Section Two
February 2026
Artist Larissa Lockshin
Bucking trends of internet art, her paintings are created to be experienced in person. 4
Fr. Gregory Goethals honored
Fr. Jack Dennis, S.J. remembers retired president of Loyola High School, and local resident. 10
The year 2026 got off to a heartbreaking start for this preservationist. On early Sunday morning, Jan. 4, the historic Hollywood Center Motel at 6720 Sunset Blvd. was destroyed by fire and its ruins demolished by the Los Angeles Fire Department. This was a tragic loss of one of Hollywood’s oldest and most vulnerable sites. As a preservation advocate for Hollywood Heritage, I was in the process of shepherding this historically significant site through the Historic Cultural Monument process, so its loss was quite a gut punch. Loss is unfortunately part and parcel of the work of preservation, often feeling akin to holding back the waves of progress and the tide of time.
The Hollywood Center Motel was a unique complex of historic structures, the earliest of which, built in 1905, was described by the 2020 Architectural Resources Group Survey of Hollywood as a “rare example of residential development that pre-dates Hollywood’s consolidation with the city of Los Angeles in 1910,” and also as an “excellent example of a shingle-style residential architecture in Hollywood.” In 1922 the property became a multifamily
On Preservation by Brian Curran
bungalow court with the addition of seven new buildings. Later converted to motel use in 1954, a breeze-block privacy wall and mid-century car-centric signage was added. The Hollywood Center Motel was a physical chronicle of the cultural and economic evolution of Hollywood from residential suburb to urban core.
Its loss was the result of a confluence of issues and events that bedevil vulnerable historic structures throughout our city and even in our neighborhood. The chief among these is vacancy. A building loses its purpose as a residence or place of business etc., which is then followed by departure of occupants. If the building is left unsecure it will become a magnet for transients, and soon the fires begin. This happened to a house at 252 S. June St., which burned in 2018, and also at 304 S. Plymouth Blvd., which, although occupied by transients and vandalized, did not burn and is not being restored. Confronting the vacancy issue in historic buildings and properly securing them is one of
the major issues that I will be working on this year. The Hollywood Center Motel’s loss was preventable, but sadly irreparable.
Where Hollywood lost one historic building, it celebrated the survival of another with the opening of the museum exhibit “The Barn That Made Hollywood: 40 Years of the Hollywood Heritage Museum” on Jan. 10. The museum is based in the historic Lasky DeMille Barn built in 1895. Originally located at Selma Avenue and Vine Street, the barn was rented in 1913 by Jesse Lasky and Cecil B. DeMille to film “The Squaw Man,” the first feature-length motion picture made in Hollywood. When the Lasky Company merged with other early studios Famous Players and Paramount, the company soon outgrew its Vine location, moving to its current site on Melrose Avenue. The barn was also moved there, being used as a gym as well as a studio set until 1979, when it was donated to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and moved to the parking lot of what is now the club Avalon on Vine. In 1982 the barn was given to Hollywood Heritage for use as a museum and moved again, this time to its
current location on Highland Avenue across from the Hollywood Bowl.
The exhibit celebrates the colorful and peripatetic history of the barn, including its 40 years as a museum, as well as the history of Hollywood Heritage. Founded in 1980 by Marian Gibbons, Christy McAvoy, Mildred Heredeen, Frances Offenhauser, and Susan Peterson St. Francis, Hollywood Heritage grew to become Hollywood’s premier preservation organization,
responsible for the establishment of the Hollywood Boulevard National Historic District and the preservation of the Janes House, The Wattles Mansion, the Hollywood Pilgrimage Memorial Monument, and more. “The Barn That Made Hollywood: 40 Years of the Hollywood Heritage Museum” runs through April. Open Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Hollywood Heritage Museum, 2100 N. Highland Ave. Tickets can be purchased at hollywoodheritage.org
By Suzan Filipek
An exclusive after hours visit to the Sistine Chapel. A private visit to recently excavated tombs in Egypt. Behind the scenes of changing of the guards in London.
These amazing experiences might be hard to tackle on your own, which is where an agent can help.
While lots of budding travelers turned to the internet in its early days, booking their flights and stays, and while some continue to do so, others have found the myriad of choices online exhausting.
“Things have circled back to people using travel advisors to plan their trips, whether it’s ‘just a hotel’ to get all the perks and upgrades, to more complex trips,” said Sharon Ronen, of Above and Beyond Travel.
Some clients, she said, “entrust me to know their vibe and what they like and give them options. I have other clients who have a sense of what they want to do but don’t have the time, energy, or desire to figure it out themselves. So it’s a mixture of all types of scenarios.”
An aesthetician, Ronen became a travel advisor by way of sharing her adventures and itineraries with friends, family, and skincare clients.
When not giving facials at a salon on Larchmont Boulevard, Ronen “was an avid traveler and over the years collected a lot of information, tips, and recommendations.”
If a client was going to Paris she would give them a spreadsheet on the city with all of her recommendations.
Astounded by her wealth of information, someone told her, “You should really do travel, for real.”
Her clients travel the world,
from Bali, Vietnam, and Bhutan to Italy, Canada, London, and Mexico. Japan is very much on trend right now. She booked 20 trips to the East Asian country last year.
Among her personal favorites are road trips of the golden state with her husband and dogs in tow.
Wherever the destination, she encourages her clients to spend a few days off the beaten path, away from the crowds.
She doesn’t charge a fee for customers seeking hotel and minor recommendations, and can even offer discounts, with amenities and upgrades. Her next tier, which adds tours, a yacht, or other extras, can range from $50 to $100 per day.
The all-hands-on-deck package has a $75 to $100 daily fee.
She stresses she can work within every budget. “I never want people to be priced out of traveling, because there’s lots of different ways to travel,” she said.
Whatever the destination, “Being a citizen of the world gives you so much more perspective and appreciation of how we live, realizing our way is not the only way, and dare I
rest of us as she can privatize tours to museums, such as the Louvre and d’Orsay in Paris.
“I recently was able to get my clients a private, after-hours visit of the Sistine Chapel at the last minute the night before Easter,” she told us.
Another amazing adventure for some lucky travelers was a private underground visit of just-excavated tombs in Egypt.
say, not always the best way.
“I love helping people who have the curiosity. It’s always possible to make it work.”
Her new website is scheduled to be up any day: aboveandbeyondtravel. biz.
There’s also behind the scenes/behind the glass tour of Churchill War Rooms and access to the changing of the guards experience in London.
Would you prefer private dinners with celebrity chefs?
“
Exploring other cultures and landscapes is a mind broadening experience. I love the world, and I love to learn. It’s the best way.”
Meanwhile, you can reach her at foratravel.com/advisor/ sharon-ronen.
• • •
Diane Sherer is founder of Beyond Traveled, a boutique luxury agency. Brick-andmortar businesses may be gone, but high-end service is booming, she said.
The former divorce attorney and screenwriter turned her joy and passion into her day job in 2016.
The result is a bonus for the
Sherer works her magic out of her Beachwood Drive home, which she shares with her husband, and where they raised two sons.
In addition to 10 independent contractors, mostly in Southern California, plus New York City and Rome, she has partners situated around the globe.
Clients often plan a year out, and Sherer stays busy making hotel reservations and booking flights, mostly first class, some on private jets.
Where to? Everywhere… Mexico, Hawaii, Brazil, Aspen, Big Sky, the Caribbean and Ja-
pan come to mind.
Her fee ranges from $500 to $2,500 depending on the complexity of the trip.
Exploring other cultures and landscapes is a mind broadening experience, she said. “I love the world, and I love to learn. It’s the best way.”
Sherer can be reached at beyondtraveled.com.
By Helene Seifer
February is known for many things: Groundhog Day, Valentine’s Day, the Superbowl. Here in Los Angeles, an item to add to our February calendars is Art Week. Art cel-
GALLERY is an
Fair. Pictured here, “Bull Man Remnant #1,” by Rick Bartow.
ebrations kicked off early with the L.A. Art Show in January; multiple eclectic art fairs will occur across our city the last week of February, providing an exciting glimpse into the state of art across the world.
Frieze Los Angeles: Feb. 26 to March 1, 2026 Frieze established art fairs in 2003 as an outgrowth of its arts magazine of the same name, “Frieze,” first in London, then expanding to New York, Chicago, Seoul, and Los Angeles. This year’s L.A. iteration will feature 95 galleries from 22 countries, including Kukje Gallery from Seoul, South Korea; Shanghai’s Bank; Mexico City’s Proyectos Monclova; and South Africa’s Southern Guild. Numerous internationally known galleries with local outposts are exhibiting, including David Zwirner, Hauser & Wirth, Gagosian, and David Kordansky, among others.
Of special interest is the Focus section of the fair, which will feature 15 U.S. galleries formed fewer than 12 years ago. Curated by Essence Harden, who also co-curated the Hammer Museum’s “Made in LA 2025” exhibit, two of the Los Angeles-based galleries selected for Focus are the Melrose Hill gallery Fernberger, 747 N. Western Ave., which will exhibit Greta Waller’s luscious paintings of melting ice cubes, and Hollywood’s Make Room gallery, 6361 Waring Ave., with abstractions by artist Erica Mahinay.
Napoles Marty is the recipient of the 2026 Frieze Los Angeles Impact Prize. Established seven years ago by
artist Mark Bradford, it awards $25,000 to an early-career artist, supporting their growth, community engagement, and social justice.
Deutsche Bank, a major collector and supporter of the arts, has been the Global Lead Partner for Frieze Art Fairs for 23 years.
Frieze Los Angeles; Santa Monica Airport, 3223 Donald Douglas Loop S., Santa Monica; frieze.com/fairs/ frieze-los-angeles. General admission tickets are $106.60; after 3 p.m., $85.20.
Felix: Feb. 25 to March 1
Felix is enjoying its seventh year in Los Angeles, but it has a completely different spin than Frieze. Rather than rows of art booths in a large hall, works are displayed in the guest rooms and poolside cabanas of the atmospheric
Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The fair’s unusual environment encourages intimate and less intimidating interactions with art, artists, collectors, and gallerists.
There are over 20 first-time exhibitors this year and an equal number of returning galleries. Those representing the global art marketplace hail from such places as Buenos Aires, Seoul, and London. Some of the featured galleries with an L.A. presence are the Fairfax district’s Timothy
Hawkinson Gallery; albertz benda, with galleries in the Hollywood Hills and New York; and Morán Morán, of Melrose Hill and Paris, whose owners Al Morán and Mills Morán cofounded Felix
Art Fair with collector Dean Valentine.
Felix; Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, 7000 Hollywood Blvd.; felixfair.com. Day pass $75; run-of-show pass, $100.
(Please turn to Page 10)
By Helene Seifer
“I grew up hanging around the racetrack with my grandpa,” stated artist Larissa Lockshin while surrounded by the 17 artworks in her exhibit “Squall Line” at Nazarian / Curcio. Her paintings are named after racehorses, such as “Boots on the Moon,” “Blazing Hot,” and “World of Trouble.” Thoroughbreds are not allowed to repeat the use of a name; so too, each of her paintings is unique. “The names read like tiny poems,” she said, noting that she keeps a list of horse names she especially likes, assigning them to her finished works depending on what feels right.
In keeping with her desire to create unique works of art, Lockshin sought to buck current trends. “Internet art is prevalent,” she noted. “I wanted to resist having art that worked as a photograph. It needs to be experienced in person. Over time I developed this process that I feel incorporates sculptural elements.”
“Squall Line” is named for an ever-changing severe storm weather front that forms a straight or curved line across the horizon. Lockshin’s hand-rubbed oil pastels on shimmering satin are also mutable—as the light changes in the room or as one walks from one side to the other the colors shift and bits of the background material peek through, some-
thing impossible to convey in a two-dimensional, online image.
“It’s the theme of weather, but also emotional weather—what I’m feeling that day…I stretch satin over a layer of canvas, then dye it,” Lockshin explained. She then selects a starting color and makes a mark, smearing oil pastels directly with her fingers, then sees where it leads her. “It’s very intuitive. I’m meditating with it. I work on it until it is balanced enough. There’s a crucial balance between ground and the marks, in terms of light coming through.”
The Toronto native now lives in New York after having graduated from Parson’s School of Design in Manhattan. “They emphasized video and performance there. I was the only painter in the department. If painting was irrelevant, perhaps there’s other material?” she thought. That’s when she began working with satin. She also builds her own wooden frames, which lift the paintings away from being flat against a wall, for maximum light interaction.
“I’m stubborn” Lockshin admitted, referring to her desire to stay with painting. “If you’re going to add to a genre, how can you make it different? How can you push it forward?”
“Squall Line” by Larissa Lockshin; Nazarian/Curcio; 616 N. La Brea Ave.; 310-2810961; through Sat., Feb. 14; nazariancurcio.com.
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On March 21, 2025, I went to see the Eagles perform at the Sphere in Las Vegas. It was supposed to be the final concert at that venue for the legendary band. However, since that time, due to high demand, they have added several shows to their residency, beginning last fall and extending into 2026. The “Long Goodbye” tour will officially come to an end Sat., March 28 after a run of a record-breaking 56 concerts at this spectacular venue.
Concerts will take place the last two weekends of each month, with one show on Fridays and one show on Saturdays. If you’re even a casual fan and are fortunate enough to be able to travel to Vegas for a pricey ticket, I implore you to go. Even if you can’t afford the best seats, there are plenty of seats at more accessible prices. What makes the Sphere so unique is that there really isn’t a bad seat in the entire venue, due to its
Musical Notes by Steven Housman
unique architectural design.
I’ve seen hundreds of concerts in my lifetime, so when I say this particular concert is in my top five, please take it seriously. Beyond how incredibly tight the production was, which would have been enough, the Sphere was perhaps the best music venue I’ve ever experienced. It went way beyond my expectations. Between the sound system, the atmospheric lighting, graphics, and special effects that encompass the entire globe (not to mention the band’s two and a half hours on the stage), I was completely transformed, transfixed, and overwhelmed. It’s a concert experience that will stay with me for the rest of my life. Yes! It was that great.
The lineup features founding member Don Henley
FIRST FRIDAYS , Natural History Museum’s monthly series, celebrates its 20th season Feb. 6 to May 1. Events offer a mix of science, live music, signature cocktails and pop-ups. A discussion on “Life at the human scale” kicks off the season Feb. 6, from 6 to 10 p.m. Neuroscientist Yewande Pearse will moderate the talk in collaboration with the Planetary Program at the Berggruen Institute. Food trucks will be on site at NHM, 900 Exposition Blvd. Tickets are $30. Visit nhm.org/firstfridays. THE WINTER OLYMPICS, held once every four years since 1924, will feature 116
events in eight sports, including alpine skiing, curling, ice hockey, and figure skating. The Milano Cortina 2026 Games are Italy’s fourth time hosting the games, which will take place in Milan and the Dolomites. Watch the opening ceremony, taking place in Milan, Fri., Feb. 6, and the closing ceremony (in Verona) Sun., Feb. 22, on NBC, Peacock (USA), and olympics. com.
MUMMIES OF THE WORLD: THE EXHIBITION opens Sat., Feb. 7, at the California Science Center, 700 Exposition Park Dr. The exhibit features more than 30 human and animal mummies from 7
(drums and vocals), along with longtime members Joe Walsh (guitar and vocals) who joined in 1975, and Timothy B. Schmit (bass and vocals) who joined in 1977. There were also newer additions— the extraordinary Vince Gill (guitar and vocals), who joined in 2017 and whose vocals have not changed since he first began in the ’70s with the band Pure Prairie League, and Deacon Frey (guitar and vocals), son of the late Glenn Frey, who also joined in 2017.
As an extra bonus to all of the Eagles’ hits (and there are many) and some deep tracks, the set list also included some of their solo hits—Henley’s 1984 smash hit “The Boys of Summer” and 1985’s “Sunset Grill,” as well as Walsh’s 1973 hit “Rocky Mountain Way” and 1978’s “Life’s Been Good.”
I had a bet with a friend as to which song the set would begin with. He said “They will begin with ‘Hotel California’” to which I answered, “No, it’s
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN priest Nes-Min, from the Ptolemaic period.
South America, Europe, and Egypt. The exhibit dives into the science of mummification in varied environments with stories revealed through CT scans. Having premiered in 2010, the exhibit returns to L.A. as its closing venue with specimens never seen in Los Angeles and rarely toured. Timed entry tickets are required. In conjunction with the exhibit, the 40-minute film “Mummies 3D: Secrets of the Pharaohs” will screen at the Center’s IMAX Theater. Visit californiasciencecenter. org.
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POETRY BROTHEL’S “A Valentine’s Night of Sensual Splendor” is Sat., Feb. 14, from 7 to 10:30 p.m.
too iconic – they’ll save it for the encore.” He was right. That familiar opening guitar riff began and the audience erupted in wild applause. If I told you they sound as great as they did in the ’70s, you might not believe me—but they do. That’s what made this concert experience go beyond my wildest dreams.
The group that started out with Linda Ronstadt (most
at the Sassafras Saloon, 1233 Vine St. Tickets are $45 for general admission, 21 and older only. Poetic encounters, dancers and performance artists, and live music will be featured amid candlelight. Hosted by the Poetry Society of New York. Visit poetrysocietyny.org.
VICTORIAN VALENTINE
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TOURS are Sun., Feb. 15, from 1 to 4 p.m., with guided tours at 1 and 2:30 p.m. at the Grier Musser Museum, 403 S. Bonnie Brae St. Vintage Valentines, teddy bears, and Kewpie dolls will be on display in the 1898 Queen Anne-style Victorian house. Call for res-
famously at Doug Weston’s
The Troubadour in West Hollywood) came into their own immediately following their departure as her backing band. Ronstadt was so gracious, she even gave them her blessing.
I guarantee that if you enjoy this experience even half as much as I did, you’ll always smile upon this memory with a peaceful easy feeling.
ervations. Admission is $18 for adults; $6 for children. Cash only. Visit griermussermuseum.org.
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THE LEIMERT PARK JAZZ FESTIVAL will showcase “Narrative & Notes” at 4276 Crenshaw Blvd. Sat., Feb. 21, from 4:30 to 7 p.m. The life, music, and legacy of jazz pianist Bud Powell will be honored at the event. Admission is $35. Visit leimertparkjazzfestival.org.
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L.A. CHINATOWN FIRECRACKER celebrates the Lunar New Year and Year of the Horse with a festival and one of the largest and oldest running races in the U.S., with routes through Chinatown, Dodger Stadium, and Elysian Park. Meet at Chinatown Central Plaza, 943 N. Broadway, Sat., Feb. 28, and Sun., March 1. Events include a 5/10K, run/walk, 1K kiddie run, 2K PAW’er dog walk, and 20/50-mile bike rides. Visit firecracker10k.org.
Early January is a theatrical dead zone in Los Angeles. The Nutcrackers have packed up, Tiny Tim is skiing in Mammoth, and actors are lumbering back into studios as rehearsals for shows opening in early February click back into gear. In short: nothing to review.
This year, however, my understanding editors suggested I take a look at Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet, her film adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel of the same name. If you don’t know by now, the book/ film’s thesis (at least in regard to Shakespeare) is that “Hamlet,” first published in Quarto in 1603 (the small books, not the big First Folio of 1623), was inspired by the death of Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet, in 1596. It also posits that the 11-year-old died of plague (possibly; other scholars suspect dysentery caused by unsanitary conditions—which does not make a great plot point).
There are several problems with this assumption, not the least of which is that
the “great-man-turning-hisgrief-to-art” trope went out with the late German Romantics. More problematic, it assumes that Shakespeare (assuming “Shakespeare” actually wrote his plays) churned through “King John,” “Merchant of Venice,” both parts of “Henry IV,” “Julius Caesar,” “As You Like It,” “Twelfth Night,” and quite possibly “Troilus and Cressida,” and “The Merry Wives of Windsor” (all written between 1596 and 1602) before finding an outlet for his grief in “Hamlet.”
The book and film take cover under (and, indeed, the novel is a response to) Shakespeare scholar Stephen Greenblatt’s assertion that Hamlet and Hamnet are interchangeable spellings of the same name. (The film puts Greenblatt’s assertion on the first frame.) There seems to be no actual proof of this (“truthiness” is not limited to politics), and it ignores the fact that Shakespeare based his play on a 12th-century Danish leg-
end, whose main character is named Amleth. The story would have been known to Shakespeare through a 16th century translation from the French of Belleforest. Does this make “Hamnet” a bad film? No. Depending on your appreciation for three-hankie melodramas, it is either a brooding elegy on loss and recovery, or, as The New Yorker’s reviewer called it, “grief porn.” I, on my editor-approved busman’s holiday, kept getting pulled out of the film by its Shakespearean inaccuracies, such as the children performing the witches scene from “Macbeth” for their mother (the amazing Jessie Buckley), when the Scottish play was written four or five years after “Hamlet,” a decade after Hamnet’s death. We’ll leave the inaccuracies about the Globe in the film’s last half hour for another day.
But the film is not about the Globe, Hamnet, Hamlet, or Shakespeare, but about Anne Hathaway (maddingly called Agnes here), who, at 26, was 8 years older than Master Shakespeare when he, as they say, knocked her up. Germaine Greer (in “Shakespeare’s Wife”) and others have tried to give Anne some agency in recent reappraisals, but there seems to have been little of love’s labors lost between Mrs. S and her husband, who could only bring himself to leave her his “second-best bed” in his will. Again, none of this matters. Jesse Buckley’s performance (it’s her film, frankly) would be as transcendent if she were the wife of Stratford’s garbage collector. Hers, as Roland Barthes wrote of Greta Garbo, is the kind face for which cinema was invented. Like Ingrid Bergman’s, or Liv Ullmann’s, or Julie Christie’s, it is a face “that represents the fragile moment when cinema is about to extract an existential beauty from an essential
beauty…when the carnal essences will give way to a lyric expression of Woman.” (“Mythologies,” 1957). In other words, she’s really terrific! My review: if you want Shakespeare, stay home. If you want Buckley—go!
What to watch for
And speaking of Hamlet, Eddie Izzard brings his one-person Hamlet to the Montalbán Theatre, through Sat., Jan. 31; ticketmastercom.
The Greenway Arts Alliance presents the world premiere of Stacey Martino’s The Circle, about three generations of families and the 2016 elections; Fri., Jan. 30, through Sun., Feb. 22; boxoffice @ greenwayartsalliance.org or 323-655-7679 (ext.4).
Former weatherman Fritz Coleman continues his long-running, one-man show, Unassisted Living at Noho’s El Portal Theatre through March; tickets and details: elportaltheatre.com/fritzcoleman.html.
The Ebell of Los Angeles celebrates Black History Month with events open to members and the public.
As part of a members-only field trip, a Black Doll Workshop will reflect on dolls, such as corn husk figures, as vessels of hope, and members will create their own piece to
By Nathan Rifkin
The Los Angeles Central Library, 630 W. 5th St., turned 100 Jan. 29, and festivities are taking place all year long.
The celebration kickoff included the opening of a time capsule that was placed in the building when it was constructed in 1926.
To commemorate the occasion, five exhibitions featuring library history will be on display throughout the building for the entirety of 2026. A special edition library card is offered at all public library locations. Exclusive commemorative merchandise is offered at The Library Store.
Patrons and staff are encouraged to share their stories of the Central Library via video recordings that will become part of the Los Angeles Public Library Archives, submitted online through a link at lapl.org/central100 or at an in-person event.
Angel City Press will publish two books honoring the library in July: “L is for Librarian: The ABCs of Los Angeles Central Library,” an ABCs guide to the library
take home. Members should meet at the William Grant Still Arts Center, 2520 S. West View St., Tue., Feb. 3, at 11 a.m.
As part of the Ebell’s “Distinguished Voices” speaker series, actor and author Denise Nicholas will join journalist Christopher Ben-
son in conversation at the Ebell, 743 S. Lucerne Blvd., Mon., Feb. 9, at 11:30 a.m. Nicholas will be promoting her new memoir “Finding Home.” Benson coauthored two books about Emmett Till and was the Washington editor of Ebony magazine. Tickets are $45 for members and $60 for non-members.
The Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles will perform a concert with the theme “I, Too, Sing America,” Sun., Feb. 15, at 4:30 p.m. at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre, 4401 8th St.
To reserve a spot, and for more info on LA Voices: Free Sundays at The Ebell, visit ebellofla.org.
Juried exhibit Also this month, the window to submit art for the Ebell’s exhibition “A Woman’s Place: Framing the Future” ends Tue., Feb. 24. A reception and exhibition will take place at the Ebell Thu., Mar. 19, from 6 to 8 p.m. Admission is free; RSVP at ebellofla. org.
for readers of all ages, and “Los Angeles Central Library Pops,” a pop-up book celebrating the library’s history. A new time capsule dedication is slated for December.
The Assistance League of Los Angeles, the nonprofit volunteer-driven group founded in 1919, is campaigning for 7,500 new books for the children and teens that they serve throughout the county.
The drive started Jan. 21 and continues through Tue., March 31.
If buying books isn’t your jam, they are also asking for $2,500 in donations to flesh out their book goal.
Participants can make donations individually or start a book drive of their own, at their school, religious institution, or in their neighborhood and help tomorrow’s adults!
For more information, visit assistanceleague.org.
Every new year brings a flood of predictions about which books will dominate the conversation, and it can be exhausting trying to keep up. But the moment I heard that Tayari Jones had a new novel, Kin, coming out this month, I knew this book would land on many of those most-anticipated lists.
I was so lucky to get an early copy to read. One of the author’s most acclaimed previous novels, “An American Marriage,” published in 2018, remains one of my favorite reading experiences. It is a devastating, powerful novel of a young marriage undone by injustice when the husband is sentenced to 12 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. I highly recommend checking out that book if you
haven’t already.
The premise: “Kin” follows Annie and Vernice, two motherless girls raised next door to each other in Honeysuckle, Louisiana, in the 1950s
and ’60s. Annie is brought up by her grandmother after her mother abandons her as an infant; Vernice is raised, reluctantly, by her aunt after her mother is killed by her own father.
The two girls grow up inseparable, until adulthood pulls them in opposite directions. At 18, Vernice leaves Honeysuckle for Spelman College in Atlanta, entering a world of privilege, ambition, and powerful Black womanhood. Annie, meanwhile, runs away to Memphis in search of the mother who left her behind, embarking on a hard and uncertain journey. Though their paths go in opposite directions, the two childhood friends stay connected and a part of each other’s lives. Both
by Katie Urban
women struggle to find their way in the world without a mother’s guidance, though they are helped along by women who step in with care, discipline, and grace.
The verdict: Tayari Jones delivers another quietly devastating novel, one that poses important questions without ever losing momentum. What does it mean to be family? How does abandonment shape who we become? Can love, especially maternal love, be replaced, reimagined, or reclaimed?
Told in alternating voices, the novel is both ambitious
and deeply accessible, an emotional exploration of friendship, sisterhood, and the complexities of womanhood in the American South. Kin is already a top 10 book for me in 2026, and one I expect will appear on countless book club must-read lists. Its release date is Tue., Feb. 24.
Fun fact: all of the author’s novels, including “Kin,” “Leaving Atlanta,” “The Untelling,” “Silver Sparrow,” and “An American Marriage,” are set in or inspired by Atlanta, where the author grew up. I also listened to a recent interview Jones gave about “Kin” and wanted to share one quote that stayed with me: “We have to keep writing these books faster than they can ban them.”
Extrapolations: A miniseries of eight interrelated episodes spanning 33 years in the future explores the possible outcomes of climate change and what the world might look like soon. An amazing ensemble cast ranges from Meryl Streep and Kit Harington to Diane Lane and Edward Norton. Created by Scott Z. Burns (“Contagion,” “The Bourne Ultimatum”) for Apple TV, the viewer will question how the decisions we make today could possibly affect the world we leave for our children and grandchildren tomorrow.
His & Hers: This mystery thriller limited series captures the politics and intrigues of a small town in the state of Georgia. Jon Bernthal and Tessa Thompson stand out with strong performances as estranged spouses investigating a murder case from two different perspectives: one as a detective and the other as a reporter. The questions keep popping up and the answers are surprising. The series delves deep into feelings that can fester in communities for
years and how those feelings can lead to tragic outcomes. Watch it on Netflix.
Eden: This is the true story of European settlers who built an eccentric life on an island they called Floreana, part of the Galápagos Islands. Ron Howard directs a star-studded cast that includes Jude Law, Ana De Armas, Vanessa Kirby, and an almost unrecognizable Sydney Sweeney. Law portrays Dr. Friedrich Ritter, a German doctor who relocated to the island to create a new utopia in 1931 along with his partner Dore Strauch. The accounts of their exploits (that were printed in the papers at the time) attracted another German couple, Margret and Heinz Wittmer, to come to the island to help establish the new world. A “baroness,” played by Armas, arrives with an entourage of two lovers and grand plans to build a hotel. Things decline rapidly from there; shortly after Capt. Allan Hancock (the founder of Hancock Park) pays a visit, and there are murders and disappearances. The film has a slow pace, but the outstand-
by A.R. Johnstone
ing performances keep you engaged until the end. Stream it on Netflix.
No Other Choice: The acclaimed Korean director Park Chan-wook, known for “Oldboy” and “The Vengeance,” once again brings his own artistic vision to this film based on the book “The Ax,” by Donald Westlake. The black comedy thriller follows the attempts of a middle-aged man who has been laid off from his
job to eliminate his competitors for a new job. Starring Lee Byung-hun and Son Yejin, the film gives a glimpse into the despair one feels when their status and identity are at threat of being taken away. The audience will find themselves rooting for a protagonist that they wouldn’t like otherwise. This film was nominated for three Golden Globe awards.
Sinners: With a record-breaking 16 Academy Award nominations, the horror film set in 1932 in the Mississippi Delta follows star Michael B. Jordan who plays
JOB TITLE: LIVE-IN HOUSEKEEPER
• Whole-home cleaning, laundry, ironing, bed-making, organizing
• Kitchen cleaning, dishwashing, appliance wipe-downs
• May include errands, inventory supplies, daily Asian cuisine cooking
• Ability to work with minimal supervision while maintaining a high level of performance Knowledge of cleaning chemicals and supplies, along with familiarity with health and safety regulations
• Excellent organizational skills and time management abilities
• Strong attention to detail to ensure thorough cleaning and maintenance
twins. Enter the tacticle world of the south, rich with juke joints, blues music, Voodoo, and yes, vampires. All a perfect setting for exploring generational consequences in the Black community. HBOMAX.
JOHN
FREMONT 6121 Melrose Ave. 323-962-3521 MEMORIAL
4625 W. Olympic Blvd. 323-938-2732
WILSHIRE
149 N. St. Andrews Pl. 323-957-4550
HOURS
Mon. and Wed., 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Tue. and Thu., noon to 8 p.m.; Fri. and Sat., 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The library will be closed Mon., Feb. 16 for Presidents’ Day.
By H. Hutcheson
Romi Cortier has had his own salon, Romi Cortier Design, on Larchmont Boulevard for 25 years. “I didn’t know what I was getting into when I opened the doors at 38 years of age!” The 900-square foot cottage that houses his salon feels both upscale and homey, with vintage chandeliers and wallpaper in the bathrooms made from photos he took in Italy of the Ponte Vecchio and of Musée d’Orsay in Paris.
I went to speak to Cortier because, as many of our readers might have heard, there was a devastating fire at Porta Via, 424 N. Canon Dr. in Beverly Hills, where the restaurant of 31 years suffered a major fire in the early morning hours of Christmas. As a result of smoke damage, the iconic Beverly Hills hair salon Umberto (next door at 416) has also permanently closed after 48 years servicing clients, including many locals of Windsor Square and Hancock Park.
Although Cortier doesn’t have room at his salon for more hairdressers, some hav-
ing been there for over 15 years, he said there’s always a way to fit in new clients.
“Larchmont used to have a large salon similar to Um-
my teeth in LA. It was celebrity, but not too chichi. Kind of cool.”
In 2001 Cortier opened his own salon at 425 North Larchmont. He credits the development of his clientele partly to the acting class he took where he made friends with local Hancock Park actresses like Sharon Lawrence and Tammy Polo. “They were my posse,” he said. In picking his location he said it helped that “people always loved Larchmont—low-key and off the beaten path—like a hidden oasis here.”
berto some might remember, called Haas, on the south end of the street.”
Cortier moved to the neighborhood in 1993 from Bellevue, Washington. “There was a very affluent clientele in Bellevue,” he recalled, but decided to look for a more contemporary, or hip clientele. When he first came to Los Angeles he interviewed with Umberto’s wife, Babette, and declined her offer to work at Mauro Salon on Melrose. Mauro’s attracted movie stars of the era such as Roger Moore, of the “James Bond” series, and TV star Morgan Fairchild. “That’s where I cut
Cortier, president of the Larchmont Business Association, lives in Beverly Hills on Burton Way. “My husband is on the thread for Beverly Hills neighbors, and they are chatting about how many fires there have been recently in the surrounding area and how unusual it is to have so many fires happen over such a short amount of time.”
Umberto Hair Salon and Porto Via share a bit of history. In 2017, four continuous parcels went on the market for $100 million, all owned by the renowned hair stylist Umberto Savone, including Porto Via, Umberto, Il Pastaio, and 410 N. Canon Dr. No sale was made of this once-in-a-lifetime prize property in what is referred to as the Golden Triangle of Beverly Hills. Businesses in the four locations suffered financially through COVID-19 but have returned to pre-pandemic business levels, only to fall victim to fire Christmas morning. As the
Single-family homes SOLD: This home at 200 Lorraine Blvd. in Windsor Square sold for $5,243,810 in December.
$5,243,810
$5,150,000
$3,750,000
$3,100,000
$2,450,000
By Jack Dennis, S.J.
Fr. Gregory Moen Goethals, S.J., was a larger-than-life character. Greg lived and breathed Los Angeles, Loyola High School, his Goethals family, and his priestly vocation to the Jesuit Order.
Having known and loved Greg Goethals for over 45 years, I came to admire the amazing person he evolved into over the decades and the incredible leadership he showed managing Loyola High School Los Angeles. Greg cared deeply about every aspect of Loyola, from the most timid new freshman, to building facilities and programs to accommodate and meet the needs of all.
Greg’s contagious laugh-
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Startup Art Fair:
Feb. 27 to March 1
Established in 2015 and held in San Francisco, Chicago, Houston, and New York, the Startup Art Fair in Los Angeles turns the rooms of a colorful boutique hotel into a space for art exploration, like the Felix model, at a fraction of the ticket fee. Created to give voice to emerging and underrepresented talent, over 80 independent artists—and innovative unaffiliated galleries—get to shine and control the conversation, and art
ter and great sense of humor could extinguish a multitude of dilemmas, and his brilliance leading Loyola for 20 years is unmatched. His sensitivity and care for sister institutions, like Verbum Dei Jesuit High School, is what characterized Greg most perfectly. He was a “Man for Others” in the most definitive ways.
Since I had the joy of being a close friend of his for decades, I will forever savor the love that we shared and all the memories of days gone by. Greg brought a rich texture of commitment and concern to everything he set his mind to, and his legacy will live on forever.
Gregory Moen Goethals
lovers can meet and support creatives outside of a more commercial art space.
Founder Ray Beldner explained, “Artists deserve multiple paths forward, and collectors deserve experiences that feel human, meaningful, and real.”
Startup Art Fair; The Kinney Venice Beach, 737 Washington Blvd., Marina del Rey; startup-art.com/los-angeles. Tickets start at $17.
The Other Art Fair: Feb. 26 to March 1
Over 120 emerging, independent artists will take center stage at The Other Art Fair, presented by online
“Experience
Greg’s personality and character that mattered most. Our world will be a little less without him, but his family, his friends, his students, and their parents will pass on the lessons they learned from Greg and that will help them to be a little bit more compassionate, forgiving, just, inclusive, and loving. And, if I know Gregory Moen Goethals, S.J., that is exactly what
he wanted his life to bear. Editor’s note: Father Goethals died Nov. 24, 2025, in New York at the age of 70 after being hospitalized from a massive heart attack. He had recently retired after 20 years as president of Loyola High School. He attended St. Brendan School, and Loyola High School (class of ’73), and grew up in Windsor Square. Fr. Jack Dennis, S.J., is a Baltimore, Maryland, native.
touched the lives and hearts of countless people in the Los Angeles community and beyond. His educational expertise reached far and wide, as the many academic and civic boards of which he was a member will attest.
But, far and away, it was
art gallery Saatchi Art, which runs art fairs in seven cities in the United States, Australia, and the U.K. Dedicated to making art accessible, some pieces are priced as low as $100. Aiming for a vibrant, festive atmosphere, there will be immersive installations, performances, DJs, and a full bar.
The 2025 fair had a community coloring wall, tea leaf reader, and mystery art bags for $50. Expect the unexpected again this time around.
The Other Art Fair; 3Labs, 8461 Warner Dr., Culver City; theotherartfair.com/la. Tickets start at $30.
JLLA celebrates 100 years with Gala
Looking for a fancy affair with an organization that helps the community? The Junior League of Los Angeles, which has made a home in the Rainey house at 630 N. Larchmont Blvd. since 1995, invites you to cele-brate their 100 years of ser-vice.
The black-tie optional event takes place Sat., March 21, at the California Club, 538 S. Flower St. Visit losangeles. jl.org to purchase tickets.
Don Granger and Lisa McRee threw a holiday party for neighbors at their home in Windsor Square.
Granger acted as mixologist, serving his New Orleans cocktail, the Sazerac, while McRee filled the table with a cornucopia of holiday favorites such as black caviar, Swedish meatballs, and the coconut cake Tom Cruise famously gifts to friends each year—always a major success.
McRee said, “The best part, other than having a gathering of neighbors, is having so many of their adult children join us, whom we’ve known since they were little!” And, happy New Year to all.
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Chief Ettore Berardinelli. Back here on the ranch, just like Umberto’s used to have… Cortier’s salon, albeit much smaller in size, provides the same full-service experience of hair and nails, and a boutique featuring his photos which will is scheduled to be-
come a book called “Gates in the Hollywood Hills.” Cortier said, “I like this as a boutique art space. Wish I had more space!”
Other beauty salons on the Boulevard include Larchmont Hair and Nails, and Larchmont Beauty Center for services.
Rest in peace, Porto Via and Umberto, we will miss you.
For many of us here in the U.S., Africa feels very far away. There’s the geographic distance, of course, but also a deeply fragmented understanding of the continent that makes up a staggering 20% of the world’s total land area.
Myself included. When I think of “Africa,” I’m met with a hazy collage of photographs, sounds, and films absorbed over years, mostly by osmosis. I’ve seen David Attenborough-narrated clips of Serengeti wildlife and Senegalese director Djibril Diop Mambéty’s 1969 “Contras’ City,” an incisive portrait of post-colonial Dakar. I’ve been serenaded by the recordings of Ethio-jazz pioneer Mulatu Astatke and the sentimental, dreamlike strings of Malian kora instrumentalist Toumani Diabaté. And I was of course raised on near-weekly viewings of “The Lion King,” Disney’s “‘Hamlet’—but with lions.”
But with a population of over 1.5 billion people living in 54 countries, speaking 2,000 different languages (with more than 520 in Nigeria alone), and living in large metropolises, mid-size cities, suburbs, and rural villages,
(From Sec. 1, Page 2)
dressing, crispy papaya tempura salad, and scallop crudo, which is what we ordered. Raw scallops, sliced thin, floated in lemony yuzu with half discs of radishes and a scattering of crunchy pomegranate arils. The scallops absorbed the yuzu goodness, and the pomegranate lent a pop of color and sweetness. It was a wonderful and light way to start.
Hot dishes ranged from teriyaki tempura tofu, fried calamari with the Korean hot pepper sauce kochujang, and grass-fed ribeye with spicy Thai dipping sauce. We tried the garlic noodles with grilled chicken and the whole fried branzino.
Garlic noodles, a fusion dish originating in San Francisco at a Vietnamese restaurant, have since been adopted and adapted by Thai and Chinese restaurants. Redolent of intense garlic flavor, perfectly paired with a succulent, wellbrined, and grilled chicken breast, it was flavorful and homey. Even better, the fried fish was possibly the best branzino we’d ever eaten. The gorgeous fish had delightfully crunchy skin and moist sweet flesh. Basil chili sauce was the perfect balance of spicy, tangy, and sweet. Served with plain jasmine rice, it was a dish that would be hard to resist ordering again. Tempura green beans with chipotle aioli made an addictive side dish.
The short dessert menu
it’s a wonder we often consolidate our notions of Africa into a single, monolithic image. Perhaps my earlier attempt to “think of ‘Africa,’” misses the point altogether.
Narrowing things down only slightly, when I “think of ‘sub-Saharan Africa,’” the first thing to come to mind is Cameroon, thanks to being assigned the Central African republic when each student in my 4th-grade class was tasked with researching a different African nation. The Sao civilization, from the Lake Chad Basin, was the dominant culture in the region now known as Cameroon when Portuguese ships first landed on its shores in the 15th century. Observing the tidal estuary of the Wouri River, the foreign explorers noted its abundance of shrimp, naming the territory “Rio dos Camarões,” or “River of Prawns.” (Some may note the similarity to the Spanish word for shrimp, “camarón,” which originates from the same Latin root.) Germany colonized the area—calling it “Kamerun”—in 1884, followed by a takeover by the British and French, who divided it into
SPECTACULAR BRANZINO.
GARLIC NOODLES with succulent grilled chicken.
included a choice of two homemade sorbets: lychee or butterfly pea, a bright blue antioxidant-rich flower in the pea family. We opted for both the deconstructed mango sticky rice and the matcha donut. The former was the least successful bite of the night. The rice was mixed with matcha and formed into disappointingly stolid balls. The donut was delicious, just sweet enough, drizzled with matcha icing. The accompanying vanilla ice cream was excellent. A swish of bright red strawberry coulis gave the dessert a bright jolt of color.
The Night We Met; 788 S. La Brea Ave.; 323-4243108; thenightwemetla.com.
“French Cameroun” and the “British Cameroons.” The country gained independence from France Jan. 1, 1960, and Ahmadou Ahidjo was established as the first president of the République du Cameroun shortly thereafter.
Just to the south, in neighboring Gabon, it was the Portuguese who again christened the area, this time from “gabão,” meaning “hooded cloak,” due to the curved horn shape of the coastline’s Komo River estuary. Under French rule from 1885 until the country gained its independence Nov. 28, 1958, the French-speaking citizens of Gabon still call it “République Gabonaise” today.
Algeria, in the North, is Africa’s largest country, named for Algiers, the city chosen by France as the capital when they invaded and colonized the region in 1830. The city was titled centuries earlier, following another usurpation, when Berber leader Buluggin ibn Ziri established the mu-
(From Sec. 1, Page 2) us, the voters. In addition to hiring more planners and inspectors, the byzantine zoning process needs to change.
Projects following our codes need to be supported, not attacked. We need to accept what gets decided in this zoning process as long as the public is vigorously invited to participate.
I get great information from YIMBY advocates in Abundant Housing L.A., but I tell them we don’t need to tear
nicipality on the ruins of the Phoenician city of Icosium in 950. “Algiers” arrived from the Arabic “al-Jazā’ir,” meaning “the islands,” so called for four islets in its bay. The singular form, “al-jazīrah,” might sound familiar as the media network whose name references the Arabian Peninsula.
Eritrea, adjacent to Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa, is separated from the Arabian Peninsula by just a couple hundred miles of the narrow waterway known as the Red Sea. Long contested by many powers, including the Ottoman Empire, the Egyptians, and the Sultanate of Adal, the area gradually came under Italian rule in the mid- to late19th century, culminating with the founding of the “Colonia Eritrea” in 1890. The Italian name harkens back to the ancient Greek word for the Red Sea, “Erythre Thalassa,” from “erythos,” the Greek phrase for “red,” tracing its roots to the Proto-Indo-European “reudh,” also the origin of the English term for the color.
Still in East Africa, just south of the equator, the continent’s second highest mountain rises high above the landscape, its tallest peak
down single-family neighborhoods.
And I don’t want to lose L.A.’s historical buildings and homes. But surely we can all see the many thousands of buildings that could use replacement here. Los Angeles is a young city that was in a hurry to rise up—especially after the L.A. River floods got contained by our grandfathers.
Our job now is to improve on the ticky-tacky buildings that were never built to last.
Chris McKee, member, Mid-City Rising / Abundant Housing LA
reaching 17,057 feet. The land mass was called “Kīrī-nyaga” in the local Kikuyu language, with “nyaga” implying both “ostrich” and the bird’s white patch of feathers, so deemed for its snow-capped peaks. “Kīrī-nyaga” was translated into the Kamba language as “ki nyaa” and was eventually recorded by German missionary Johann Ludwig Krapf as “Kenia” when he became the first European to encounter the mountain in 1849. The appellation would define the larger region when the British Empire established the Colony and Protectorate of Kenya in 1920, dominating the area until Kenya gained its independence on December 12, 1963.
Leaping off the page
Now with a few more bits of ephemera, my mental collage of the continent grows more defined, but remains distant, flattened to words and images on a page. To begin to understand a place nothing can replace being there, bringing it closer, allowing our preconceived notions to leap off the proverbial page and, if we’re lucky, be replaced by our own experiences.
Not nice I enjoyed your article about the niceties in our neighborhood [“Niceties in the neighborhood set the tone for the new year,” Jan. 2026]. They should be celebrated. Meanwhile, it
SIGN asks for no stretching.
drives me to share this neighbor near Irving Boulevard and Fifth Street who clearly doesn’t like my stretching. Shame. Kim Huffman Cary, Hancock Park
