David Kipen is a native Angeleno, former literature director for the National Endowment of the Arts, professor, critic, radio personality and founder of the nonprofit Boyle Heights lending library Libros Schmibros.
But his greatest achievement may the splendid new book he compiled and edited: “Dear Los Angeles: The City In Diaries and Letters, 1542 To 2018.”
January 1, 2015, marked twenty-five years to the day since I moved to Los Angeles. This week, with best wishes to all and deep gratitude to The Tidings for having me, I offer this love letter to my adopted city. I grew up in New Hampshire, and in all my most vivid childhood memories, I […]
Sometimes I still dream of Merrimac Street, and the loft where I spent the darkest years of my alcoholic drinking, where I first experienced the deep, deep loneliness that formed me, where I got sober. The windows that gave upon the Lindemann Mental Health Center, a fortress-like nuthouse. The bathroom, with its bare hanging light […]