By CHARLES ANDREWS I DON’T THINK MARK TWAIN Done it this way. Strictly following his outlines? No. But not stream of consciousness Kerouac either. Every writer employs a different, personal method, and it also depends […]

In Italo Calvino’s “Invisible Cities,” an explorer describes places shaped entirely by memory—cities that exist as much in recollection as reality. Santa Monica is becoming Calvino’s inverse: a visible city that cannot remember itself, when […]

By CHARLES ANDREWS R.I.P. ROB REINER, JUBILANT SYKES What a loss to the art of storytelling, besides the human loss. No one, except the President of the United States, had anything less than great admiration […]

Every Tuesday, our city council convenes in chambers that embody civic memory—mid-century architecture from when cities believed in public purpose. There, dedicated public servants wrestle with impossible choices between state mandates and community character. Citizens […]

Last Friday (December 5), we lost one of our own: Frank Gehr,y who passed away at age 96, is probably the most recognized American architect. His storied local, national, and international career started and blossomed […]

By CHARLES ANDREWS R.I.P. JIMMY CLIFF I landed in L.A. from New Mexico, 11-year-old son Chris in tow, August 1980, a rocknroll-blues-country-classical-jazz full blown reggae fan (short for “fanatic”), eager to launch my career as […]

Twenty years ago, at dismissal time, school intersections bustled with parents and children, the afternoon ritual of family life. Last June of this year, during the many new mixed-use projects along Lincoln Blvd., I’d expect […]

By CHARLES ANDREWS “GIVING TUESDAY”? Just another day invented to separate us from our money? Probably. But if you were involved with a group trying to improve the world, wouldn’t you jump all over it? […]

By Mayor Pro Tempore Caroline Torosis I entered public service because I love Santa Monica. I believe in its people, its neighborhoods, and its future. That belief has guided every decision I have made as […]

By CHARLES ANDREWS HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Of course, that means different things to different people. My family has gathered every year for 75 years at my cousin’s home in Tempe, AZ. Two of the cousins were […]