RICHARD HEWETT'S HOLLYWOOD: Program Feb 18 at LAPL, Los Angeles, CA

Richard Hewett (1929-2006) was a Los Angeles based photographer who illustrated nearly fifty of my books for children. He also took photos for books by his wife Joan Hewett and other children's book authors. But before he turned to children's book illustration, he worked for magazines and newspapers including Life, Look, TV Guide and the Los Angeles Times. Richard Hewett's work is archived in the Los Angeles Public Library. On Wednesday, February 18th at 12:15 pm, Wendy Horowitz, Photo Collection Librarian will present a few of his 1960s photo essays. The presentation will be in Meeting Room A (near the 6th Street entrance) of the Central Library in downtown Los Angeles. The event is free. It will be an opportunity to get a glimpse of LA culture and history of that era as seen through Richard Hewett's unique eye.

REMEMBER THE CARD CATALOG: Celebrating LAPL’s 100th Anniversary

Souvenir catalog card with anniversary stamp of the Central Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library

Do you remember thumbing through the library card catalog, looking for a book to read or to use for a school report? Each drawer of the wooden cabinet was filled with index cards, arranged in alphabetical order and subdivided into sections by topic. Each card had the name of the author, title, publisher, and most importantly for nonfiction books, the Dewey Decimal number indicating where it would be shelved. The cards of popular topics were always well thumbed.

In the early days of my writing career there were no computers and no internet. (My first book was published in 1980.) The card catalog was essential for finding information.  Searching it was always the first step in doing research for one of my books.

Card catalogs have long since been abandoned. Now you just have to sit down in front of a computer screen and type in the topic you are searching for, and Bingo! there is a list of relevant library resources. So, what have libraries done with all those carefully typed cards? The Los Angeles Public Library put them in storage. Some have been used by an artist to decorate an elevator at the Central Library and to create a large sculpture. Now the library needs to get rid of the rest.

So, in celebration of the 100^th anniversary of the Central Library building in downtown Los Angeles, the library will be giving the cards away. Each card is a little bit of history. Last week I helped assemble packets of cards that will be distributed to the branch libraries to give out to patrons. People will be able to have them stamped with a special anniversary stamp (a different stamp for each branch) and use the cards as bookmarks, art projects, or whatever they want. And for those people who are old enough to remember the days when they depended on the card catalog to help them find what they needed in the library, the souvenir cards will bring back memories of days gone by.

Flower Street entrance to the Los Angeles Public Library

Note: Although the history of the Los Angeles Public Library goes back to the 1870s, the Central Branch was not built until 1926. The dedication ceremony was held on July 15th, 1926.

HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY! Illustration from my book A DAY AND NIGHT IN THE FOREST

It is February 2nd, the day that groundhogs (also known as woodchucks) are reputed to come out of their holes to check the weather. Here's a groundhog (pictured on a spring day) from my book A DAY AND NIGHT IN THE FOREST wishing you a HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY, where ever you are!

According to Wikipedia: Groundhog Day derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog (Marmota monax, also called "woodchuck"; Deitsch: Grundsau, Grunddax, Dax) emerging from its burrow on this day sees a shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat to its den and winter will persist for six more weeks, and if it does not see its shadow because of cloudiness, spring will arrive early. While the tradition remains popular in modern times, studies have found no consistent correlation between a groundhog seeing its shadow or not and the subsequent arrival time of spring-like weather.

Look for A DAY AND NIGHT IN THE FOREST in your library, or buy it on KINDLE.