Category Archives: Columnists

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 →

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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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