Excerpt from the Book’s Introduction:

“Publishing an obituary in the Los Angeles Times seems to transform the lives of ordinary people into something extraordinary and poignant. Through the narrow column of an obituary, we glimpse the everyday lives of Californians spanning the past century or so and the faces look out from the pages of the newspaper as if time had stood still - smiling, earnest, glamorous, fun, mysterious. Perhaps each individual would have merited a published memoir if fame had chanced to knock on their door? With big dreams and in times of optimism and promise, whether being lured to the edge of the continent by popular culture, or even counterculture, their aspirations lay in building a good life filled with new opportunities. Was simply embracing life in the sunshine as an Angeleno in itself enough to fulfil the dream? The gable wall murals of LA reflect the artifice of those dreams back to us. Its streetscapes, like the treasured portrait photographs and nostalgic biographies, blend together constructions of both the reality and myth of life in the Golden State.”