LA Monthly
The National Magazine of Los Angeles
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A BOY THEY ALMOST GAVE UP ON
They once told a seven-year-old Mexican-American boy in Waco, Texas, that he was "mentally retarded" and would never learn very much. He grew up to become a critically acclaimed journalist, historian, and author searching through the hidden...
Leaving L.A., Will the Last Person Here Turn Out the Lights?
The slogan used to be "To Live and Die in LA" but they should change it to "To Live and Die While Riding the Metro in L.A" because I fear that each ride I take on the train or the bus will be the last trip I take anywhere. By MARY FRANCIS DAVIDSON...
Elijah on the Loose: Snapshot of a Trump Supporter
By MARY FRANCES DAVIDSON Elijah walks toward me with a limp across the Easy Fix auto shop parking lot with a folded-down, green, beach umbrella. “See? The casino gave this to me,” he says under the boiling summer sun of the San Gabriel...
Murder on the Metro, LA’s Dangerous Orient Express
Police presence and intervention is a deterrent to crime on the city's public transit system — something that is hard to even talk about in these days of stifling expectations of the politically correct. By MARY FRANCES DAVIDSON With the LA...
THE LAST MARGARITA OF THE CALIFORNIA DREAM
Joan Didion defined the California Dream not as a simple utopia, but as a complex, often dark paradox of rugged individualism, reinvention, and disillusionment. Welcome to the tragic end of Lucy's El Adobe Café. By TONY CASTRO JOAN DIDION...
LARRY MCMURTRY: THE ‘MINOR REGIONAL NOVELIST’ WORTHY OF THE NOBEL PRIZE
‘Terms of Endearment’ followed ‘The Last Picture Show’ with great fanfare, but it was his Pulitzer Prize-winning ‘Lonesome Dove’ that cemented his legacy as one of America’s best writers The list of Texans that have spent their...
L.A. IN THE SHADOW OF RUBEN SALAZAR
On Aug. 29, 1970, the National Chicano Moratorium in East Los Angeles protested the disproportionately high number of Latino casualties in Vietnam — and ended with the police killing of Ruben Salazar, the most influential Latino journalist of his...
RANDY NEWMAN: WHY I WROTE ‘I LOVE L.A.’
BY GEOFF BOUCHER, MAY 11, 2008 Republished with permission of the Los Angeles Times. RANDY NEWMAN HAS MADE a career out of melodic skepticism and deadpan rhythm, but he sounded genuinely stunned the other day when he was told that this year is...
MY LIFE BREAKING THROUGH TO THE OTHER SIDE WITH JIM MORRISON
IT’S AMAZING WHAT can happen when you live right off the Sunset Strip. About 15 years ago on a warm balmy December night, I was in my living room of my apartment, watching a movie on my laptop when suddenly a breeze blew into my window. I...
THE GIRL FROM THE BLACK SAND BEACH
THERE ARE MOMENTS from a reporter’s life that do not fade into memory so much as sink into the bloodstream. Forty-four years ago this month, I was living at the Hotel Camino Real in San Salvador with a woman named Estela. At least that is the...
Ms. America, the Greatest Woman in the World!
Remembrances of a Single Mom: Burger King, Chanel No. 5, and a Lady Who Lost Her Mind. By MARY FRANCES DAVIDSON Growing up with my mom was like growing up with a movie star! She was tall! She was marvelous! She was capable! When I...
The Absurdity of Ringling & Barnum Political Theater in America
By MARY FRANCIS DAVIDSON How is it that an 18th century Frenchman had a better grasp on politics and democracy in America then any pundant or wannabe politico or expert since then? Someone asked me what I thought of the California Gubernatorial...
The California Lazarus: Xavier Becerra’s Gubernatorial Rise From the Dead
Xavier Becerra pulled off California’s most surprising political comeback to the brink of hfstory as the Golden State’s first modern day Latino governor. TONY CASTRO FOR MONTHS, XAVIER BECERRA seemed destined to become little more than a...
COUNCILWOMAN NITHYA RAMAN CHALLENGES BASS IN MAYOR’S RACE
Councilwoman Raman previously endorsed Bass but now says the city needs “big changes" amid growing concern that the incumbent mayor has been a disaster for Los Angeles. Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nithya Raman entered the race for mayor...
IS RICK CARUSO THE LAST BEST HOPE FOR SAVING LA?
Rick Caruso may not be the last best hope for saving Los Angeles, as some of his faithful followers insist, but he does offer a hope and a vision — and you can trust that you won't read about him skirting politica, ethics laws and being carted...
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Joe DiMaggio, Baseball Turns Its Lonely Eyes to You
Baseball doesn't need a halftime show. In fact, it doesn’t even have a halftime. And when you hear the national anthem, it’s supposed to be a clear transition from standing at attention to sitting back, relaxing, and letting the game happen. By...
HOW FERNANDO WON THE HEARTS OF LA
The passing of Fernando Valenzuela marks the end of Fernandomania that began as a cultural phenomenon in 1980s Los Angeles as a young Mexican left-hander became the toast of the city and ultimately a Tinseltown icon as the Dodgers Spanish-Speaking...
Shohei Ohtani: The Best There Ever Was
I came to town to promote my books about a legendary baseball player, including one titled ‘The Best There Ever Was.’ I saw a ball game while here. And I wound up leaving feeling like I had prematurely written that book or that I was meant...
RIP, PETE ROSE: MORE THAN JUST THE KING OF HITS
By TONY CASTRO It’s hard to believe that Pete Rose, baseball’s all-time hits leader, the man who turned more singles into doubles than most of us turn coffee into energy, has passed away at the age of 83 in Las Vegas. Pete wasn’t just a good...
Shohei Ohtani: The Best There Ever Was
I came to town to promote my books about a legendary baseball player, including one titled 'The Best There Ever Was.' I saw a ball game while here. And I wound up leaving feeling like I had prematurely written that book or that I was meant to write...
