Maurice Sendak Dies: Which of His Books Is Most Popular at Eagle Rock Library?

An earlier title than Sendak's most famous book, Where the Wild Things Are, has a higher circulation.

Maurice Sendak, the renowned illustrator and writer of children’s books, died Tuesday at the age of 83 in Danbury, CT, prompting The New York Times to eulogize how he “wrenched the picture book out of the safe, sanitized world of the nursery and plunged it into the dark, terrifying and hauntingly beautiful recesses of the human psyche.” Regarded as “the most important children’s book artist of the 20th century,” as the Times put it, Sendak was the creator of numerous works, no less than 26 of which are at the Eagle Rock branch of the Los Angeles Public Library, according to Vivian Khan, the children’s librarian there. You’d think Where the Wild Things Are, Sendak’s groundbreaking 1963 work, would be the most-borrowed of all the titles at …

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Maggie Freed

7:49 am on Wednesday, May 9, 2012

I'll have to look for Pierre, but my all-time favorite Sendak book is Outside Over There.   more ›

Ice Cream Dynasty Co-founder Bill Fosselman Dies

Volunteer services at Holy Family Church 7:30 p.m. Thursday and 10 a.m. Friday.

Bill Fosselman, co-founder of Fosselman's Ice Cream and Holy Family Giving Bank, died April 18. He was 92. "He was a very sweet man. A wonderful father. A wonderful grandfather, and a wonderful great grandfather," his wife Mary told Patch. "None of us could have asked for anything more." Bill and his dad, Christian, opened Fosselman's Ice Cream in 1937 in South Pasadena. The store quickly became a neighborhood hangout where "the whole town met," explained his wife, of the former storefront at 1515 Mission. "City Hall always had the back booth reserved from 9 to 10 in morning to settle city business," she said.  Fosselman's youngest child, Mary Jo King, says she and all of her siblings each worked there at some point or another. It was the …

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My Meeting with 'America's Oldest Teenager'

It wouldn't have been a Sock Hop without Dick Clark.

It was the early 1980s. It might have been the gym at the Buckley School in Sherman Oaks or some other sort of dark all-purpose school room with a stage, curtain and lights. But it was shadowy and seemingly vast and the mood was electric with expectation as Dick Clark swept in. There he was, "America's Oldest Teenager," looking the part, with beautiful wife Kari on his arm. Hair in a Pompadour, teeth like Chiclets—yes a cliché, but apropos. Already decades an entertainment mogul, worth millions, but this evening he was standing off to the side, buzzing with old showbiz friends, new friends, admirers, gawkers. They danced in and out, buffing his ego, extending a hand, expressing thanks. For without him, this evening would never have …

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Culture & Music

When 'The Rock' Came to Eagle Rock

A Narita meltdown and a grave in Ohio inspire thoughts on the New Year.

Did you breathe a sigh of relief as the clock ticked past midnight on December 31 and the New Year began? Isn’t there something beautiful about a fresh, unsullied calendar not yet marked and stained? I didn’t really understand the concept of true power until I single-handedly delayed the departure of a jumbo jet loaded with passengers on a Tokyo to Los Angeles flight. It wasn’t intentional. Either a particularly virulent flu bug or a food poisoning microbe had caused me much distress on Jan. 2, 2011, my last day in Japan. “Are you OK?” asked my traveling companion as I strapped myself into the seat for the long flight back to Los Angeles. The next thing I knew, I was staring up into the faces of alarmed flight attendants attempting to …

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Dan Kimpel

9:21 am on Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Excellent that you get the reference - note that her name is spelled exactly the same as my fave songstress. I interviewed Shelby Lynne (the singer, not the dog) last year, but didn't mention my canine homage to her artistry. Thanks for communicating - Dan   more ›

An Eagle Rocker Bemoans the Untimely Death of a Friend

Author and playwright Christopher Meeks remembers his first roommate in college, who died suddenly of a heart attack at 57.

Scott Wilson, Founder of North East Trees, Dies

Eagle Rock’s foremost green visionary collapses while cutting flowers from a tree in his garden.

Scott Wilson, a longtime Eagle Rock resident, retired Eagle Rock High School teacher and landscape architect who was instrumental in the greening of large parts of the neighborhood, died Monday morning from a weekend fall sustained while cutting flowers from a tree in the garden of his Olson Street home. He was 89. Shortly after the incident Saturday, paramedics rushed Wilson to Glendale Adventist Hospital, where he never regained consciousness, said his daughter Christine Richards. He passed away peacefully at the hospital, with his family present by his side, she added. In 1989 Wilson founded North East Trees, a nonprofit environmental group devoted to planting at least five trees a day for the rest of his life—more than 50,000 so far—as…

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Former St. Dominic’s Parishioner and ER Mom Margaret Coffey Dies

The Maine native who raised her family in Eagle Rock reportedly passed away in her 83rd year.

Margaret R. Coffey, a one-time parishioner at St. Dominic’s Church, died in her native state of Maine on October 22, according to the Knox County Village Soup community network. Coffey’s sons, Jonathan and Christopher, were born in Eagle Rock and she raised her family here, reports the community site. To read the full obituary as well as to see a photo of Coffey, click this link.

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Pollster André Pineda Dead at 46

Funeral service Saturday for pollster scheduled to talk Oct. 4 in Eagle Rock about public policy in an environment rife with Tea Party attitudes.

Funeral Service on Friday for Steven Tritch, 41

The 10th of 11 children of Jack Tritch, of Tritch Hardware, died Sunday at UCLA Medical Center.

Steven Tritch, son of Jack Tritch of Tritch Hardware—one of Eagle Rock’s longest-running businesses—died this past Sunday, and a funeral service for him will be held on Friday, Sept. 30, at St. Dominic’s Church at 11 a.m. Steven, 41, died at UCLA Medical Center of heart-related causes, according to his elder brother Tim, who was also his primary caregiver during the final days of his life. Lover of the Outdoors Steve—as Steven Tritch was called—was an avid sportsman and outdoorsman. “He was an excellent bowler and excellent basketball player,” said Tim. “He loved trout fishing in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and in Bass Lake, CA, which has been our family vacation place for decades.” The 10th of 11 siblings, Steve grew up in Eagle Rock and …

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Memorial for Attorney, an Eagle Rock Native

A memorial service for attorney Wayne Rozenberg, who was 46, is set for 3 p.m. Thursday at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills.

A memorial service for Wayne Rozenberg—an attorney who grew up in Eagle Rock and who died Sept. 22 in a motocross crash—is scheduled at 3 p.m. Thursday at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills in the Church of the Hills Chapel. "That [was] his part of town, where he grew up," said Rozenberg’s sister, Cherie Ledesma. Rozenberg was 46 and one of six siblings who grew up together in Eagle Rock, according to his sister. He suffered fatal injuries when he lost control of a dirt bike he was riding while landing from a jump at a motocross track in Perris, near Riverside. "We were all close," Ledesma said. "Every other week we had family game night. Next weekend was supposed to be game night, and instead we are burying our brother." Rozenberg had lived in …

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