Delis are dying. It’s happening all over Los Angeles. In the past ten years, the city has lost Junior’s in Westwood, Greenblatt’s in West Hollywood, Weiler’s in Northridge, Jerry’s in Studio City, Izzy’s in Santa Monica, Solley’s in Van Nuys, Billy’s in Glendale, Steve’s in Pacific Palisades, Victor’s in Hollywood…

I teach printmaking art classes. I often ask students to name their favorite artist. The artist that comes up more than any other is Vincent Van Gogh. I hear reasons like “he suffered for his art” or “he’d rather paint than eat.” This is true. Van Gogh gave his life…

Manhattan is Woody Allen’s heartfelt ode to New York. Shot in gorgeous black & white, the film opens with a stunning montage of New York City set to the strains of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody In Blue.” Unlike Scorsese’s gritty Mean Streets & Sidney Lumet’s Serpico, Manhattan offers an idealized view of…

In 1963, America was a nervous wreck. The country witnessed the Bay of Pigs fiasco, the start of the Vietnam conflict, the building of the Berlin Wall and the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cold War was peaking and civilization seemed to be on the brink of annihilation. Director Stanley Kubrick…

When I was a kid, our family lived near a quiet old man named Mr. Kravitz. He owned a dry cleaning business and his pride and joy was his dark blue Mercedes with a personalized plate reading “L’ Chaim” (Hebrew for “to life”). …

The following passages were taken from my 1989 journal as I struggled to survive as a screenwriter in Los Angeles. Act I: It’s a Monday morning in August. The city is in the midst of a heat wave. Like many of my Hancock Park neighbors my apartment windows are open…

Yes, he was this scary in person. I worked with Jack Palance in 1992 on the television series Legends of the West. He was intimidating. His height, sharp cheekbones and intense silence added to an aura of quiet menace. When I gained the courage to speak with him I learned…

The first time I visited San Pedro, I drove past a Motel 6 when I noticed a naked man hanging outside a window two floors over the street. Pedestrians walked past as if nothing strange was happening. I concocted scenarios to explain the incident. Perhaps the man was having a…

October 2022 will mark the 19-year anniversary of singer/songwriter Elliott Smith’s death. Smith wrote intensely personal songs about his struggles with depression, alcoholism and drug addiction. His music was intricate with layered vocals and sweet melodies worthy of Brian Wilson. He possessed a soft tenor whisper belying his weathered face…