Someone's Big Day

Hey! Don't throw that key away! It looks important!

I was going to go to the library to check out Tom Wolfe's "Kool Aid Acid Test", which I don't think I ever read. He writes about the bus stopping at Larry McMurtry's home along the way.

But you don't have to go to the library anymore to see if they have the book-- just check on line. They didn't, but in the process I came upon an amazing feature of the Los Angeles library-- they have a collection of old photos which you can go through by typing any word you want.

Go here and press "Browse the Photo Collection." I spent so many hours just on these photos, and I can imagine there are many more weird and strange. They give a lot of info on where and when and why the photos were taken.

I typed Northridge and Chatsworth, since that's where I live. These are some of the photos.



This is a photo of a strange cult that existed in Chatsworth. Note the speaker's tiptoes and all the bare feet. A suicide bomb ended this cult of mostly women.



This is a picture of a man cutting meat, part of a series on suburban living in Granada Hills. There was also a picture of his wife sitting alone at the same table, eating the meat.



This is (was) film director Joseph von Sternberg's art deco palace designed by Richard Neutra, then demolished to make way for a housing development. Von Sternberg's the man who made Marlene Dietrich a star. I've heard about this house for a long time but don't think I'd seen a picture before. It was in Northridge! It looks like a modern high school to me. I expected something more glamorous.



In this shot you can see there was a moat-- I always like moats.

I just remembered Tom Wolfe once sat next to me, at Smith. He came to do a talk, and I was seated on the side front row. He was wearing a white suit even back then. He was pretty funny.