Category Archives: Columnists

January 1939: Vivien Leigh Cast in ‘Gone With the Wind’ (Hedda Hopper Does Not Approve)

Posted on January 16, 2019 by lmharnisch

January 1939: Vivien Leigh is cast as Scarlett O’Hara. Hedda Hopper does not approve. Boy does she not approve. Frankly, was there anybody who was ever worse at casting than Hedda Hopper? She would shamelessly use her column to campaign … Continue reading →

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Jan. 14, 1959: Matt Weinstock ‘Capricious Electron’

Posted on January 14, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan 14, 1959: Matt Weinstock has an eccentric visitor with a theory about the electron. Funny things that kids say, a poem and some bullet items. Weinstock ends the day with a light touch. The column originally appeared in the … Continue reading →

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Jan. 14, 1959: Paul Coates on Three Boys Who Killed Their Father as He Slept

Posted on January 14, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 14, 1959: Paul Coates has the amazing story of three boys, ages 7, 9 and 10, who shot their father to death as he slept. Coates says that the mother (and the boys planned to kill her as well … Continue reading →

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Jan. 13, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on January 13, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 13, 1959: Horseracing, Al Capone, a poem, a couple of funny stories, and we have another Matt Weinstock column. Weinstock perfected the art of the light touch. Rarely anything controversial and he never swung for the fence, like Coates … Continue reading →

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Jan. 13, 1959: Paul Coates Interviews Soviet Leader Mikoyan

Posted on January 13, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 13, 1959: Paul Coates worked himself into an early grave. In addition to writing six columns a week for the L.A. Mirror, he also had a show on KTTV-TV Channel 11. It was definitely another era. In this piece, … Continue reading →

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Jan. 13, 1969: Jets and Broadway Joe Namath Win Super Bowl

Posted on January 13, 2019 by lmharnisch

    Jan. 13, 1969: The first Super Bowl – and it doesn’t make Page 1 of the Los Angeles Times. Kicked back to sports. I would love to have been sitting in the news meeting that day… Jim Murray … Continue reading →

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Jan. 12, 1959: Matt Weinstock ‘Taxing Times’

Posted on January 12, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 12, 1959: Matt Weinstock offers a light way to end the day. A little story about a taxpayer’s travails with the IRS, a poem, an honest panhandler asking for a dime for a bottle of wine. And yes, he … Continue reading →

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Jan. 12, 1959: Paul Coates Confidential File — East L.A. War Hero Plotted to Kill Batista

Posted on January 12, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 12, 1959: Paul Coates has the story of Guy Louis Gabaldon, a war hero raised in East L.A. who claimed to have plotted to assassinate Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista. Gabaldon was raised by the parents of a Japanese American … Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, Columnists, Film, Hollywood, Paul Coates, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Jan. 10, 1959: Matt Weinstock ‘Chinese Puzzle’

Posted on January 10, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 10, 1959: And we close the day with a lighthearted column from Matt Weinstock. A bit of poetry, an amusing story. Maybe one sentimental yarn. That’s what afternoon papers were all about. Features, news updates, late stock market reports … Continue reading →

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Jan. 10, 1959: Paul Coates Confidential File – Mash Notes and Comments

Posted on January 10, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 10, 1959: Paul Coates runs a letters column – and has an interesting item about Herman Hover’s efforts to reopen Ciro’s (Coates covered L.A. nightlife and restaurants before he became a columnist).. The entire column appeared in the L.A. … Continue reading →

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Jan. 9, 1959: Matt Weinstock ‘Rugged Fisherman’

Posted on January 9, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 9, 1959: Boats in Santa Monica harbor break from their moorings under high winds and Weinstock has a story. Also poems. Weinstock loved to run little poems. And Sports Illustrated holds a dinner to honor UCLA’s Rafer Johnson.. One … Continue reading →

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Jan. 9, 1959: Confidential File ‘Madame Guillotine,’ Alias Pierre Coates

Posted on January 9, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 9, 1959: Paul Coates helps his daughter with her homework. Make that “help.”. This column originally appeared in the L.A. Mirror in 1959 and was republished on latimes.com in 2009. It’s available via Archive.org.

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Jan. 8, 1959: Matt Weinstock ‘Dogs, Diapers, Taxes’

Posted on January 8, 2019 by lmharnisch

Comes now that hiatus between cries, when the feverish race begins to clear away Christmas bets in time to pay for auto license renewals by Feb. 4 and then face up to income taxes in April. “Any changes in the … Continue reading →

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Jan. 8, 1959: Paul Coates Confidential File – Wife Tells of Mate Who Died, and Lived

Posted on January 8, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This column originally appeared in the L.A. Mirror in 1959 and was republished on latimes.com in 2009.  Also at Archive.org..

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Jan. 7, 1959: Matt Weinstock ‘News From Detroit’

Posted on January 7, 2019 by lmharnisch

A group of grimly playful fellows at SC who call themselves Asthmatics Anonymous advise that at a raw-lunged meeting in the basement which serves as headquarters they have regrouped as Asthmatics Militant. First move was to change the association’s motto … Continue reading →

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Jan. 7, 1959: Paul Coates — Stolen Toupees, a New Kind of Hair Loss

Posted on January 7, 2019 by lmharnisch

I don’t know what you do for kicks, but my friend Tiger Small snatches toupees. Not just anybody’s toupees, understand. The Tiger’s selective. He’s been working the Catskill-Manhattan-Miami circuit for years, dealing only with the best people. The cream of … Continue reading →

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

Jan. 6, 1959: Matt Weinstock ‘Law Is Upheld’

Posted on January 6, 2019 by lmharnisch

A very upsetting ruling came down recently from Appellate Justice Paul Vallee. Shocked by the discovery that three men were held in jail for five days before being arraigned, he stated in an opinion, “It appears the police are permitted … Continue reading →

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Jan. 6, 1959: Paul Coates Confidential File – My Responsibilities as Your Reporter

Posted on January 6, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 6, 1959: Paul Coates writes about protecting his sources, citing the case of New York Herald Tribune writer Marie Torre, who was sentenced to 10 days in jail for refusing to reveal her source for a story about Judy … Continue reading →

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Jan. 5, 1959: Matt Weinstock ‘Men of Good Will’

Posted on January 5, 2019 by lmharnisch

Matt Weinstock was a master of stringing little vignettes into a column. He didn’t do major reporting, like Paul Coates, but had a nice, light touch and occasionally stirred the heartstrings of Los Angeles. He also delved into L.A. history … Continue reading →

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Jan. 5, 1959: Paul Coates Confidential File – Desmond Slattery Is Home

Posted on January 5, 2019 by lmharnisch

Along with Parkey Sharkey, Desmond Slattery was one of the colorful characters in Paul Coates columns.. The entire piece is here, via Archive.org.

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