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D.J. Waldie

D. J. Waldie (2017)

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.

D. J. Waldie (2017)
Whereas
Proclamations: The Remembered and the Forgotten
The files of "days" and "weeks" proclaimed serve to measure the past's fears and hopes, stereotypes and traditions, the bureaucratic and the tragic.
'Ever Built' and 'Never Built' Reflect L.A.'s Confusion of Plans and Place
"Ever" and "never" continue redrawing a presumed paradise on the city's body, never and ever meeting the demands of our desire.
Language in the Landscape: Monterey Park Council Wants 'Alphabet' Signs
America's streets bristle with public conversations that aren't necessarily for you or me. Should city councils care?
Grey
Sunday. Gray. A Midsummer Pause.
The world I know seemed to have fallen still.
Doomed By Sunshine
Why L.A.'s Beautiful Weather is Making You Stupid, Unproductive, and Gullible
Science proves that Angeleños are slackers, easily distracted, and barely rational. But that's okay, because it's not our fault. The problem is our climate.
History of Development in L.A., O.C. Counties Tied to Sugar Beets
The homely sugar beet begat development in both Los Angeles and Orange counties at the turn of the 20th century. The city of Los Alamitos began with sugar, but celebrating the beet isn't entirely sweet.
An Empire of Ice Cream: Long Beach Is the Frozen Confectionery Capitol of America
Long Beach tops the nation in spending on ice cream according to some statistics. Meanwhile, city council members plan to silence the annoying tunes of the vendors who sell frozen treats.
A Night in July. A Trolley Ride Home. A Tragedy.
At the Vineyard junction between Venice and downtown in 1913, a Pacific Electric trolley slammed into two stalled trains. For one survivor, "The sights we saw ... were sickening and horrible."
Becoming Los Angeles: My Speech at the Natural History Museum's Exhibit Opening
The new permanent exhibition "Becoming Los Angeles" opens on Sunday at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in Exposition Park. I had a small part in the press preview on Wednesday and got to say a few words about what "becoming" might mean...
Urban Sustainability, Circa 1933
L.A. was a center of suburban farming from the turn of the century to the late 1940s. Chickens and rabbits, corn and rhubarb, beans and tomatoes once flourished on the doorsteps of working-class Angeleños.
What We Talk About When We Talk About Los Angeles
Los Angeles defies easy definition, although we try.
At the Bus Stop, Strangers in a Strange Land
On a patch of gravel and dirt the color of the full moon, shorebirds, crows, and a "native" meet ambiguously.
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