Voice of Los Angeles

Today, LAObserved points out that Al Martinez, longtime LA Times columnist is donating his papers to the Huntington Library. His collection will join that of the late, legendary columnist Jack Smith, whose papers are also there (along with the Times' corporate archive), according to the Huntington's release.

What this brings up is the preservation of the Voice of Los Angeles. It can be said that Jack Smith captured the essence of the City in his columns. Al Martinez picked up where he left off (to a slightly lesser degree) with telling stories that I've read in his collections like Ashes in the Rain. But where are we now?

I would argue to say that Steve Lopez does not quite capture the Voice of Los Angeles. He writes columns that are thought provoking, but they do not encapsulate the essence of the City on June 21, 2006. Looking back ,you can read Jack Smith's Columns of the 1970s and know Los Angeles of that era. In collections of writings on the City, Smith's works are often included to give the modern perspective to that of the historic text of Fr. Crespi's diary. So, who does that today?

Who is telling the City's story today?

Who is our commentator that is objective but honest? Who is the Jack Smith of the 21st Century? Sure, we have blogs like this one, but do they actually tell the story of the City or merely synthesize it. LA Observed does break news for the world on the media comings and goings, but Kevin Roderick isn't capturing the City. Mayor Sam tells of politics, but it doesn't illuminate our City. And our friends at LAist and Blogging.la and LaVoice.org - they all have a niche as well. But who tells the story of the City?

Who can tell of Sweet Alice Harris in Watts and Professor Gomez-Quinones at UCLA? What about the Honorary Mayor of Griffith Park, Louis Alvarado and proponents of Equestrian lifestyle in Los Angeles? Sure, Dennis McCarthy will share the inspiring story of a person or group and Steve Lopez points us to the social responsibility of the City - but who captures the essence of the City for us?

In a mere 5 years, who can we look to for answers on what happened today? Not just in the mainstream media, but in the neighborhoods of West Adams or Mid-Wilshire or Beverlywood... or the communities of University Heights, Hermon, Garvanza, Del Rey, and Laurel Grove? What's up in Wilmington? Beyond politics, are we watching our city? We need to capture this city in text - because in 30 ears when the DVDs have morphed into a new form, and the tragic fire takes out this archive or that and the format of the machine that reads the transcripts from "old" websites shifts - we'll only have our books. (Maybe we should look to our Library System. Then again, do the people know that Fontayne Holmes is here to serve the people, too?)

I don't know the answer, but I know we need one.

Collectively, we must tell the story of the City and be the Voice of LA. But are we? We should.

Once upon a time in Los Angeles...


Photo from the Santa Monica Rotary Club.