Well, it’s been quite a couple of days, so far.  On that first night, I was getting a lot of calls, emails and texts from relatives back in Chicago, watching news of the Los Angeles fires, and asking if I was all right and how close it was and if I was going to evacuate.
 
I much appreciated their concern – and completely understood:  the continual video on the news was horrific, and the fire came closer to me than any in all my time in Los Angeles.  Maybe 5-6 miles.  But although it was close, I wasn’t in any danger, which I would explain.  (The toughest question asked was “Do you have somewhere to evacuate to??!” – because I didn't want to frighten them further since most of my friends are on the Westside, and even closer to the fire zone than me.  I was offering my guest room to them.)
 
I did have my electricity go out for 15 hours, but compared to what else was going on in fire areas almost doesn’t qualify as much more than a temporary inconvenience.
 
But of course, what stood out most for me was not just what was sure to be massive devastation, but on a personal note were all of the people I knew in very real danger in the Palisades, or at nearby risk.  I was able to get in touch with one friend whose home was directly in the heart of Pacific Palisades, and his family was able to get out in the afternoon, thankfully.  Another friend lives in northwest Santa Monica (that borders the Palisades) right next to the evacuation zone.  He decided to evacuate and stayed in my guest room.  He safely went back home yesterday.  A third friend was packed and ready to leave as soon as he and his wife got an evacuation notice.  Happily, none came, though they did decide to evacuate to their son's home.  But so very sadly, my friend in Pacific Palisades lost his house.  I can't even imagine the feelings.  Fortunately, he has good coverage and a temporary place to live – but it’s not just the loss of a home and everything in it, but the major disruption to one’s life to have to regroup and start over.
 
Now, multiply that by thousands, and the devastation of all the fire zones – mainly for the Pacific Palisades and Pasadena/Altadena.  With one person, when such a loss happens, agonizing as it is you may have the option of rebuilding and eventually returning to the life and community you had before.  But in the Palisades and wide areas of Pasadena and elsewhere, there's no life to return to, no community, it's gone.  At some point, those villages and communities happily will be built up again. And may even (or likely) flourish with a new vibrance. Growth is the way of the world, a new start.  But it will be starting from scratch.
 
What also was so awful was another loss.  But first, some background.

In my earlier days after graduate school and before I seriously got involved in the film industry, I worked for 3-4 years for the California State Park Service at Will Rogers State Historic Park.  It was a great place – Will Rogers’ home, polo field, equestrian arena and barns, and grounds so wide that they were used as a three-hole golf course (which he put in when an actor friend, Lewis J. Stone, had badly injured his legs in an accident and recuperated there, for which Will Rogers converted the grounds to the golf course as an incentive for Stone to get walking in every day) and extensive forest land.  It was a wonderful job – I learned to twirl a rope and jump in it while spinning (really, honest!) and even considered applying for taking the California Park Ranger test.  Until my father basically said, “You didn’t go to film school and get a Masters degree in screenwriting to become a park ranger.”  He was right.  I loved the park service, but am glad I stuck with my goal.
 
The Rogers ranch house, up a winding road north of Sunset Blvd. in the Palisades, was tremendous.  It was two connected wings, full of historic mementos from his travels and life, cowboy artwork from his renowned friends (notably Charles Russell, who Rogers thought was far more authentic – being a former cowboy, like himself -- to the more famous Frederic Remington), a great library filled with books inscribed to him by his famous friends, letter and more.  I would periodically find hidden material as I wandered through the place, things that were never seen by the public and that probably even the staff didn’t know were there.  I surreptitiously made copies of some of it, and still have it – a book inscribed by Harry Houdini, a book with a magnificent thank you note carefully hand-printed by Helen Keller, a framed letter of thanks stuck in a drawer written by Theodore Roosevelt.  Things like that.
 
(By the way, if you ever see The Will Rogers Story on TCM, it’s not a bad telling of his life.  His son, Will Jr., played his father, with Jane Wyman – Ronald Reagan’s first wife – as Betty Rogers.  And they did a great job creating the house, though they moved some of the furniture around as better for the movie.)
 
And so it was with a rush of deep memories and heartache that learned it too was lost in the fire yesterday.  That was a fear of mine as I followed the news.  And it was awful to have it confirmed. I don’t know how much was destroyed, but it seems that all the buildings were.  I saw a photo of one small structure almost all ashes and a partial shell, and it awful.  If there’s a happy note, it’s this sentence – “State Parks was able to evacuate the horses and some of the cultural and historical artifacts, including artwork, at Will Rogers SHP ahead of the fire.”

I have no idea what the insurance is like on the estate.  While I suppose it's possible that the Park Service will rebuild a re-creation of at least the home and perhaps some of the horse facilities, it's not something I expect.  We'll see.

About 40 years ago, there was a big Palisades fire when I was working at the park -- I was off that day, but drove in to help.  I did what little I was allowed to, like watering the roofs of the home, and took a few photos of the fire.  And happily, the ranch house and buildings were saved, though the grounds and surrounding forest had been overwhelmed.  I went back the next day and took photos of the devastation, following a path I'd taken a year before, that I'd photographed. And then followed the same path six months later to photograph the regrowth.
 
I recall one of my fellow park aides – a girl named Lisa – got upset at me for taking the pictures after the fire, but later one of the Rangers said he was glad I did because it was important to have a record of such things.
 
I can’t touch on the devastation of the current fire that was so much more massive and destructive.  And the great loss to my friends and others.  And so I don’t want to even try – it would be too small and give the wrong impression.  Instead though, with the loss of Will Rogers State Historic Park, I thought I'd end this all by honoring it with some of those photos that I took.  Some before the fire, and those during, the day after and six months later.
 
None of these touch on what’s going on now.  These 28 pictures serve only as my way of honoring this one historic loss, and commemorating all the others.

It starts with photos I took of the ranch house, grounds and forest land of his property around a year before the fire about 40 years ago.

Then, there was that day when I got a call about the fire in the Palisades and foothills, asking if I could come in to the park to help. 

As I got in the car, I saw this looming to the west, where I was headed.  Adding to the impact of it all is that I lived across the street of the Veterans Cemetery in West Los Angeles, and you can see the headstones at the bottom.

The next day, I went back to the park and took photos of the burned-out grounds, and followed the hiking trip I'd taken previously to show the same parkland.  I would imagine that this is much like it so sadly looks today -- but with the ranch house and all the other building and barns gone.

Then, about six months later, I took the same hike yet again to document the regrowth, showing how remarkable nature can be so soon.  Along with the mudslides and work left to do.

Happily, nature can grow back.  So sadly, the same can't be said for man-made structures.  Here is the ranch house yesterday.  That is the fireplace in the living room from the third photo above.

Happily, as noted above, the Park Service saved some of the cultural and historical materials, and artwork.  Their prescience and efforts are honored for protecting at least some of a legacy.

​We take this moment for a point of personal privilege.  (I was going to say that it was “political”, as well, but that would have been far too much alliteration on a Sunday morning.)
 
As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m friends with a good fellow named Nick Melvoin who sits on Los Angeles School Board, and was the only school board member re-elected in 2022 with over 50% of the vote in the primary so that he didn’t have to be in a run-off.  I bring this up again today for s specific reason.  But first it's important to note that Nick has had an impressive career, even for such a young one --
 
He’s a graduate of Harvard and got his MBA in Urban Education from Loyola Marymount, from which he went to teach at an inner-city middle school in Watts, coaching the soccer and baseball teams, and helping start the school newspaper.  He also has a law degree from NYU -- and worked in the Obama White House with the Domestic Policy Council...as well as the US Attorney’s office as a legal clerk, getting involved in civil rights investigations.  Oh, and he runs Camp Harmony, a camp for kids who are experiencing poverty, which he started working at as a counselor 21 years ago.

So, while I can be accused of bias for supporting the son of friends, I think it’s fair to say that my bias is highly justified.
 
I’ve brought up previously that Nick is running to replace Adam Schiff in California’s 30th district.  It’s a challenging race with many candidates, including several with reasonably-known elective credentials.
 
But that’s why I was exceedingly pleased to see that the Los Angeles Daily News just endorsed Nick in the race.

​Among the lengthy things the paper wrote, they explained, "If voters want sensible, scandal-free and balanced representation, Nick Melvoin is an excellent choice. He has our endorsement."

And all the better, he also just picked up an endorsement from Henry Waxman, a popular, long-time Congressman in Los Angeles who represented various districts in the city ("various" because of redistricting) for 40 years.

And previously, Nick was endorsed by Rep. Colin Allred, the congressman from Texas who is challenging Ted Cruz for the Senate.

It remains a difficult race because replacing Adam Schiff is so high-profile, making the district an important one.  But getting such endorsements for such a young candidate is seriously impressive.  But then, that's because Nick is, as well.

I close in full disclosure that I will be heading over soon to watch the Super Bowl with his parents.  I do this in part because of the football, in part because of the company, and in important part because they serve Chicago deep-dish pizza.  I have my priorities.

So, in the midst of the tropical storm, Los Angeles got a 5.1 earthquake on Sunday afternoon.

In case you were concerned, no, there were no reports of frogs, locusts and boils, and first-born children are all okay.
 

At the moment, things are actually beautiful here in Los Angeles, where I've made the decision to tough it out. No hurricane will keep me from standing strong with all the people here!! As proof, this is a photo I took from my balcony. As you can see, it's sunny and calm. We're all in this together!
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After coming across this story earlier this week, which was largely a Los Angeles matter, I wasn’t planning to write an article about it, but just post something perhaps on social media.  However, I came across a quote that added another perspective.
 
The background is that a couple of Los Angeles lawyers, John Barber and Jeffrey Ranen, had recently left their high-end law firm, Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith (which has 1,600 attorneys and 55 offices across the U.S.), and took almost 140 lawyers with them to start their own firm last month with the two men being the name managing partners – Barber Ranen.
 
They claimed at the time that this was the largest law firm start-up in U.S. history, and proudly asserted didn’t leave behind “any baggage’ when departing the company they’d been at for two decades.  Their reason for leaving, they noted, was to “build something that’s reflective of our values and our beliefs.” 
 
But now, after only one month into operation, Barber and Ranen are out of their own law firm, which will be shutting down and reorganizing as a different entity.  All because of a barrage of virulently anti-Semitic, misogynistic, racist and homophobic emails between the two that have thus far been discovered at their old Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith firm.  The story isn’t over yet, though, since the old firm is now conducting a full investigation.
 
The few emails that have been released are pretty awful, although because – as I said – it was mainly a Los Angeles story, I didn’t know if it was something to write about.  Besides which, the two men had already left their firm, and it was being shut down, with the remaining attorneys creating a new structure.
 
But each news report I read only had a few details, and so I kept checking out other articles, trying to get more details,  And in the third one, I read across the quote that convinced me to write about it all.
 
The quote came in what John Barber wrote as a (for lack of a better term) joint apology statement, though was really more of a self-serving explanation.  The men said that they resigned in order "to allow our friends and colleagues to continue on without the cloud of our conduct hanging over them."
 
That was admittedly oh-so-thoughtful of the men, most-especially given how the concept of being thoughtful to others does not seem to have been a high priority for them in their lives.  He added that for the two partners, "The last 72 hours have been the most difficult of our lives, as we have had to acknowledge and reckon with those emails.

I can only imagine how difficult those 72 hours have been, never having had to deal with personally writing on ongoing stream of anti-Semitic, misogynistic, racist and homophobic emails, and then having them released publicly -- and to make matters worse, they "had" to acknowledge that the emails were real and reckon with that.
 
None of which was the quote that galled me, and made me decide to write this.  It was the next sentence, one that explained about the emails:
 
"They are not, in any way, reflections of the contents of our hearts, or our true values."
 
In fact, no, they are in every conceivable way reflections of the contents of their hearts, and of their true values. 
 
I know that in many attempts at “apologizing,” people say that a quip or off-handed comment they made do not reflect their values.  And sometimes, on occasion, that’s true.  But when true, that’s for something that was indeed a truly misguided slip, followed by a detailed, understanding apology.  However, this was not that.  I don’t think this even qualifies for consideration as an apology for the Apology Institute of America that Nell Minow and I created in our whimsy a few years back.  Because the story here is not about the lack of actual apology, but rather what was said at length over a long period of time.  And which was then followed by trying to flim-flam others that it wasn’t a reflection of the contents of their hearts, and of their true values.
 
I really didn’t want to repeat what Barber and Ranen continually wrote to one another, but to make clear the point here, it’s necessary.  Which, in turns, addresses a larger issue.
 
So, as just a small smattering of examples of some of their exchanges, the two mean wrote to one another over the course of at least a decade such things as –
 
                                                       *
 
In a June, 2012, when discussing a new hire at the company, Ranen referred to Barber as a “Jew” for owing him money.
 
That same month, Ranen complained about an employee working overtime who they’d have to pay more to, to which Barber responded, "Kill her," including a description of a violent sex act.
 
Also that year, after getting an invoice that had been submitted to the firm, Ramen told one of the then-partners at Lewis Brisbois, “This is the reason why people don’t like Jews.”
 
In a March 2014 email Ranen wrote to Barber, "This Jew is cracking me up," adding that when he has work questions, “I almost ONLY write to him on Saturday mornings,” the Jewish Sabbath. To which Barber responded, “Jew hater.” who quipped back, "Jew hater."
 
For a July 2014 email, Barber called Ranen a “Jew cunt” after Ranen had mentioned buying some bagels and cream cheese from Sam’s Bagels and bringing them to the office. 
 
When writing to a colleague in May, 2016, Ranen said he thought he’d be able able to get a lower price for a hotel room or office space. “I might be able to Jew them down,” he said.  (Ranen also complained about not being able to make fun of Jews. “Since when can we not make Jew jokes?”)
 
All the way back to March, 2008, Barber and Ranen had an email exchange that not only ridiculed a lawyer at the Mintz law firm who had served in the Israeli Defense Forces, but did so using a slur for gay men. 
 
In a March 2022 email provided by Lewis Brisbois, Barber — who led the firm's employment practice — said one Los Angeles County Superior Court judge likes being called "sugar tits."
 
And throughout the range of emails, Ranen and Barber used racial, sexist and homophobic slurs.
 
But I’ve saved the most telling for last.  That was when, in a Sept. 13, 2012 email, after Barber had brought up a person to bring into the company, Ranen sent back an addendum:  “I forgot to write that we will not hire Jews.”

                                                          * 
 
These are just a handful of the emails about which John Barber and Jeffrey Ranen say, "They are not, in any way, reflections of the contents of our hearts, or our true values."
 
There is no way that, over the course of at least 15 years, and probably 20, these emails can be anything but reflections of the contents of their hearts and their true values.  Not just mere reflections, either, but full-blown 3-D reproductions.
 
And these are just a few of the emails that the old Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith law firm released, as the result of an audit they made from a formal complaint.  As I noted, they are now doing a full investigation.
 
Given that when starting their new firm last month, Barber and Ranen said they didn’t leave “any baggage” behind and that they wanted “build something that’s reflective of our values and our beliefs.” Now seeing those values and beliefs in black-and-white, one can understand why they wanted to go, although it adds creepy new meaning to it all.

One other oddity in all this is how the two were able to keep this from the Powers That Be at Lewis Brisbois for so long -- 15 to 20 years.  But I guess if it almost exclusively transpired in their private emails between themselves and like minds, things can be hidden for years.  Perhaps it spilled over in a rare public comment or business email that got rebuked without knowing the extent.  Sort of like the captain of Titanic seeing a little bit of ice on the surface and saying, "Oh, we can avoid that..."  Or maybe some people knew, but felt it was containable, until it wasn't.  After all, the firm was massive -- 1,600 lawyers alone and 55 offices around the country -- and a lot of things are able to hide in the cracks.
 
By the way, an additionally odd thing related to this story which broke on Monday is that although I found articles on it in publications around the country – from Reuters, Bloomberg Law, the Daily Beast, RawStory, Forward, New York Post, ABA Journal and more – I can’t yet find any story about it in the Los Angeles Times, as I write in on Tuesday.

(UPDATE: The L.A. Times finally did write about it on Wednesday, two days after it became national news.
 
"They are not, in any way, reflections of the contents of our hearts, or our true values."
 
That’s the line. That’s what leaps out above all this hate and stands for so much racism, attacks on LGBTQ, smears on women and anti-Semitism.  That to this extreme right segment of the country -- far beyond just John Barber and Jeffrey Rosen -- it’s normal.  This isn't who we really are.  We may say these horrible things about these people, but it’s not who we believe.  (Yes, in fairness, many do believe it and say so, though they nonetheless insist they’re not racist or anti-Semitic or homophobic or misogynist.)  It doesn’t really reflect us.  We have good hearts.  It’s just a joke.  We didn’t really mean it.  It’s your fault because you’re “woke.” 
 
And so, it enables such people to turn a blind eye and ban books.  And ban abortion.  And eliminate teaching black history.  And refuse healthcare for transgender children.  And more and more and more.
 
Because it’s not in any way, reflections of the contents of what they want to believe is in their hearts, and their true values.
 
Except their hearts are overflowing with it.  And their values border on non-existent.

This will be of interest to members of the Writers Guild in Los Angeles.  Sorry to all others.

Gino’s East is one of the more popular deep dish restaurants in Chicago.  A few years ago, they opened a branch in Sherman Oaks, which is owned and operated by longtIme WGAW member Tod Himmel and SAG/AFTRA member Dan Michaels.

They sent an email today with a bunch of new specials, but then wrote (and the bold-face is all theirs) --

"We would not have been able to open our business if not for the wages, benefits, residuals and pensions we earned thanks to our guilds’ collective bargaining.

"We support our WGAW comrades in the fight for a living wage. Bring in your WGA/SAG card and receive 25% off any pizza during the work stoppage."

Well, good on them.

They're located at 12924 Riverside Drive,, Sherman Oaks.  (818) 788-5050.
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This is a link to their website.  Their Facebook page here has more information about the restaurant.
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