Letter From L.A.
Surge Control
In late November 1860, 10 years after statehood and the Gold Rush, botanist William Brewer, an Easterner, arrived in Los Angeles with the California Geological Survey to travel the state of California and study its natural resources.
Follow the Star
Look to the heavens on a cloudless, moon-free night: That expanse of stars has sparked the biggest thoughts the human brain can think. How strange to learn that, in galactic terms, we see only over our backyard fence.
Consider the Desert
A flight east from Los Angeles will usually cross, miles above at a cool altitude, the Mojave Desert. From on high, its dusty, flaky expanse looks as if every ounce of water has been leeched out, leaving behind dry, emptied rivulets.
The D.C.-Lincoln Heights Connection
Our next issue of LMU Magazine, arriving in a few weeks, will feature a piece we’ve dreamed about for almost three years: a photo essay and feature story on the murals of Los Angeles. L.A.’s murals are inspiring and beautiful, and they’re just about everywhere. They are why the city has been called the […]
To Arrive and Not Depart
Like other Los Angeles landmarks — Hollywood, the freeways — LAX is a symbol of transience.
The Beach View
At LMU, geography is gift: beach, ocean and mountains are all nearby. From the Del Rey bluffs, the views of them are spectacular. But the greatest view may be the view of the possibilities, some of which extend our geography.
Trees of God
In Altadena, California is a street lined with tall deodar trees rising 30 ft. and higher. At night, the trees’ branches seem to arch over the eight or so blocks of Santa Rosa Ave. that each December is known as Christmas Tree Lane. For most years since 1920, the deodars — a tree native to […]