Category Archives: Books and Authors

July 23, 1907: A Belated Tribute to Heroic Officer

Posted on July 23, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. July 23, 1907 Los Angeles John Conroy, a career criminal, planned his work carefully: He would wait until 10 p.m., pry open the skylight of J.C. Fleming’s jewelry store at 531 S. … Continue reading →

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July 21, 1907: What the President Is Reading

Posted on July 21, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. July 21, 1907 Los Angeles President Theodore Roosevelt suggests “reading of certain books of pure fiction that have the prime quality of being interesting.”

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Architecture, Preservation and Noir

Posted on July 13, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Architecture, murder and hardboiled writing. Do you suppose McCoy had the 1947 Project in mind when he knocked off this forgotten little tale? (Note the first-person … Continue reading →

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1947: Bookstore Owners Fined for Selling Obscene ‘Memoirs of Hecate County’

Posted on July 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. In the days when I lived in Hecate County, I had an uncomfortable neighbor, a man named Asa M. Stryker. He had at one time, he … Continue reading →

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Mechanical Engineer Publishes First Book

Posted on July 5, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Hard at work as a mechanical engineer during the day, the former naval aviation researcher still finds time to do a little writing. At the moment … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Books and Authors | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Can This Be the Fourth of July?

Posted on July 4, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. July 4, 1907 Los Angeles And how does Los Angeles celebrate Independence Day? With cricket matches and bagpipe contests.

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Fashions, LAPD, Music, Parks, Streetcars | Comments Off on Can This Be the Fourth of July?

Slander, My Sweet: Raymond Chandler, John Houseman and ‘The Blue Dahlia’

Posted on June 29, 2018 by lmharnisch

Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake in “The Blue Dahlia.” Here are the opening paragraphs of the piece I’ve been working on for the last few months as I waited for the clamor to die down about Piu Eatwell’s “Black Dahlia, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1945, 1946, Another Good Story Ruined, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

June 28, 1907: 62 Cars Enter Endurance Race From Los Angeles to Lakeside

Posted on June 28, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. June 28, 1907 Los Angeles Give cars to a bunch of wealthy Los Angeles residents and what do they do? Race them, of course. Not on a track this time, but in … Continue reading →

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June 27, 1947: Ray the Newspaper Boy Publishes First Book, ‘Dark Carnival’

Posted on June 27, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. I’ll be putting that little landmark on my tour of the Black Dahlia crime scene, which is about three miles away. Bradbury’s first book got a … Continue reading →

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June 26, 1907: A Case of Elder Abuse?

Posted on June 26, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. June 26, 1907 Los Angeles Fred D. Samuels is a monster and nothing less, according to his aunt, Sister Kostka, assistant mother superior of the Ursuline Convent in Frontenac, Wis. As her … Continue reading →

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June 23, 1947: Jim Tully, Hobo Novelist and Prizefighter, Dies at 56

Posted on June 23, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. For me, stumbling across Jim Tully is one of those wonderful accidental discoveries that are a byproduct of research. He’s as obscure and forgotten today as … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Writing on 1940s L.A. That’s Worth a Look: Beth Hahn’s ‘A Girl Like You’

Posted on June 21, 2018 by lmharnisch

Is it possible to write fiction about Los Angeles in the 1940s without falling into one of the common traps? I believe Beth Hahn has done it. I have read many works of fiction set in Southern California of the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Jan. 20, 1947: ‘Good Night. Sleep Peacefully With Compliments of Jacks’

Posted on June 20, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. I was talking with Siegel about seven o’clock on the Friday evening of his death. He called me at the office of Hollywood’s Daily Variety, for … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Homicide | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Black L.A. 1947: ‘Why Negro Girls Stay Single’ by Pauli Murray

Posted on June 19, 2018 by lmharnisch

Update, March 28, 2023: Pauli Murray’s essay in Negro Digest is online at Archive.org. June 19, 1947: The Sentinel publishes a few paragraphs on Pauli Murray’s essay, which appeared in the July 1947 issue of “Negro Digest.” Murray’s essay is frequently … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, African Americans, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Education | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

June 18, 1907: Immigration Agent Accused of Poisoning Neighbor’s Dog

Posted on June 18, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. June 18, 1907 Los Angeles The victim: A collie named Baby The plaintiff: Hazel G. (or Ella M.) Schurger, 1156 S. Flower. The suspect: J.J. Brady of the Immigration Bureau, a next-door … Continue reading →

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‘Little Shoes’: An Author’s Journey of Discovery in Unlocking a Family Tragedy From 1930s L.A.

Posted on June 13, 2018 by lmharnisch

A family’s history is tricky even in the best of circumstances; the past may be sanitized and rewritten for consumption by the next generation. When tragedy is involved, family stories become murky or are simply locked away. So it was … Continue reading →

Posted in 1937, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Homicide | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Black Dahlia: Who Is This Man?

Posted on June 13, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. I recently obtained an original copy of The Times’ March 28, 1971, story “Farewell, My Black Dahlia,” which includes the account of the “Boy on the Bicycle.” Here’s a color picture of … Continue reading →

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

June 13, 1907: Now That’s a Headline

Posted on June 13, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. June 13, 1907 Los Angeles Voters approved a $23-million bond issue ($472,042,116.32 USD 2005) for the Owens River Aqueduct, 21,923-2,128. The Times helped mount a turnout campaign in which automobile owners volunteered … Continue reading →

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Feb. 2, 1933: James M. Cain Writes Appreciation of Ice Cream Truck Driver Robert D. ‘Red’ Shay

Posted on June 9, 2018 by lmharnisch

  Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. “Red” Shay, 26, was riding with his girlfriend, Nancy Reed, in the rumble seat a car driven by his roommate, L.W. Sinclair, when it struck … Continue reading →

Posted in 1933, Books and Authors, Obituaries | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Shout Out

Posted on June 7, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. General Motors [ISP Redacted] Windows 2000? Upgrade! The Netherlands [ISP Redacted] E! Entertainment [ISP Redacted] “E! Mysteries and Scandals,” my first TV interview, by the guy who did “Real Chases of the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, 2006, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Donald Wolfe, History, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Uncategorized | Tagged , | Comments Off on Shout Out