National Library Workers Day sign
Library workers are a special kind of civil servant. Our mandate is to give you and everyone else free access to some of the best things you can have: learning, self-enrichment, community, contemplation, fun, and simple peace and quiet. the best way to appreciate us is to come use us. 🙂 📚
In the fourth installment of the Black Dahlia Book Club, I looked at the portrayal of Elizabeth Short's murder in early crime anthologies leading up to Jack Webb's "The Badge" in 1958.
April 21, 1908: In Memphis, a quarrel between women over Black and white children playing together leads to a fight and then a shooting. And a crackdown on sending birth control information through the mail.
I think I first heard about Levine when I was attending Santa Fe opera performances in the early 1980s. For it to go on that long, the Met must have known. I always wondered how he survived at the BSO for that matter.
Absolutely! It was well known -- for years -- among my musical friends.
April 20, 1959: Meet Mrs. Roy Harper, a trained auto mechanic who helps run her husband's auto garage, where she is apparently a service writer and specializes in carburetors. But the Los Angeles Times assures readers that she's still ladylike and prefers "high heels and chic clothes."
The fourth edition of The Book Supplement is here! This week we have a memoir, a novel, and two stunning new essay collections. Please read and subscribe *for free* to support independent book criticism 🙏📚. No paywall.
From Saipan: It's always like this; no mainstream coverage. In 2018, a super typhoon wiped out the island's economy. They haven't recovered. I doubt there is coming back from this one. FEMA landed last night with supplies. Not sure if it means we get running water. We have power 6pm to 8am.
@militantangeleno.bsky.social this is for you!
April 20, 1908: The Great White Fleet draws huge crowds, overwhelming rail service to Long Beach, San Pedro, Redondo Beach and Venice. If there were a Militant Angeleno in 1908, he would have been there!
Ex-colleague, now in Saipan, describes conditions from typhoon: 4/15 room flooded. 4/16 lost water and power. 4/17 power restored, no water. 4/19 power on after 12-hour outage. Still no water. Gym reopens w/o water or power. Would rather have water than power. 'Paradise? More like hell.'
April 15, 1944: Theater owners gripe about films they are showing. Sample: "My patrons like corn, green, ripe, in muffins, cans or jugs, and I simply have got to give it to them and that's what they are going to get from now on. This picture business is getting me, or has it got me?"
April 15,1908: Quong Wai, who is fighting a deportation order, says he is an American born in San Francisco. He says immigration officers arrested him at a streetcar station without reason.
In this session of the Black Dahlia Ask Me Anything, I address some of the claims in Michael Connelly's 10-part podcast "Killer in the Code," claiming a solution in the Black Dahlia and Zodiac cases.
April 13, 1908: Dr. Hoffman's "Nerve Syrup" has a pleasant taste and cures epilepsy, St. Vitus Dance and nervous trouble. What exactly is in it? The ad isn't saying.
Bike messenger with tray of food on his head.
1907: Young bike messengers a key part of L.A. vice trade.
ladailymirror.com/2026/03/25/m...
and it's super good! (if you only audiobook the narrator is excellent!)
Paperback cover of WITHOUT CONSENT with a yellow and black color scheme
The paperback edition of WITHOUT CONSENT (with a very different cover) isn’t out till November 3 but pre-orders are welcome right now! www.harpercollins.com/products/wit...
In contrast to today, Carter comes across as a statesman, as Gerald Ford did when contrasted to Bush II. And Carter did great things after he left the White House. But I lived through the Carter presidency; he was a good man but a weak president and opened the door to Reagan, which got us here.
Tough times often signal that something isn’t working, whether it’s a strategy, a relationship, a career path, or an assumption about how the world operates. A positive mindset allows us to view these signals as valuable data rather than personal indictments.
In a world of madness, the faces of London’s first fire brigade have been discovered.Their identities have been paired with documents which help to tell their stories.
Forgotten humans, salvaged from history’s silence.
Photos found of London's first public firefighters www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
April 5, 1958: Cheryl Crane fatally stabs Johnny Stompanato at the home of Lana Turner, 730 N. Bedford Drive, Beverly Hills.
Thoughts of dog. SOMEONE LEFT A FULL PLATE OF COOKIES. AND A GLASS OF MILK RIGHT BY THE FIREPLACE FOR ME. I AM NOT KIDDING. WHAT A NIGHT.
April 2, 1908: Sailors of the Great White Fleet are tired of the same old songs and want something new to sing, maybe "I'm Afraid to Go Home in the Dark."
