The Fantasy of Sylvia Park
The coin is a little bigger than a quarter. It isn’t decorative, but it has a nice weight to it, and the words stamped on it remain clearly legible, even though this token was struck a hundred years ago....
THE COASTWATCHERS Chapter Twenty-Three
We rattled down the road in the dark, with only the glow of the fire on the hills behind us for light. Mr Zelle was going slow, despite the growing feeling of urgency. It was good that he did....
OUR LORD’S CANDLE
Hesperoyucca whipplei, the stately chaparral yucca, or Lord’s candle, is so abundant in the Santa Monica Mountains that we sometimes forget to take a look at this remarkable, beautiful mountain sentinel. Cover concept and design by Urs Baur. Too...
Chapparal Yucca
We saw the white fire of the yucca, Lighting the mountains— And still along the trail Spring’s flowers lingered for summer. —Madeleine Ruthven, “Yerba Buena,” Londelius Came to the Mountains, 1934 In late spring and early summer, thousands of...
When Life Went Swimmingly
This daringly attired 1923 siren isn’t selling swimwear, she’s advertising cosmetics, and more importantly, the healthy, natural glow those cosmetics will impart. Beach culture? It evolved right here, and it came into its own in its modern form in...
A Day at the Beach
“A little sea-bathing would set me up forever,” pronounces Mrs Bennet in Jane Austen’s 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice, expressing the desire to spend the summer at the newly fashionable seaside town of Brighton. The author wasn’t opposed to...
THE COASTWATCHERS Chapter Twenty-Two
In early October, the Santa Ana winds returned. The wind had surprised and delighted me when I arrived from Illinois the previous January. It felt a lot less friendly now. All that year we had lived in fear of...
Life on the Edge: Endangered Species
The least Bell’s vireo, a small songbird most Angelinos have never seen or even heard of, has been in the news lately. This federally listed endangered species has found a refuge in a recently restored stretch of the LA...
Local Interest Reads for Summer
Twice a year, TNT showcases books by local authors and a selection of books of local interest. If you are a writer with a new book, please reach out to us at [email protected]—we’ll be back with our holiday edition...
Father’s Day
Happy Father’s Day to all of our fathers: the ones who tell us stories when we are small, the ones whose stories we miss when they are gone. This is a day to celebrate not only biological fathers, but...
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