The Voice of Los Feliz

Halloween … All Saints’ Day … The Voice of Los Feliz is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Dia de los Muertos … The veil is thinning. I am not sure I believe in hauntings perpetrated by non-corporeal spirits. I have been haunted by living beings, however, and I have been haunted by regret, and by the loss of what u...

Greetings from New York City (cue The Los Angeles Breakfast Club, whose members express, loudly, in unison their disdain for the Big Apple by shouting, “ New York City?!” in a manner equal parts confusion and gentle disgust). Although this trip would afford me a perfect opportunity to do another travel-themed essay, I already have one such work planned for next week (for paid subscribers). So, I t...

Coming to you two days later than we planned, jumbo-sized Episode 3 picks up on themes host Phil Leirness explored in his essay “ Getting Involved ”. Join Phil, his trusty announcer Marc Hershon, and his brilliant musical director Jon Lawlor, as they take you to the House of Pies, Figaro Bistrot, Barnsdall Art Park and the Hollywood Sikh Temple for conversations with four of the most active member...

The other night I conducted a brief interview with Brian Morrison of the Los Feliz Neighborhood Council Cultural Affairs Committee (and President of the Business Improvement District) for the upcoming episode of “The Voice of Los Feliz” podcast (dropping September 30th). Brian was rightly happy about the smashing success that was the Disney Bros. Cartoon Studio Square block party. So over Happy Ho...

( Artist Leigh McCloskey interviewed by Dean Haglund in “The Truth Is Out There”) Last week’s anniversary of 9/11 really snuck up on me. In fact, I only realized the historic significance of the date globally after I realized it was the birthday of my dear friend Richard Waterhouse and of Ruby Murnik, the daughter of my dear friend Peter Murnik. We are instructed (by bumper stickers that I suspect...

We ring out August with our most cinematic episode yet! Sure, it’s only our second episode of “The Voice of Los Feliz” podcast, but that doesn’t make our claim untrue. Join “podcast royalty” Phil Leirness, along with his trusty announcer Marc Hershon and his brilliant musical director Jon Lawlor, and let them take you on a journey to Alcove, to a rooftop high above Los Feliz Village, and to an off...

This week, I was in Montecito, soaking in some late summer rays poolside at the Montecito Club with my wife and with a dear friend and his son. We spent most of the day virtually alone, the only game in town for the bartender and the wait staff. Where was everyone? The weather was beautiful. And it is still summer , after all. When I was a kid, the school year never started until after Labor Day....

(Written on a chalkboard at Alcove) When I first found out that I needed glasses, I was forty-two years old and I responded to this sign of aging with what I thought was a nice show of humility and good humor. In a post on Facebook, featuring pictures of me in my new spectacles, I wrote, “At 32 years of age, ‘11 am’ meant it was time for ‘hair of the dog’. At 42, it means it’s time for an appointm...

A few days after my mother died in 2019, I reached out to my old high school debate partner, Sayuri Oyama. Via text message, I let her know what had happened, I inquired after the well-being of her own parents, and as it was Thanksgiving, I let her know how grateful I was for our friendship. Si replied via email. She was in our hometown of Cupertino, visiting her own parents, along with her eldest...

Welcome to the first of what will be monthly audio explorations into the history, happenings and colorful characters that comprise the story of Los Feliz. Longtime podcaster Phil Leirness, along with his trusty announcer Marc Hershon and his brilliant musical director Jon Lawlor, will take you on a journey to Travel Town, Friendship Auditorium, Fern Dell, and the Rite Aid parking lot in search of...

I first fell in love with Los Feliz when Lt. Columbo of the Los Angeles Police Department introduced it to me. I was a child, living in Cupertino, some 348 miles away from Los Feliz Village, and Columbo was a fictional character, being played by Peter Falk in a series of movies on NBC. Columbo is the only series I can remember that I was able to “share” with my mother, and watching it as a child,...