21 hours agoMember-onlyShe Said She Was Al Pacino’s DaughterIn early 1986, I made plans to have lunch with my father. I drove to his film production office in Beverly Hills and met his new receptionist, a young Julia Roberts lookalike with large brown eyes, wavy hair and an effervescent smile. “You must be Loren,” she said rising from…Al Pacino10 min readAl Pacino10 min read
2 days agoMember-onlyThe Meaning of Found ObjectsWhen I was in my twenties, I collected objects I found on the sidewalks of Los Angeles. An early find was a hand-written letter from a mother to her incarcerated son explaining why she wouldn’t bail him out of jail. “I have the money,” she wrote. “But you need to…Los Angeles5 min readLos Angeles5 min read
Published inRiverRhythms·3 days agoMember-onlyClassic Songs: Bela Lugosi’s DeadOn August 16, 1956, Bela Lugosi laid down to take a nap in his Los Angeles apartment. Lugosi was a Hungarian actor known for playing Count Dracula and other horror film roles in a 50-year career. At 6:45 pm, his wife Hope returned from work to discover Lugosi dead in…Music4 min readMusic4 min read
4 days agoMember-onlyI Was Beat Up at an LA Punk ShowIn the winter of 1981, I responded to a back page ad in Flipside, an independent zine covering the Los Angeles punk scene. The ad read: “Videographer needed to document local concert.” I’d spent several thousand dollars on a Panasonic video camera and was looking for ways to recoup the…Music6 min readMusic6 min read
6 days agoMember-onlyThe Lemonade StandWhen I was a boy, we had three robust lemon trees in the backyard. The lemons were large and ugly with rough bumpy rinds resembling an old man’s face. The flesh was mild, not too tart and not too sweet. One day, my siblings and I set up a lemonade…Lemon4 min readLemon4 min read
Published inBuzzer Beater·Sep 13Member-onlyA Deep and Quirky Dive Into Lakers HistoryEveryone knows Kobe, LeBron, Magic, Shaq, Kareem and Wilt. How about Earl Tatum? Or Mark Landsberger? Or Zelmo Beaty? Since they moved to Los Angeles in 1960, 481 players have donned Lakers uniforms (during the regular season). …Sports14 min readSports14 min read
Sep 5Member-onlyThe Survivor From Bel-AirBack in the 80s, I was a struggling young screenwriter willing to take any gig I could find. My father, a film producer, told me about a woman he’d met who needed help writing a screenplay. She was a Holocaust survivor who’d rebuilt her life in America. He gave me…Hollywood7 min readHollywood7 min read
Sep 4Member-onlyOverheard at Senior Homes (Part 2)I teach writing and printmaking classes at senior homes in Los Angeles. Over the years, I’ve kept a journal of the memorable things I’ve seen and heard. While teaching at a memory care facility in Glendale, I noticed a resident wearing a name tag sticker inscribed with the name “Eugene.”…Grandparents4 min readGrandparents4 min read
Published inPicture Palace·Sep 4Member-onlyThe Kidnapped ScreenwriterWhen Researching a Story Goes Too Far — Gary is a successful Hollywood screenwriter with multiple film credits (not his real name). Early in his career, he was hired to write a script for an action movie that called for a crucial kidnapping scene. For research, he read the book Six Days in August that introduced the term…Screenwriting6 min readScreenwriting6 min read
Published inRiverRhythms·Aug 30Member-onlyClassic Songs: Song to the SirenIn 1967, American poet Larry Beckett wrote an elegiac poem titled “Song to the Siren.” He was inspired by Homer and stories of ancient sirens (ocean nymphs) tempting sailors lost at sea. Long afloat on shipless oceans I did all my best to smile. ’Til your singing eyes and fingers…Rock4 min readRock4 min read
