Archive - Letter From LA

Letter From LA: Winter 2024

This past holiday season was the first time in 15 years that I didn't send out electronic holiday cards; I've been bogged down by so much depressing…

Feb 18, 2024 •

October 2023

Letter From LA: Fall 2023

"This city is going crazy," my Lyft driver muttered, as we watched a car make a left turn right in front of a speeding ambulance, sirens wailing to wake…

Oct 9, 2023 •

March 2023

Letter From LA: Super Bowl Issue

In honor of Super Bowl Sunday and the Chinese surveillance balloons that flew across the country for several days two weeks ago, I decided to revisit…

Mar 31, 2023 •

November 2022

Letter From LA: Gods and Monsters

Swaying palm trees, cool evening breezes, night-blooming jasmine, ruby red and purple bougainvillea, golden sun at twilight: these are some of the…

Nov 1, 2022 •

September 2022

Letter From LA: Dreamin' About Dreams

Belated Happy New Year and Yom Kippur to my Jewish (and gentile) friends:

Sep 28, 2022 •

August 2022

Letter From LA: Summer 2022 - The Crime Issue

When I was growing up in Los Angeles, there were certain parts of the city you just didn't go to -- the bad sides of town: Watts, East LA, parts of…

Aug 8, 2022 •

June 2022

Letter From LA: Winter of (my) Discontent

It's been more than six months since my last Letter; this winter was a mind-numbing jumble of ill tidings that, to paraphrase Shakespeare, was a winter…

Jun 7, 2022 •

April 2022

Letter From LA: Dylan and the Dreamin' Blues

Bob Dylan turns 80 on May 14, 2021, and in honor of this anniversary, I've decided to listen to every Dylan album I can get my hands on (I have about 25…

Apr 2, 2022 •

July 2021

Letter From LA: Pizzas, Dada and Lamborghinis

Los Angeles (and, for that matter, all of California) opened wide June 15 and it was, in some quarters, as if COVID-19 never existed.

Jul 16, 2021 •

May 2021

Letter From LA: COVID Over

April is the first month of spring (in the Northern Hemisphere; down under it's autumn).

May 13, 2021 •

March 2021

Letter From LA: Clear Skies

We had a glorious short burst of rain Tuesday night, March 9, which left the city sparkling with puffy white clouds, clean air and baby-blue skies.

Mar 18, 2021 •

Letter From LA: Opening Remarks

First off, I wanted to thank everyone who wished me a happy birthday last month.

Mar 8, 2021 •

#nojs-banner { position: fixed; bottom: 0; left: 0; padding: 16px 16px 16px 32px; width: 100%; box-sizing: border-box; background: red; color: white; font-family: -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13px; } #nojs-banner a { color: inherit; text-decoration: underline; } This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts