Announcing A Thrilling New Tour With Bomb Detective Mike Digby

Gentle reader...

Launching new tours is exciting, especially when they give us a chance to dig a little deeper into an already rich vein of Southern California history.

On September 22, we're thrilled to present a brand new bus adventure hosted by bomb detective Mike Digby: Curse of the She-Devil: A True Story of Revenge, Betrayal, Bombs and Real Estate in 1919 Los Angeles. If you were one of the lucky folks on Mike's sold-out Los Angeles Times Bombing Tour last fall, you know that this is a hot ticket.

Curse of the She-Devil grew out of a shared, but unconnected obsession. Recently, Mike took the Weird West Adams tour, where he heard our spin on the Krazy Kafitz Klan, a doomed family of real estate developers beguiled by a gold-digging vamp. Our fascination with the case is rooted in property development, sex and family dysfunction. But to Mike, who researched the case when working on his book, The Bombs, Bombers and Bombings of Los Angeles, it's the story of a terrifying bomb plot and political scandal that tested the investigatory mettle of local law enforcement.

The story proved too complex to fit in his anthology, which makes it just right for a bus tour. Mike is also putting the finishing touches on a book on the case, and every passenger on the September 22 tour will get a copy, hot off the presses.

To learn more, or to reserve your seat on Mike's Special Event tour, click here. And for a sneak peek at that Krazy Kafitz Klan, and so many other West Adams nuts, climb aboard this Saturday when the Weird West Adams tour rolls again. Join us, do!

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RECENTLY TOURED

As memorial services began at Showmen's Rest at Evergreen Cemetery, Richard was asked to place flags on the graves. Later, Kim gave an impromptu tribute to a founding member of the guild. Join us on 6/16 on the Eastside Babylon tour when we'll share a tale that the carnie folk shared with us, of a very strange burial.

LAVA'S FORENSIC SCIENCE SEMINAR - SUN. 9/23

Four times a year, we gather in the teaching crime labs of Cal State L.A. to explore the history and future of American forensic science. On September 23, join us for an inquiry into the Southside Slayer serial killer investigation. Your $36.50 ticket benefits graduate level Criminalistics research.

COMING SOON

WEIRD WEST ADAMS - SAT. 6/2... On this guided tour through the Beverly Hills of the early 20th Century, Crime Bus passengers thrill as Jazz Age bootleggers run amok, marvel at the Krazy Kafitz family's litany of criminal misbehavior, visit the shortest street in Los Angeles with its magnificent views of the mansions of Alvarado Terrace and stroll the haunted paths of Rosedale Cemetery. Featured players include the most famous dwarf in Hollywood, mass suicide ringleader Reverend Jim Jones, wacky millionaires who can't control their automobiles, human mole bank robbers, comically inept fumigators, kids trapped in tar pits, and other unusual and fascinating denizens of early Los Angeles. (Buy tickets here.)

EASTSIDE BABYLON - SAT. 6/16... Go East, young ghoul, to Boyle Heights, where the Night Stalker was captured and to Evergreen, L.A.'s oldest cemetery where we'll share newly unearthed tales of secret burials. To East L.A., where a deranged radio shop employee made mince meat of his boss and bride in the shadow of the world's biggest tamale. To Commerce, where one small neighborhood's myriad crimes will shock and surprise. To Montebello, scene of a horrifying case of child murder. That's Eastside Babylon, our most unhinged crime bus tour. (Buy tickets here.)

NEW! WILSHIRE BOULEVARD DEATH TRIP - SAT. 6/23... Wilshire Boulevard is an iconic Los Angeles thoroughfare—from its prehistoric origins as a path forged by extinct megafauna to the spectacular Art Deco monuments of the Miracle Mile. It’s also ground zero for some deeply strange, only-in-Los Angeles crimes and oddities that played out against the backdrop of the boulevard. The deceptively simple route contains a multitude of mysteries, from cruel plots, divine inspiration, historic preservation, love gone sour, lucky breaks and weird tales, Wilshire Boulevard Death Trip, a dark day’s out among the city’s most glittering architectural gems. (Buy tickets here.)

PASADENA CONFIDENTIAL - SAT. 6/30... The Crown City masquerades as a calm and refined retreat, where well-bred ladies glide around their perfect bungalows and everyone knows what fork to use first. But don't be fooled by appearances. Dip into the confidential files of old Pasadena and meet assassins and oddballs, kidnappers and slashers, black magicians and all manner of maniac in a delightful little tour you won't find recommended by the better class of people. (Buy tickets here.)

THE REAL BLACK DAHLIA - SAT. 7/14... Join us on this iconic, unsolved Los Angeles murder mystery tour, from the throbbing boulevards of a postwar Downtown to the quiet suburban avenue where horror came calling. After multiple revisions, this is less a true crime tour than a social history of 1940s Hollywood female culture, mass media and madness, and we welcome you to join us for the ride. This tour usually sells out, so don't wait to reserve. (Buy tickets here.)

Additional upcoming tours: Charles Bukowski's L.A. (7/21), Raymond Chandler's L.A. (7/28), Mansonland (8/4, sold out with waiting list), Lowdown On Downtown (8/18), Boyle Heights & Monterey Park (8/25), Curse of the She-Devil (9/22)

OUR HISTORIC L.A. PODCAST

In Episode #127, Fighting For the Soul of Los Angeles: historic preservation battles in hyper-gentrifying Hollywood and one man asks "why are these private security guards shaking down street vendors and homeless people?" Click here to tune in. New: find stories on the map!

AND FINALLY, LINKS

A preservation report on a beautiful survivor in Boyle Heights. We played a part in saving the Peabody-Werden House, and we're not going to let her down now.

A new episode of our You Can't Eat the Sunshine podcast stars two dedicated citizens, Fighting for the Soul of Los Angeles.

Shame on the Los Angeles School Board for voting to demolish the historic "R Building" at Roosevelt High, at a time when community pride and cultural history is more important than ever.

Work finally begins on El Mirador, that magnificent and neglected West Hollywood ghost building.

If you love the Art Deco Los Angeles Times building, tune in as one of her biggest fans chronicles the last days in the grand old dame.

Historic preservation and (cheap, desperately needed) housing in one move? Here's a bold new proposal for Parker Center, and a ballot measure to give the public a voice.

The developer who plans to demolish the exquisite streamline moderne Dr. Jones Dog and Cat Hospital was just arrested on Federal bribery and public corruption charges. Who else was paid off and how many landmarks lost?

The wannabe developer who tore down two historic buildings on Russellville, KY's National Register town square got sick and isn't actually building her promised boutique hotels on the site. We blogged our eclipse visit before the demolitions.

Word is out on the recent sale of the Barclay Hotel, L.A.’s oldest continuously operated hotel. Its future is a question mark, but you can explore its tunnels, 19th century remnants that abide—for now.

In the grand tradition of California Crazy pop art signage, our friend Uli launches her mid-city Gelateria with the installation of a giant faux rooftop cone by Wild Life.

Gibson's bankruptcy leaves Tower Records on the Sunset Strip at risk. It would be nice if this corner, that has so many layers of cultural history, could stay cool.

The City of L.A. is a lousy steward of its historic resources. Ports O' Call, and the namesake restaurant, would be a goldmine in the right hands. RIP Tiki Legend.

Here's to the great Studs Terkel, who would have been 106 this month. Endlessly fascinated by people, and he talked to a lot of them, famous and ordinary (if anyone is ordinary). His audio archive is open, free for the exploring. Spend some time in good company at http://www.studsterkel.org

yrs,
Kim and Richard
Esotouric