Category Archives: Paul Coates

Feb. 14, 1959: Paul Coates Gets Some Reader Feedback

Posted on February 14, 2019 by lmharnisch

Feb. 14, 1959: It’s Saturday in 1959, and Paul Coates ends the week with some letters, a typical ploy in the days when columnists published six times a week, a punishing schedule. And there is a Parkey Sharkey alert! Also … Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, Columnists, Mickey Cohen, Paul Coates, Television | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Feb. 13, 1959: Paul Coates — Behind Bars in a Mexican Jail

Posted on February 13, 2019 by lmharnisch

Feb. 13, 1959: Paul Coates takes another look at Americans held in jail in Tijuana. Those who were arrested in a raid on a Rosarito Beach casino were the elite. A man who was being held for running a red … Continue reading →

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Feb. 12, 1959: Paul Coates – When VD Was ‘Cured’

Posted on February 12, 2019 by lmharnisch

Feb. 12, 1959: After World War II, many Americans assumed that penicillin had eliminated venereal disease (STDs to you youngsters). And, no, it was still around. This column originally appeared in the L.A. Mirror in 1959 and was republished on … Continue reading →

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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: 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: 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 →

Posted in 1959, Columnists, Crime and Courts, Paul Coates | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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: 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 →

Posted in 1959, Cold Cases, Columnists, Crime and Courts, Homicide, Paul Coates | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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: Paul Coates on the Porn Trade of the 1950s

Posted on January 21, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 21, 1959: Paul Coates takes a look at the way pornography (and pretty light stuff at that) was peddled in the 1950s, when it was illegal to send such things through the mail. Coates’ column was originally published in … 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: 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 →

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

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 →

Posted in 1959, 2009, Columnists, Paul Coates | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

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

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: 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. 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: 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 →

Posted in 1959, Columnists, Food and Drink, Nightclubs, Paul Coates | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment