Column: In lit talk, ‘Picard’ writer provides canon fodder

Writer Michael Chabon talked about “canon” in relation to writing for “Picard” during an appearance in Claremont; 500 people turned out for the church concert in Claremont by a Notre Dame Cathedral organist; plus three Culture Corner items and a 100th birthday wish to a reader in Menifee, all in my Friday column. Those first two events took place on different days a short walk from my home, one of the pleasures of living in Claremont.

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Column: For a top organ, this church pulled out all the stops

Claremont United Church of Christ’s organ has more than 4,000 pipes and was designed by the same people as the famed organ at Disney Hall. On Sunday, an organist from the Notre Dame Cathedral will give a recital. I take a tour of the organ’s inner workings. Also, three more items, all involving — why not? — classical music, all in my Friday column.

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Column: Restoring 41-foot mural, this artist sees the big picture

Brian Worley is helping conserve a mosaic mural by Millard Sheets, his onetime employer, that was removed from a Home Savings branch in Santa Monica after 50 years. The mural, now repaired, is bound for the Hilbert Museum in Orange. Worley was working on the sprawling mural on the floor of the old Candlelight Pavilion, which had ample room for a piece 41 feet long. I visited for my Sunday column.

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Column: David Lindley celebrated at open-mic tribute

Lindley was never as well known as the plethora of names he played behind, who include Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Graham Nash, Bonnie Raitt, John Prine and Bruce Springsteen. Often called a musician’s musician, Lindley lived since 1976 in Claremont. He died in March, and in the absence of any other memorial service, the Folk Music Center hosted an open mic on Sunday that attracted local musicians, friends, admirers and some collaborators, including the first name mentioned above. I was in the audience and pleased to be there. I write about the event in my Friday column.

I’ll add that I never met Lindley and thus felt I had nothing to contribute earlier, although I did persuade our editors to run a wire-service obituary for him. But if there was a local event, I thought, that’s more up my alley. And so it came to pass.

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Column: Myrlie Evers, 90, lauded as ‘inspiration to us all’

The civil rights activist has called Claremont home for portions of her life, moving here with her three young children from Mississippi in 1964 after her husband, civil rights leader Medgar Evers, was assassinated. She graduated four years later from Pomona College. Recently she donated a portion of her archives to the college, which on Wednesday threw her a tribute at Bridges Auditorium for her gift and for her recent 90th birthday. I attended, along with hundreds of others, and write about it in my Sunday column.

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Column: ‘Baseline Road’ crime novel set in early ’70s Claremont

A debut novel by a 72-year-old retired attorney takes place in Claremont and environs in 1970-72, when writer Orlando Davidson was living here and studying at Claremont Men’s College. The book starts with a campus bombing, inspired by an actual event, and goes from there as two law-enforcement friends look into the case, which isn’t what it seems. Along the way they drive real streets and eat at real restaurants, making the book a nostalgia kick for some as well as a mystery. I talk to Davidson for my Wednesday column. (If you saw in my recent Reading Log post that I read the book, then consider this a bonus.)

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Column: Happy ending: Laemmle’s Claremont 5 won’t be sold

The president of the Laemmle chain of theaters says sale of the property has been called off. That’s good news. However, business needs to be stronger to sustain the theater, and he’s giving it a year to turn around. He’ll talk about this at an in-person event at the Claremont 5 after a 1 p.m. screening Saturday of the documentary “Only in Theaters.” I will host the Q&A! And I tell you more about the theater’s status in my Friday column.

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