Farewell, 'Only in L.A.'

By David Allen on August 20, 2008 5:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) |

Today's column is about the end of Steve Harvey's "Only in L.A." column in the Times, to which I contributed items for a dozen years. In fact, what turned out to be Steve's last column ended with an item from me. (Talk about going out with a whimper.)

Here's a link to that column , to a photo tribute to "Only in L.A." and to a best-of. And, why not, to an Amazon listing for his "Best of Only in L.A." book.

I always thought when Steve retired, he should host a luncheon, maybe at the Redwood, the unofficial Times tavern, for his regular contributors. I've seen their names so many times I can come up with a decent invite list from memory: Phil Proctor (I assume he's the Firesign Theatre guy but never asked), David Chan, Hank Rosenfeld, Lisalee Wells, the woman (Arlene something?) who runs the acting school for elders. We could include Bob Patterson of Alta Loma, who made it into print several times.

If you have thoughts about Steve's column, feel free to leave comments below.

4 Comments

Jim L said:

His column was one of the reasons I read the LA Times. I've always enjoyed reading his column and have contributed material a couple times over the years myself.

My wife once commented that she really enjoys that Dave Allen fellow because he has a bit of Ralph Story and Steve Harvey in him.

We're sorry to see Mr. Harvey retire. We'll miss him.

[Nice to know a fellow "Only in L.A." contributor. Probably a lot of them in the Inland Valley. And thank your wife for the flattering comparison. -- DA]

August 20, 2008 8:01 AM

Sid Robinson said:

Steve Harvey's "Only in L.A." column was a must-read in the Times. Years ago when when I was the PR guy at Fairplex, I sent him the results of the SPAM competition during the Los Angeles County Fair, and he ran with it. He would run those every year, and would always refer back to the year the winning entry was a Spam cheesecake. Yum...

Harvey was great about every odd twist we could provide (and the Fair has plenty), including babies born at the Fair and that kind of thing. Aside from his "Only in L.A." column, he used to have "The Bottom Ten" football poll in the sports section in which he'd mock the worst NFL and college teams each season. Great stuff. He'll definitely be missed. But we still have David Allen.

[You do, for what it's worth. Thanks for weighing in, Sid. I remember those Spam items of Steve's. -- DA]

August 20, 2008 8:59 AM

Lisa said:

You got a shout out on LA Observed. http://www.laobserved.com/

[That was cool. I sent LAO a link at 6:30 a.m. and crossed my fingers. -- DA]

August 20, 2008 12:00 PM

Charles Bentley said:

GREETINGS:

It's great to see someone else who remembers Steve Harvey's outstanding contribution to sports journalism -- The Bottom Ten. For years it, Jim Murray's column and Scott Ostler's column were the most popular topics of conversation when discussing the LAT sports section.

David, you may now be the last of a disappearing breed: print journalists who can find light humor amid the deepest, darkest city truths. Please take care and DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT RUNNING FOR MAYOR OF POMONA!

[Think about what? I couldn't hear you. -- DA]

August 20, 2008 6:22 PM