Category Archives: Another Good Story Ruined

The Mystery of the Crimean Cannonballs

Posted on August 27, 2011 by lmharnisch

I was so intrigued by Roger Fenton’s 1855 photo from the Crimean War that I thought I’d do a little experimentation. Image: With cannonballs. Credit: Gernsheim Collection, Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin. Image: Without cannonballs. Credit: … Continue reading →

Posted in 1855, Another Good Story Ruined, Photography | Tagged , | 2 Comments

‘Jewish Indiana Jones’ Is a Fake, Prosecutors Say

Posted on August 25, 2011 by lmharnisch

  Image: Save a Torah website. Credit: Saveatorah.org Perhaps you remember James Barron’s April 30, 2008, feature in the New York Times about Rabbi Menachem Youlus of Save a Torah, who traveled the world, often at great expense and tremendous … Continue reading →

Posted in Another Good Story Ruined, Crime and Courts, Religion | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

What Are the 50 Best Books About L.A.?

Posted on August 21, 2011 by lmharnisch

I don’t care much for lists because they’re usually nothing but “flame bait.”*  The BBC is an abundant source of these dictums, such as “100 Smashing Top-Drawer Books That Everyone Who Aspires to Cultural Literacy Should Read,” which is second … Continue reading →

Posted in Another Good Story Ruined, Books and Authors, History, Libraries | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

The Mystery of the Wounded Crucifix

Posted on August 16, 2011 by lmharnisch

Photo: Crucifix on display at Mission San Juan Capistrano. Credit: Don Bartletti/Los Angeles Times I was reading the Sunday papers with my eye out for historical items and saw Mike Anton’s piece about artifacts on display at Mission San Juan … Continue reading →

Posted in Another Good Story Ruined, Religion | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Time Traveling With the L.A. Daily Mirror [Updated]

Posted on July 20, 2011 by lmharnisch

Photo: Pier Angeli and friend with a reminder on Daylight Saving Time, 1958 I decided to import my old lmharnisch blog, devoted mainly to dissecting “The Black Dahlia Files” by Donald “Fake Document” Wolfe. Now there are posts going back … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, 2008, 2009, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Donald Wolfe, Film, History, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Photography | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Bill James’ ‘Popular Crime’: Another Good Story Ruined

Posted on July 19, 2011 by lmharnisch

I have procrastinated about looking at Bill James’ “Popular Crime” because, as curious as it may seem, I don’t care much for “true” crime books. Even when they are well done (which is almost never) the subject matter is depressing … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Donald Wolfe, History, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Slash and Burn History: Mike Davis on Gen. Otis

Posted on July 18, 2011 by lmharnisch

Photo: Times President Gen. Harrison Gray Otis. Credit: Press Reference Library, 1912 Gen. Harrison Gray Otis, the favorite pinata of Los Angeles historians, is the subject of a new biography by Mike “City of Quartz” Davis, now being serialized in … Continue reading →

Posted in Another Good Story Ruined, Books and Authors, Downtown, History, Libraries | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Another Good Story Ruined – Mulholland and the Valley ‘Conspiracy’

Posted on July 9, 2011 by lmharnisch

My L.A. Times colleague Elaine Woo has a first-rate obituary on Catherine Mulholland, author of “William Mulholland and the Rise of Los Angeles.” One reason Mulholland took on the biography was to provide what she viewed as a more balanced … Continue reading →

Posted in 1963, Another Good Story Ruined, Books and Authors, Film, History, Hollywood, Obituaries, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Another Good Story Ruined – Mulholland and the Valley ‘Conspiracy’

Another Good Story Ruined! Stephen Jay Gould

Posted on July 3, 2011 by lmharnisch

Photo: Janet Monge and Alan Mann Credit: Penn Museum, Philadelphia It’s always interesting to see research debunked – and even more interesting when a debunker is debunked, as in the case of Stephen Jay Gould’s 1981 “The Mismeasure of Man.” … Continue reading →

Posted in 1981, Another Good Story Ruined, Books and Authors | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Another Good Story Ruined — The Black Dahlia

Posted on May 9, 2011 by lmharnisch

    The Black Dahlia has become so thoroughly transformed into a myth about what happens to nice, small-town girls in big, bad Hollywood  (“achieving in death the fame that eluded her in life”) that it’s almost impossible to write … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, books, Crime and Courts | 4 Comments

Another Good Story Ruined — The Black Dahlia

Posted on March 15, 2011 by lmharnisch

I received a news alert the other day about an upcoming play titled “The Chanteuse and the Devil’s Muse” in which Daniele Watts will portray Mady Comfort, at left, purportedly “Elizabeth Short's best friend.” I honestly don’t know how such … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, books, Coming Attractions, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Stage | 6 Comments

Another Good Story Ruined: Saucers Over L.A.! — Part 7

Posted on March 13, 2011 by lmharnisch

        These days, many of The Times photos and negatives are held at UCLA. Here’s one of two negatives that Scott Harrison of our photo department got from the archives. As I said at the beginning, the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Another Good Story Ruined, Photography, UFOs | 4 Comments

Another Good Story Ruined: Saucers Over L.A.! — Part 6

Posted on March 12, 2011 by lmharnisch

        July 8, 1947: The first links between the searchlight photo, the Battle of Los Angeles and flying saucers seem to have emerged in the late 1940s.  A Times editorial dismissing UFOs compared them to the mystery … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Another Good Story Ruined, Photography, UFOs | Comments Off on Another Good Story Ruined: Saucers Over L.A.! — Part 6

Another Good Story Ruined: Saucers Over L.A.! — Part 5 [Updated]

Posted on March 11, 2011 by lmharnisch

    [Update: The Times published this photo with a story about the Battle of Los Angeles, but the photo was actually taken another time and used in error, according to Scott Harrison, who researched it for The Times'  Framework … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Another Good Story Ruined, Photography, UFOs | 1 Comment

Another Good Story Ruined: Saucers Over L.A.! — Part 4

Posted on March 10, 2011 by lmharnisch

        Oct. 29, 1945: The Times publishes the searchlight photo to accompany a story about the Air Force account of the incident. Almost as soon as the shooting stopped, people began arguing over whether the 1942 air … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Another Good Story Ruined, UFOs | 1 Comment

Another Good Story Ruined: Saucers Over L.A.! — Part 3

Posted on March 9, 2011 by lmharnisch

        Photographs by Larry Harnisch/Los Angeles Times   The original 1942 print of searchlights over Los Angeles.     The back of the print, showing editors’ notations and the publication date Feb. 26, 1942.     Feb. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Another Good Story Ruined, Film, Hollywood, Photography, UFOs | 2 Comments

Another Good Story Ruined: Saucers Over L.A.! — Part 2

Posted on March 8, 2011 by lmharnisch

           Feb. 24-25, 1942: Two days before the so-called Battle of Los Angeles, a Japanese submarine shelled the Elwood oil fields,  12 miles north of Santa Barbara, according to The Times, which added that the attack … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Another Good Story Ruined, Film, Hollywood, Photography, UFOs | 4 Comments

Another Good Story Ruined: Saucers Over L.A.! — Part 1

Posted on March 7, 2011 by lmharnisch

          Los Angeles Times file photo   Searchlights rake the nighttime sky over a blacked-out city on Feb. 25, 1942, in the so-called Battle of Los Angeles. A powerful image, to be sure. But is it … Continue reading →

Posted in Another Good Story Ruined, Film, Hollywood, Photography, UFOs | 1 Comment

Pages of History — Morrow Mayo’s ‘Los Angeles’

Posted on March 3, 2011 by lmharnisch

      The Evening Express,Dec. 17, 1927       The Evening Express,Dec. 20, 1927       The Times, Dec. 17, 1927     The Times, Dec. 20, 1927   I haven’t forgotten about my little project on … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1927, Another Good Story Ruined, books, Crime and Courts, Parks and Recreation | 1 Comment

Another Good Story Ruined — The Battle of Los Angeles

Posted on February 21, 2011 by lmharnisch

Los Angeles Times file photo I haven’t talked to a movie publicist since Brian De Palma’s ghastly “The Black Dahlia” came out, but I was recently bombarded with pitches to do some sort of story about the rather comical February … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Another Good Story Ruined, Film, Hollywood, Photography, UFOs | 11 Comments