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“Hollywoodland”— a look back
THE STORY OF HOLLYWOODLAND by Gregory Williams From the moment of its inception, Hollywoodland defined the lifestyle known as “living in the Hollywood Hills.” With a steady stream of publicity, it...
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The Venice of America
Venice is a beachfront neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is known for its canals, beaches and circus-like Ocean Front Walk, a two-and-a-half-mile...
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Griffith Observatory
Griffith Observatory is in Los Angeles, California. Sitting on the south-facing slope of Mount Hollywood in L.A.’s Griffith Park, it commands a view of the Los Angeles Basin, including Downtown Los...
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The art of a city hall
(The following was excerpted from the Los Angeles Times, December 23, 2012, by Kate Linthicum. The original articles is titled, “L.A. City Hall is one of painter’s masterpieces”) Joe Nicoletti...
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Mike Montego’s sweet ride
A 1955 Chevrolet Cameo Carrier The main character in three of my novels, all of them about to be released — Shades of Blue, 459-Framed in Red, The Purple Hand — and the forthcoming He Blew Blue...
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The San Fernando Valley (anything you could possibly want to know!)
The San Fernando Valley (locally known as “The Valley“) is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the mountains of the...
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1962
1962 is right in the temporal sweet spot of my Mike Montego novels — Shades of Blue, 459-Framed in Red, The Purple Hand, and He Blew Blue Jazz. Here are a few fun facts about this swingin’ year......
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Aries – my birth sign
According to mythology, in Hellenistic astrology, the sign of the ram was associated with the golden winged ram that rescued Phrixos and his sister Helle from the altar where they were to be...
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Inside the LAPD’s elite airborne unit
(Originally published in the Palisades Post online, January 3, 2013, by staff writer Reza Gostar) Negotiating traffic on Sunset Boulevard and PCH may be challenging for police officers on the...
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So you wanna be a paperback writer?
(The New York Times is always a great source of news and (usually) thoughtful commentary on literary matters. I thought this brief overview of the differences between the two main types of paperback...
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“Let’s fire it up!”
by PAT CONNELLY Sgt. II, Pat Connelly retired from the LAPD in 1996. He was elected to the Los Angeles Police Revolver and Athletic Club (LAPRAAC ) Board of Directors, and presently serves in the...
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The Gamewell
The police call box, or callbox, is a metal box containing a special-purpose direct line telephone or other telecommunications device. Before the introduction of two-way radios, some police...
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Viva Mexico!
The following blogpost was written by Terry Denton. As a recently arrived resident of Mexico, I found it well worth sharing. The Media’s Myopia If you look up myopia in the free dictionary.com...
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Parker Center — end of an LA era
After over 60 years of service, on Tuesday, January 15th at 2 PM, the Los Angeles Police Department closed the tinted, large glass doors for the last time to its headquarters in Parker Center,...
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Ciro’s & the Trocadero
CIRO’S Ciro’s (also known as Ciro’s Le Disc) was a nightclub in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard, on the Sunset Strip, opened in January 1940, by entrepreneur William Wilkerson....
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A reunion of car model makers
PHOENIX — By 1953, Anthony Joslin’s parents had saved $3,000, and earmarked it for sending their son to college. But Mr. Joslin was able to pay for his own tuition, room and board at North Carolina...
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Mike Montego Radio!
Why shouldn’t books have soundtracks? Certainly the Mike Montego series deserves one. If the cool tunes of the early Sixties turn your crank, pour yourself something appropriate, lower the lights,...
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All that jazz… California style
When someone talks about “West Coast jazz” or “cool jazz,” they’re almost invariably referring to a style performed by jazz musicians in California (and primarily in Los Angeles) in the ’50s and early...
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Purple Haze…
My life-long love of music was fueled by the fact that, growing up in Hollywood, I was constantly exposed to some amazing talent. Like Nino Tempo. I went to Hollywood High with Nino, who originally...
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