Lynell George
@lynellgeorge.bsky.social
Journalist, Essayist, Author, Pen-and-Paper Enthusiast, Wanderer Latest book: "A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky: The World of Octavia E. Butler" Southland
Jackie, the bald eagle whose nest in the San Bernardino Mountains in California has been featured on a livestream watched by millions, died on Monday after weeks of intensive care. Jackie had been receiving treatment since she was attacked by other eagles last month. nyti.ms/4gokSOP
Sat @ 2pm: “Life Without Reservations: Growing Up at the Famed Ambassador Hotel, 1921 to 1938” at LAPL’s Central Library in #DTLA. www.lapl.org/events/life-... #LAevents
“We don’t know enough about ourselves. I think it’s better to know that you don’t know, that way you can grow with the mystery as the mystery grows in you. But, these days, of course, everybody knows everything, that’s why so many people are so lost.” James Baldwin Born #OTD 1924 📷Leslie Schenk 1949
My favorite Betye Saar quote was in a story I did in 2015 about how LA museums were then failing to engage her work. Her response: "They can’t wait and wait because then I’ll die and it’ll cost big bucks. Then they will pay for their hesitation.” Love her. www.latimes.com/entertainmen...
Column: Betye Saar's art on race couldn't be timelier. So why aren't more museums showing her work?
It's not for nothing that Betye Saar's traveling museum show is called "Still Tickin'."
latimes.com
As Saar’s 100th birthday approached, her work and its groundbreaking importance were celebrated…near[ing] the milestone, Saar appeared more interested in creating new art than in dissecting her legacy. “That’s what art. Making something where there was nothing.” www.latimes.com/entertainmen...
Betye Saar, a Los Angeles artist who transformed collections of bigoted bric-a-brac, has died
Betye Saar, a Los Angeles artist who transformed collections of bigoted bric-a-brac — Sambo dolls, ceramic mammies, and crude renderings of pickaninnies — into potent works of assemblage that mined th...
latimes.com
Me with more Betye Saar lore, including the fact that her mural, "LA Energy" (no longer extant), makes a cameo in the apocalypse flick, "Night of the Comet."
Deep bow to Ms. Saar’s legacy. We were lucky to visit the Huntington for an Exhibit years ago, and it was the first I knew of her work. Drifting Towards Twilight is now in their permanent collection. She was a FORCE.
I spent time behind the scenes reporting about Betye Saar’s “Drifting Toward Twilight” which incorporates an array of Saar’s signature found objects as well as flora from the Huntington’s grounds. Mysterious, layered, the piece feels like something out of antiquity. huntington.org/frontiers/be...
Lynell George, on Betye Saar, in 2023 Amid everything else Ms. Saar was so much from and of Los Angeles -- Watts, Pasadena, Hermosa Beach, Laurel Canyon... -- and it will be good to read @lynellgeorge.bsky.social and other poets of LA on her legacy and life.
Lynell George @lynellgeorge.bsky.social · 3y agoI spent time behind the scenes reporting about Betye Saar’s “Drifting Toward Twilight” which incorporates an array of Saar’s signature found objects as well as flora from the Huntington’s grounds. Mysterious, layered, the piece feels like something out of antiquity. huntington.org/frontiers/be...
Woah that piece is incredible! Very excited to read this and dig into Saar.
Lynell George @lynellgeorge.bsky.social · 3y agoI spent time behind the scenes reporting about Betye Saar’s “Drifting Toward Twilight” which incorporates an array of Saar’s signature found objects as well as flora from the Huntington’s grounds. Mysterious, layered, the piece feels like something out of antiquity. huntington.org/frontiers/be...
“Over the threshold, into the dream, the light fades, and the world falls away…” Betye Saar 1926–2026 share.google/YyXrTY1eK1TC...
My photographs of Williams’s buildings are as much a tribute to his labor and persistence as they are a tribute to his talent. I am proud to live and work in Paul Williams’s city.” — Janna Ireland Coming in August. A new edition of Ireland’s “Regarding Paul R. Williams” from Angel City Press.
In the 1930s, Gordon Parks was a young railroad porter who gathered magazines that passengers left behind and studied photographs of migrant workers taken by Farm Security Admin photographers. At 28 y.o., he bought his first camera for $12.50 at a pawnshop and taught himself how to take photos.
Gordon Parks interview (2000)
YouTube video by Manufacturing Intellect
youtu.be
Citizen.Coping@propcazhpm.bsky.social · 3w agoMany know how, under the leadership of A. Philip Randolph, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) fought for 12 years for recognition as a union, decades after white railroaders were unionized. Porters made up 44% of the Pullman workforce, yet were excluded. That fight was a blueprint. 🌱
"It only takes one generation to lose history. What we’ve decided to do is to try and preserve the history of Chavez Ravine so that they are never forgotten. This is an archival home that you can go back to, because the residents can’t go back to their real homes," Priscilla Leiva. #ChavezRavine
Los Angeles Times@latimes.com · 3w agoChavez Ravine was once home to thousands of Mexican Americans. A new digital archive tells their story
Saul Bass also redesigned LA's RTD logo in 1980. “I viewed it as a personal project. Los Angeles is my home. We all know that #publictransportation is one of the major issues that confronts society generally—and Los Angeles in particular," #SaulBass. RTD mug via @metrolosangeles.bsky.social store:
Michael Warburton@michaelwarburton.bsky.social · 3w agoJust some of the iconic corporate logos designed by the legendary SAUL BASS
“We’re heartened by the community response who share memories from their childhood. Their loyalty is such a beautiful part of our family business. We’re proud to be part of this legacy and want to continue this LA landmark for generations to come.” @eater.bsky.social: la.eater.com/los-angeles-...
Olvera Street Is Los Angeles’s Birthplace. Right Now, It’s Empty.
The historic corridor remains at risk for becoming a Los Angeles ghost town
la.eater.com
New owner of LA's downtown "Graffiti Towers" will remove the graffiti immediately but plans to memorialize it in a coffee table book. www.latimes.com/business/sto...
Graffiti towers set to be cleared for cleanup and sale
Work cleaning the Oceanwide Plaza skyscrapers — known informally as Graffiti Towers — will begin immediately, according to the $517-million sale agreement tentatively approved by a federal judge.
latimes.com
Found weak and disheveled, rescued eagle — probably Big Bear's Jackie — receiving care in Ojai
Found weak and disheveled, rescued eagle — probably Big Bear's Jackie — receiving care in Ojai
Found weak and disheveled along the shoreline, the raptor believed to be nest cam star Jackie is receiving care while experts investigate what caused its decline.
latimes.com
I love it so much. Such a wonderful photo. 🍦🩷🎈 It captures their individuality and their innocence – something too often denied Black children, especially our girls.
womensartbluesky.bsky.social@womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 4w agoNew York, 1954, by Vivian Maier (1926-2009), critically acclaimed US street photographer #WomensArt #July
“King Crimson’s 21st Century Schizoid Man is said to have been inspired by Ellington’s madcap approach, especially in the latter section of the song…it’s actually not until the closing moments of the song, after the main riff has played out one last time, that the true essence of Ellington comes in”
How Duke Ellington inspired a 1969 prog-rock classic
Never one to shy away from straying outside of his comfort zone, Duke Ellington's influence stretches far beyond the realm of jazz where he was best known.
faroutmagazine.co.uk
RIP to Hal Williams! In addition to articles about his acting, the Los Angeles Sentinel archive is full of #HalWilliams reports about his charity work as he emceed/participated in many local community events (incl’g several trips down the Compton Christmas parade route in the 1980s). A few examples:
The Hollywood Reporter@thr.com · 4w agoHal Williams, the actor known for his turns as the friendly neighborhood cop Smitty on Sanford and Son and as Marla Gibbs’ patient husband on another popular NBC sitcom, 227, has died. He was 91.
"The Sparkletts building, a white, Moorish Revival-style complex that served as a bottling plant for nearly 100 years, has become the city's latest historic landmark." @theeastsiderla.bsky.social: www.theeastsiderla.com/lifestyle/hi... #HighlandParkCA #historicpreservation
Sparkletts building approved by City Council to become historic monument
Highland Park— The Sparkletts building, a white, Moorish Revival-style complex that served as a bottling plant for nearly 100 years, has become the city's latest historic landmark.
theeastsiderla.com
Cleanup of rotting meat, scorched debris begins at Boyle Heights cold-storage warehouse
Cleanup of rotting meat, scorched debris begins at Boyle Heights cold-storage warehouse
Fire officials said the work of cleaning up the debris and rotting meat at the SoCal cold-storage facility is now in the hands of the tenant, Lineage.
latimes.com
Start making your plan to join us for the first LA Indie Book Crawl - Friday, July 24-Sunday, July 26! www.pasadenaweekly.com/news/los-ang...
Los Angeles Indie Book Crawl: Independent bookstores launch inaugural summer event
Thirteen independent bookstores, including locations in Culver City, Pasadena and Santa Monica, have launched the Los Angeles Indie Book Crawl, with the first event scheduled for Friday, July 24, thro...
pasadenaweekly.com
Entry: June 25, 2026 from “Parable of the Sower” “We’re like that, we Olaminas—tall, sturdy, fast-growing people…..Now more than ever, It’s safest to just go out at dawn… that is if you have to go outside at all.” — Octavia E. Butler
