Hall Kaplan himself was one of the first critics to pay attention to the urban landscape of Los Angeles in 1978. He explored off-the-beaten-path neighborhoods and showcased the quirky corners and classic and emerging architecture that developed in the ’80s and ’80s. The ’90s inspired readers to take the city more seriously and move beyond some of the criticism of earlier generations. In his memories An urban odyssey: a critic’s search for the soul of cities and himselfcoming out this month from Cherry Orchard Books, Kaplan reflects on his nearly half-century of writing about Southern California.
Excerpt: “Like many people, I formed my first image of Los Angeles in the cinema. Movies from my youth like Big sleep, Double securityAND The postman always rings twice presented the city as a place full of seedy bars, elegant nightclubs, strange mansions and seedy hotels where tough, honest, hard-working detectives confront criminals and fraudsters on behalf of conflicted, not-so-innocent women. There always seemed to be mysterious and morbid figures hiding in the shadows. For an area blessed with sun, there was a lot of shadow. And a tragedy.”
Kaplan grew up in Brooklyn and worked as a copier at an online store New York Times in the 1950s before he went to work for Rupert Murdoch New York Post Office. After a brief stint in the Carter administration, he moved to West to play for The Los Angeles Times. Kaplan also participated in Los Angeles warehouse.
Kaplan’s new memoirs
From the book: “What the hell!” – I exclaimed and the next weekend I flew to Los Angeles. I really liked what I saw and moved there a month later. I thought this assignment was actually a general scholarship to travel and study to Southern California and I would probably return to New York in a year or two. That was almost fifty years ago.
Encouraged to look at the city differently by the waitresses, hitchhikers and motel managers he met along the way, Kaplan over the years offered his assessments of everything from El Mercado in Boyle Heights to Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall. The New York critic’s interest in the history and development of Los Angeles forced residents to look at it all with fresh eyes. “The potential for a good life,” he says of his adopted hometown. “Unlimited.”
Leave a Reply