learn how to drive at the Hollywood Bowl (where I also had my first driving experience at 10 years of age), reader Gary commented that he, too, experienced his first motor vehicle operation at the fresh age of 7 running over empty beer cans with his …
In honor of Bastille Day I resubmit a photo of the Seine and Notre Dame Cathedral taken from our wonderful room at the Hotel le Notre Dame on Quay Saint Michel in the Latin Quarter along the left bank of the river during our visit in May 2007.
• The towers on the left, visited this past weekend, put the spire in inspire. Whereas I’ve long put the dis in disdain whenever regarding the tower on the right, visited late Monday afternoon — in surprise at how almost beautiful it looked illuminated in the last rays of that day’s sun. Both are markedly …
With the return to service of the Angel’s Flight train this week, LA Observed has been great in posting various existences of the fascinating funicular in art and popular culture, such as this favorite of mine below, the cover of an issue from last year of Black Clock magazine. I’m subscribing. With the woman’s look, …