Category Archives: Columnists

Feb. 6, 1959: Paul Coates — Butch Harris Joins Cub Scouts at Last

Posted on February 7, 2019 by lmharnisch

Feb. 6, 1959: Paul Coates writes a happy ending to the Lewis “Butch” Harris saga. This comes after the Sentinel reported a different outcome. Coates’ column originally appeared in the L.A. Mirror in 1959 and was republished on latimes.com in … Continue reading →

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Feb. 4, 1959: Matt Weinstock ‘A Taxpayer Votes No!’

Posted on February 5, 2019 by lmharnisch

Feb. 4, 1959: Anecdotes, a poem and some amusing stories. Another light column to finish the day at the L.A. Mirror, courtesy of Matt Weinstock. The column originally appeared in the L.A. Mirror in 1959 and was published on latimes.com … Continue reading →

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Feb. 4, 1959: Paul Coates Visits Americans Jailed in Raid on Mexican Casino

Posted on February 5, 2019 by lmharnisch

Feb. 4, 1959: Paul Coates does more reporting on the case of Americans being held in Tijuana after a raid on a gambling casino in Rosarito Beach. The story originally appeared in the L.A. Mirror in 1959 and was republished … Continue reading →

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Feb. 3, 1959: Matt Weinstock on Pool Sharks, Young and Old

Posted on February 4, 2019 by lmharnisch

Feb. 3, 1959: Matt Weinstock on difference between looking good on a dinky bar-sized pool table and a regulation table. This post originally appeared in the L.A. Mirror in 1959 and was republished on latimes.com in 2009. It is available … Continue reading →

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Feb. 3, 1959: Paul Coates on Americans Held in Raid on Mexican Casino

Posted on February 4, 2019 by lmharnisch

Feb. 3, 1959: Paul Coates could dig into real reporting and in this column he is looking at the case of 20 Americans seized in a raid on a casino and held in an unheated city jail in Tijuana  — … Continue reading →

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Jan. 24, 1959: Matt Weinstock ‘The Business of Sex’

Posted on January 24, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 24, 1959: Matt Weinstock has an item on an Edward R. Murrow broadcast “The Business of Sex.” Murrow said that “For Los Angeles, even though the arrest figure was 212 for the year 1957, the estimates varied from 3,000 … Continue reading →

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Jan. 24, 1959: Law Delays ‘Alfalfa’ Burial

Posted on January 24, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 24, 1959: One of the best parts of doing the blog at latimes.com was having UCLA and Cal State Northridge interns who, among other tasks, transcribed the Paul Coates and Matt Weinstock columns. Sometimes I transcribed them myself (this … Continue reading →

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Jan. 23, 1959: Matt Weinstock ‘Money Well Spent’

Posted on January 23, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 23, 1959: Matt Weinstock covers a speech by Newsweek Washington Bureau Chief Ernest K. Lindley. “Foreign aid is the best money we spend to hold off communism,” Lindley said. The best way to get from Westwood to Burbank by … Continue reading →

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Jan. 23, 1959: Paul Coates — A Plethora of Ceremonial Plaques

Posted on January 23, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 23, 1959: Paul Coates is all (or mostly) in favor of ceremonial honors. On the jump, Bobbie Long is found strangled with a nylon stocking a few feet off a dirt road that runs off Don Julian Road between … Continue reading →

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Jan. 22, 1959: Paul Coates on Another Claim to ‘The Brave One’

Posted on January 22, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 22, 1959: Dalton Trumo (blacklisted and using the name Robert Rich) wrote the script for “The Brave One,” but there was a claim by the widow of Juan Duval. The previous entry is here. Coates’ column was published in … Continue reading →

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Jan. 21, 1959: Matt Weinstock and the Cagey Mr. Mikoyan

Posted on January 21, 2019 by lmharnisch

Now that Anastas Mikoyan has returned whence he came, a lady named Natasha Smith would like a few unkind words. She was born and reared in Russia and barely escaped with her life during the revolution. She speaks and understands … Continue reading →

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Jan. 20, 1959: Matt Weinstock and the Maligned Mad Men

Posted on January 20, 2019 by lmharnisch

Some earnest men in the advertising business are concerned about the derogatory image of their profession that has been created in the public mind and quietly are running it up on the flagpole to see who salutes. As they see … Continue reading →

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Jan. 20,1959: Paul Coates and Fidel Castro

Posted on January 20, 2019 by lmharnisch

Fidel Castro, the bearded boy wonder of Cuba, has been sassing his kindly, benevolent, slightly wealthy Uncle Sam lately. Young Fidel has taken it as a personal insult that a few of our congressmen are suggesting tough measures to let … Continue reading →

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Jan. 19, 1959: Matt Weinstock and Practical Jokes in Beverly Hills

Posted on January 19, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 19, 1959: Practical jokes in mid-century America. Matt Weinstock has the details.. The column originally appeared in the L.A. Mirror in 1959 and was republished in 2009 on latimes.com. It is available via Archive.org.

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Jan. 19, 1959: Paul Coates Talks to ‘The Head of the Hair Dept.’ at Max Factor

Posted on January 19, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 19, 1959: After Paul Coates column about the man who stole toupees – a new meaning for “hair loss,” he received a call from “the head of the hair department at Max Factor.” (Really).. The column originally in the … Continue reading →

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January 1959: Butch Harris’ Fight to Join the Cub Scouts

Posted on January 19, 2019 by lmharnisch

Ten years ago, when we were doing the Daily Mirror blog at latimes.com, several of us wondered what became of Butch Harris and his attempt to join the Cub Scouts. Fortunately, the L.A. Sentinel is online and we have an … Continue reading →

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Dec. 10, 1958: Paul Coates – Mothers Seek to Bar Black Boy From Cub Scouts

Posted on January 17, 2019 by lmharnisch

Dec. 10, 1958: Here’s Paul Coates’ earlier column about Butch Harris, the young African American boy who was denied admission to the Cub Scouts.. The column originally appeared in the L.A. Mirror in 1958 and was republished on latimes.com in … Continue reading →

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Jan. 17, 1959: Paul Coates Dips Into the Letters File

Posted on January 17, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 17, 1959: It was Saturday in 1959, so Paul Coates ends his week with a letters column. Pretty standard for those guys who wrote six columns a week. (In case you don’t know, afternoon papers did not publish on … Continue reading →

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Jan. 16, 1959: Matt Weinstock ‘Saved by the Knell’

Posted on January 16, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 16, 1959: Puns, poems, jokes, little stories. Ending the day with a smile courtesy of Matt Weinstock. This column originally appeared in the L.A. Mirror in 1959 and was republished on latimes.com in 2009. Via Archive.org.

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Jan. 16, 1959: Paul Coates – Cub Scouts Bar Butch H. Because He Is Black

Posted on January 16, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 16, 1959: The Cub Scouts don’t want to admit 9-year-old Butch because he’s black. This is one of my favorite Paul Coates columns and well worth the read. The column originally appeared in the L.A. Mirror in 1959 and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, African Americans, Columnists, Paul Coates | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment