Category Archives: Columnists

Van Nuys Plane Crash Kills 2 – Aug. 11, 1941

Posted on August 11, 2011 by lmharnisch

Aug. 11, 1941: Walter P. Palmer and William S. Raney are killed when their plane goes into a spin during a flying lesson and crashes into a bean field at Woodley Avenue and Oxnard Street in Van Nuys, which is … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Lee Shippey, Politics, San Fernando Valley, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Day in Hollywood: July 8, 1941

Posted on July 8, 2011 by lmharnisch

July 8, 1941: I thought it would be fun to check in with our old pals, Lee Shippey, Tom Treanor and Jimmie Fidler. Lee writes about visiting researchers spending their summers at the Huntington. That’s my idea of a vacation! … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Lee Shippey, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

‘Zoot Suit’ and History – Part 3

Posted on June 30, 2011 by lmharnisch

In March 1943, Disney studios released “The Spirit of ’43,” a cartoon in which Donald Duck is forced to choose between saving his money for “taxes to bury the Axis” (aided by a thrifty proto-Scrooge McDuck)  and spending his paycheck … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Latinos, Lee Shippey, Nightclubs, Zoot Suit | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

‘Zoot Suit’ and History – Part 2

Posted on June 28, 2011 by lmharnisch

May 9, 1943: Al Capp satirizes zoot suits in a series about “Zoot-Suit Yokum.” In Part 1, we saw that in 1942, The Times originally portrayed zoot suits as a youthful fad, but that attitudes hardened toward them once the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Downtown, Fashion, Film, LAPD, Latinos, World War II, Zoot Suit | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Heresy on L.A. Streetcars!

Posted on June 15, 2011 by lmharnisch

My hair (or what’s left of it) stood on end when I read this portion of Tim Rutten’s column on Wednesday about Rick Caruso’s mayoral campaign: Mythology has it that the old Red Cars were killed by a conspiracy, but … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Columnists, Downtown, Politics, Transportation | 7 Comments

Mack Ray Edwards’ Legacy of Grief

Posted on June 14, 2011 by lmharnisch

Note: The Times is reporting that Mack Ray Edwards is a suspect in the 1961 disappearance of 7-year-old Ramona Price outside Santa Barbara. Here’s a 1959 column that Paul Coates wrote about one of Edwards’ victims. Today marks an anniversary that … Continue reading →

Posted in 1957, 1959, Columnists, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD, Paul Coates | 1 Comment

From the Reference Desk

Posted on June 13, 2011 by lmharnisch

My childhood heroes: The Lookies! They don’t guess, they look it up in their new World Book Encyclopedia! Dr. Michele K. Troy of Hillyer College writes: Rob Wagner (Red Ink, White Lies) recommended I contact you with an odd research … Continue reading →

Posted in 1936, Books and Authors, Brain Trust, Columnists, From the Reference Desk, Lee Shippey, Libraries, World War II | 2 Comments

Army Clears Strikers at North American Aviation

Posted on June 10, 2011 by lmharnisch

June 10, 1941: Bill Henry files a color story on soldiers using rifles with bayonets to herd strikers away from the North American Aviation plant. Unfortunately, my new optical character recognition software can’t handle these old clips, so I have … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, art and artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Transportation, World War II | Comments Off on Army Clears Strikers at North American Aviation

Jim Murray, June 9, 1961

Posted on June 9, 2011 by lmharnisch

June 9, 1961: Wrestling isn’t even a sport at all. It’s a drama in three acts in which a lot of nice old ladies get rid of all their hostilities and aggressions occasioned usually by the fact their daughters-in-law don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in #Jim Murray, 1961, art and artists, Columnists, Comics | Comments Off on Jim Murray, June 9, 1961

‘Hunchback Killer’ Arrested, June 8, 1941

Posted on June 8, 2011 by lmharnisch

June 8, 1941: For some time, I have been coming across stories about Alfred Horace Wells in going through the 1941 clips — “hunchback killer” is not a nickname that’s easy to forget. But I haven’t done anything on him … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1941, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, Lee Shippey, Tom Treanor | 2 Comments

From the Stacks – ‘In the Wrong Rain’ (1959)

Posted on June 8, 2011 by lmharnisch

Hope died in the opening lines of “In the Wrong Rain,” and optimism succumbed a few pages later. Duty ground stubbornly ahead for a chapter or two before collapsing as well. Curiosity thumbed randomly through the book and then tossed … Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, books, Columnists, From the Stacks | 1 Comment

Jim Murray, June 8, 1961

Posted on June 8, 2011 by lmharnisch

            June 8, 1961: Danny Murtaugh is like the Pirates. Tough, blue-bearded, underslung jaw, he looks like a sulfurous-tempered truck driver. Actually, he is shy and modest and the kind of worrier whose biggest fear … Continue reading →

Posted in #Jim Murray, 1961, art and artists, Baseball, Columnists, Comics, Sports | Comments Off on Jim Murray, June 8, 1961

Tip Poff, July 17, 1932

Posted on June 7, 2011 by lmharnisch

July 17, 1932: I’ve been meaning to post some of the Tip Poff  gossip columns that The Times used to run in the movie/drama pages of the 1930s. The Times experimented with the column and by 1939 was calling it … Continue reading →

Posted in 1932, art and artists, Columnists, Comics, Courts, Film, Hollywood | Comments Off on Tip Poff, July 17, 1932

North American Aviation Strike

Posted on June 7, 2011 by lmharnisch

  June 7, 1941: The strike at the North American Aviation plant, in which Army troops dispersed union activists and took over an essential American defense facility,  is one of the landmark events in Los Angeles history. Because of its … Continue reading →

Posted in Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Lee Shippey, Tom Treanor, World War II | 1 Comment

Jim Murray, June 7, 1961

Posted on June 7, 2011 by lmharnisch

        June 7, 1961: Gene Tunney's chief claim to fame is he licked an over-aged Jack Dempsey twice. It won him respect but not affection. A peculiar thing about the public is it resents a man who … Continue reading →

Posted in #Jim Murray, 1961, boxing, Columnists | 1 Comment

Police Chief on His Way Out

Posted on June 6, 2011 by lmharnisch

           June 6, 1941: Police Chief Arthur Hohmann and Deputy Chief C.B. “Jack” Horrall are about to trade jobs.  Horrall will remain chief through World War II and into the postwar period, finally retiring during the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, City Hall, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Lee Shippey, Tom Treanor | 1 Comment

Jim Murray, June 6, 1961

Posted on June 6, 2011 by lmharnisch

            June 6, 1961: Track and field is still a wholesome LIVING sport, not bound down to tradition like, say, baseball. A trophy for everything and everything for a trophy. I don't know whether you … Continue reading →

Posted in #Jim Murray, 1961, Columnists, Comics, Track and Field | 2 Comments

Jim Murray, June 5, 1961

Posted on June 5, 2011 by lmharnisch

        June 5, 1961: It is always a source of wonder to me that a sport as savage and cruel as prizefighting doesn't brutalize its practitioners. Yet, it doesn't. A ballplayer after losing a game is a … Continue reading →

Posted in #Jim Murray, 1961, boxing, Columnists, Comics | 1 Comment

June 4, 1941: Burbank Man Invents Death Ray!

Posted on June 4, 2011 by lmharnisch

June 4, 1941: I’ll admit I’m a sucker for stories about death rays. Evidently The Times’ editors were too since they put this item on Page 1. Promoter Kurt Van Zuyle credited L.E. Riley of Burbank as the inventor. It … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1941, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Death Rays, Film, Hollywood, Lee Shippey, Tom Treanor | Comments Off on June 4, 1941: Burbank Man Invents Death Ray!

Jim Murray, June 4, 1961

Posted on June 4, 2011 by lmharnisch

          June 4, 1961: Jim Murray puts in a call to Casey Stengel and says: "I realized I was listening to the Voice of Baseball again. And what it is doing in a bank vault in … Continue reading →

Posted in #Jim Murray, 1961, Baseball, Columnists, LAPD | Comments Off on Jim Murray, June 4, 1961