D.J. Waldie
D. J. Waldie is the author of "Holy Land: A Suburban Memoir" and "Where We Are Now: Notes from Los Angeles," among other books about the social history of Southern California. He is a contributing editor for the Los Angeles Times.
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In the early 1900s, Long Beach was on track to becoming the "other Hollywood," led by independent production company Balboa Amusement Producing Company which created over 200 films in their studio at the intersection of Sixth Street and Alamitos Avenue.
The Owens Valley aqueduct and water from the Colorado River blunted the impact of 20th century droughts. Cattle and sheep range, emptied by thirst, became 50-by-100 foot house lots for the ten million of us who live in Los Angeles County, wondering today if there will ever be enough water.
Essayist D.J. Waldie explores the legacy of the fire element on the landscape of Los Angeles.
Essayist D.J. Waldie digs into the story of the land beneath Los Angeles — earthworms, human remains, liquid gold and all.
Essayist D.J. Waldie unfurls the complexities of water in Los Angeles, from trickles to torrents.
Essayist D.J. Waldie explores the beguiling and often contradictory qualities of air in Los Angeles.
From the late 1930s through the 1990s, country western music and the hybrid culture from which it came defined much of white working class Los Angeles.
The benign climate of Los Angeles, the excellent highways, the desire to escape into an alternate reality and the skills of Hollywood designers were material causes of our architecture of fakery, informing how donuts, ice cream and pianos were sold.
The optimistic essence of the California's golden dream endures — as it should — but the future of the state depends on Californians dreaming differently.
In the 1850s-70s, an elaborately themed garden surrounded the town's most eccentric building, the Round House.
L.A. once sold its climate as "semi-tropical" – a term that emphasized the uniqueness of its nature. Semi-tropical was semi-miraculous.
L.A. for a generation was extraordinarily violent, even more violent than frontier towns more famous in Western lore.