Author Archives: lmharnisch

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

Coast Guard rescues passengers of plane crashed at sea, October 18, 1956

Posted on January 16, 2009 by lmharnisch

Another Pan Am Stratocruiser goes down, but the 31 people aboard are rescued. Some other flights weren’t so fortunate.

Posted in Transportation | Comments Off on Coast Guard rescues passengers of plane crashed at sea, October 18, 1956

January 16, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on January 16, 2009 by lmharnisch

Saved by the Knell In everybody’s life there is a dark, unforgettable moment when it doesn’t appear he’s going to make it. A downtown group somehow got around to discussing the this topic over coffee, and Ken Bromfield Jones, Title … Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, Columnists, Matt Weinstock, Music | Comments Off on January 16, 1959: Matt Weinstock

January 16, 1959: Paul Coates — Confidential File

Posted on January 16, 2009 by lmharnisch

CONFIDENTIAL FILE Someday, Butch H., Try to Be Forgiving Some stories I’d rather not print. And when I first heard about what a bunch of grown men and women were doing to a kid named Butch Harris, I filed the … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1959, Columnists, Countdown to Watts, Freeways, Paul Coates | Comments Off on January 16, 1959: Paul Coates — Confidential File

Voices — Christine Collins, September 28, 1931

Posted on January 16, 2009 by lmharnisch
Posted in #courts, 1931, Changeling, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Transportation | Comments Off on Voices — Christine Collins, September 28, 1931

Wyeth / Nixon

Posted on January 16, 2009 by lmharnisch

Jan. 11, 1972: Andrew Wyeth announces he will paint Nixon’s official portrait.   Jan. 12, 1972: The White House repudiates Wyeth’s announcement. Jan. 14, 1972: The Nixon White House says it misspoke itself. Kind of. In 1981, the White House … Continue reading →

Posted in art and artists, Politics | Comments Off on Wyeth / Nixon

Vivian Leigh cast as Scarlett O’Hara, January 1939

Posted on January 16, 2009 by lmharnisch

  On January 14, 1939, The Times published the news that an English actress had been cast in the lead of "Gone With the Wind." Excuse me, but Jean Arthur as Scarlett? Hedda Hopper covers the furious reaction over David … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, @news, books, Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, LAPD, Religion, Sports | 3 Comments

Found on EBay — Robinson’s

Posted on January 15, 2009 by lmharnisch

A clever little item from J.W. Robinson’s: A combination shoehorn and buttonhook. Listed on EBay with bids starting at $9.99.

Posted in Downtown, Fashion | Comments Off on Found on EBay — Robinson’s

Matt Weinstock — January 15, 1959

Posted on January 15, 2009 by lmharnisch

Frontier Pusher-Back To newsman John Cornell goes a silent roll of drums, a bugle call and maybe a flag-raising for alertness above and beyond the call of routine. John was banging out a rewrite about Les White, Southland auto dealer, … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Columnists, Dodgers, Freeways, Matt Weinstock, Transportation | Comments Off on Matt Weinstock — January 15, 1959

Paul Coates — Confidential File, January 15, 1959

Posted on January 15, 2009 by lmharnisch

CONFIDENTIAL FILE Mother Knows Best (She Says So Herself) REPORT FROM A BOY’S BEST FRIEND: Deep down in the grimy recesses of my mind lives the unreasonable conviction that, in my dear mother’s eyes, I’m a bum. As I say, … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Columnists, Homicide, LAPD, Mickey Cohen, Paul Coates | Comments Off on Paul Coates — Confidential File, January 15, 1959

Elizabeth Short remembered, January 15, 1947

Posted on January 15, 2009 by lmharnisch

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-382479120564900203&hl=en&fs=true A video I did on the caseseveral years ago. Today is the anniversary of the killing of Elizabeth Short, whose body was found in the 3800 block of South Norton Avenue in 1947. I always do two things in … Continue reading →

Posted in Homicide, LAPD | 1 Comment

September 10, 1931: Voices — Christine Collins

Posted on January 15, 2009 by lmharnisch
Posted in #courts, 1931, Changeling, Film, Hollywood, LAPD | Comments Off on September 10, 1931: Voices — Christine Collins

Dodger Stadium — and a Zoo, January 15, 1959

Posted on January 15, 2009 by lmharnisch

A mail bomb loaded with dynamite sits in the post office for three weeks because the victim didn’t leave a forwarding address! Fresh off an apparent victory in getting a downtown stadium for the Dodgers, some City Council members moved … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Dodgers, Downtown, Sports | 1 Comment

Found on EBay — Overell’s, 1908

Posted on January 14, 2009 by lmharnisch

Here’s a pin from Overell’s, listed on EBay. Bids start at $14.99.

Posted in Downtown | Comments Off on Found on EBay — Overell’s, 1908

January 14, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on January 14, 2009 by lmharnisch

Capricious Electron An engaging stranger named Peter Buchanan came into the office, apologized for taking my time, handed me a typewritten half-sheet of paper and asked me to read it and perhaps check it. It was a theory he had … Continue reading →

Posted in Columnists, Education, Matt Weinstock | 1 Comment

January 14, 1959: Paul Coates — Confidential File

Posted on January 14, 2009 by lmharnisch

CONFIDENTIAL FILE Red Tape Frequently Chokes Logic, Justice Postscript to a tragedy: Two and a half years ago, a young Norwalk housewife returned from the home of a neighbor to find her husband sprawled dying across his bed. He had … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1959, Columnists, Homicide, Paul Coates | Comments Off on January 14, 1959: Paul Coates — Confidential File

Ricardo Montalban, 1920 – 2009

Posted on January 14, 2009 by lmharnisch

Los Angeles Times file photo Ricardo Montalban and Johnny Indrisano in a photo dated Feb. 13, 1950, training for the film "Right Cross." Indrisano, a veteran prizefighter, died in 1968 at the age of 62.

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Obituaries | 6 Comments

Voices — Vin Scully replays 1956 game

Posted on January 14, 2009 by lmharnisch

Photograph courtesy of the Dodgers Vin Scully and Walter O’Malley during a game televised in New York. Note the carton of Lucky Strikes. Scully pulls up his own chair Dodgers announcer watches a replay of his broadcast of Larsen’s World … Continue reading →

Posted in broadcasting, Dodgers, Sports, Television | Comments Off on Voices — Vin Scully replays 1956 game

September 8, 1931: Voices — Christine Collins

Posted on January 14, 2009 by lmharnisch

  Los Angeles, Calif., Sept. 8, 1931 Dear. Mr. Neumiller, I am writing to you again in behalf of my husband, Walter J. Collins, No. 12824, an inmate at Represa, Calif. I understand that his name appears on the June … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1931, Changeling, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Robberies | Comments Off on September 8, 1931: Voices — Christine Collins

Thousands in Los Angeles pray for peace, January 14, 1939

Posted on January 14, 2009 by lmharnisch

About 4,000 worshipers attend a Perpetual Novena for Our Sorrowful Mother at St. Vibiana’s Cathedral. People knelt in the aisles, in the doorways and outside praying for peace and for relief of the poor, The Times says. County Supervisor Roger … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, @news, Columnists, Current Affairs, Downtown, Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, Religion, Sports, Suicide | Comments Off on Thousands in Los Angeles pray for peace, January 14, 1939

California Supreme Court OKs Dodger Deal, January 14, 1959

Posted on January 14, 2009 by lmharnisch

A federal grand jury in Los Angeles will investigate organized crime. The state Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of the Dodgers and City Hall, moving plans for a baseball stadium in Chavez Ravine one huge step closer to reality. … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Dodgers, Downtown, Front Pages, Politics, Sports | 2 Comments