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.
Visitors journeyed from Palm Springs’ Modernism Week to Rancho Cucamonga’s Sam Maloof Home via charter bus on Sunday, lured 75 miles by the chance to see the home of the late woodworker. I joined them, sheepish about never having seen the house myself. It’s quite the place. It’s the subject of my Wednesday column.
After my column on the long-lived Shakey’s in Montclair, a Riverside woman who worked at her city’s Shakey’s when she was a student got in touch to say she has an album of photos and other memorabilia from the 1970s. I couldn’t resist taking a look. She reminisced and shared stories for my Sunday column.
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.
Three U.S. presidents, future or past, called the Inland Empire home: LBJ, Eisenhower and Ford. Also: news that former Kmart and Sears stores in Riverside may be turned into apartments has me wondering what’s next; more about late newspaper owner Mel Hodell; two public appearances by me take place this week; and Twentynine Palms makes Westways. All this fills up my Wednesday column.
Toby Keith’s death reminded me (eventually) that his name had been on a bar and restaurant at Victoria Gardens until 2015. I refresh everyone’s memory about this local tie-in to the singer who died earlier this month. Also, as the downtown Pomona Starbucks serves its last customers, I’m there to bear witness. And, finally, theater seats are there for the taking at Palm Springs’ Plaza Theatre before the space is renovated. All this is in my Sunday column.
Once again, I opted out of Super Bowl Sunday. Instead, I drove to L.A., read my newspapers, met a friend for lunch, did a Secret Stairs walk, returned home for some hassle-free shopping in Montclair, then walked around a nearly empty Claremont Village. Some of you told me what you did rather than watch the game. I share the results in my Wednesday column. (And mention that I’m taking Friday’s column off.)
Remember the enormous Millard Sheets mural, previously from a Home Savings branch in Santa Monica, that was undergoing repairs on the floor of the old Claremont High gym last summer? Whether you do or you don’t, the mural is now ensconced outside the Hilbert Museum of California Art in Orange, which is about to reopen after a renovation and expansion. I visit, take in the mural, get a walk-through of the museum and share the results in my Sunday column.
A couple of startling statistics from San Bernardino, both related: only four of the city’s 95 street cameras are working and 700 street lights are out. I shed some light on this state of affairs in my Friday column.
I interview Pomona’s new city manager, only the second woman to have the job, and pay tribute to Larry Egan, an important figure downtown, whose memorial service I attended. Wednesday’s is an all-Pomona column, and probably my last for a while, as I really need to turn my attention again to San Bernardino and Riverside. But it was fun to be back on the beat. And my Starbucks column got people talking.