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Reviews of Call Someplace Paradise
Ghost Town: A Venice California
Life
Readers' comments
on Ghost Town
Murder of
Sarai Ribicoff
25 Years Ago
in the Free Venice Beachhead
Venice Festival at the Fox Venice Theater
Kinney's Folly
The Author, Pat Hartman
The File Cabinet:
available writings
Visions of Venice
To See Venice
Is To Live
Venice's True Sister City

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25 Years Ago in Venice
from Call Someplace Paradise and
Ghost Town: A Venice California Life
July 1983
The LA Reader describes the 4th of July celebration
of 1981 at Venice Beach, "the traditional Holiday War Zone."
It says people were on top of the roofs of the buildings along the boardwalk
tossing cherry bombs into the crowd which, "choking and howling (supposedly
with merriment) ran for cover in the smoke-clogged night."
The Reader also tells about the nation's largest
facility of its kind, the Westside Community for Independent Living at
12901 Venice Blvd. They teach the disabled about personal hygiene, homemaking,
mobility, etc. and have a computer training program, housing referrals,
and assistance in obtaining government benefits. The Reader also
carries news of what SPARC is up to: still painting the world's largest
mural at Tujunga Wash. It depicts all of the history of California, and
to date has employed 185 youths who work under the direction of professionals.
Also they have a "portable mural" project, of which "Venice
on the Half Shell" is one. Apparently it will not stay at the Pavilion
but will be moved at some point.
4th of July in Oakwood: it was real quiet in the neighborhood
all day. The people next door on both sides had company. Around 5:00 firecrackers
started to pop sporadically. Monroe got back from Vegas, and upstairs
started to rev up for another party. After dark we watched the Santa Monica
Pier fireworks from the landing. Dale and I spent some time on the porch
of the front house. Kids were all over the place and so many firecrackers
it looked like a thick fog had rolled in. Guyette tore up and down the
street on a bicycle doing wheelies and shrieking. A white man with a child
in his arms ran down the middle of the street, probably the safest method
of foot travel around here. A car went over the bumps in the intersection
and sent up a huge shower of sparks. Leander came out and talked with
us for a while. Like Dale, he used to live in Oakland. Leander was there
for a couple of years and worked as an exotic dancer. He told us about
Beatrice's very mature-looking girlfriend who has a crush on him, but
he told her to stay away because he doesn't need that kind of trouble.
He had a nifty-looking cigarette holder made from a turkey bone and told
us how to make one like it. Dale thinks somebody has been sleeping in
the abandoned Dodge out back, he's been hearing the car door, and a voice
talking. Leander said it would be fun to put on a horrible mask and go
out there at 3 a.m., shake the car around and scare the hell out of them.
I saw a man being picked up by the paramedics over by
the old railroad tracks on Electric Avenue. Two female street people were
very distressed. One was of normal height but had a body proportioned
like a dwarf. This morning I rode the bike path to Santa Monica Pier.
Near Rose Avenue, a lone guitarist stood near the water and serenaded
the ocean.
The LA Reader says a group called the International
Network Society plans to build a geodesic dome hostel near South Venice
Boulevard to house 52 people for the Olympics. It will be like a condo.
Supposedly each investor will buy a room and then rent it out. A Venice
woman has retained Marvin Mitchelson to sue a Spanish bullfighter for
palimony. She says her 12-year-old son is the fruit of a five-year affair
they had in Spain.
There has been a renewal of gang warfare between Venice
and Culver City (actually Mar Vista, since the Mar Vista Gardens housing
project is the center of their activities.) Each side has chalked up one
fatality so far.
Dale and I drove to Will Rogers Park to get away from
the neighborhood and all kinds of hassles at home. We climbed to a place
called Inspiration Point: great view, nature, birds singing. On top of
the hill there's a single park bench, and what is carved in large letters
across its back? VENICE.
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Venice
Writings by Pat Hartman
Ghost
Town: A Venice California Life
This non-fiction book covers the time period 1978-1984. Unlike Call
Someplace Paradise, it's not about the boardwalk and beachfront, but
about Oakwood, the fairly hard-core ghetto which, during the time I lived
there, was said to be the second-highest crime area in LA. Other Ghost
Town pages: Comments from readers, List
of topics covered; long review.

Read
an excerpt
on the site of the publisher, Xlibris.
Buy
Ghost Town from Xlibris.
The
book is also available through Amazon
and Barnes&Noble, and from
the author via eBay.
Direct order:
Trade paperback: $25, or CD in PDF format $10
money
order or check to
Pat
Hartman
305 W. Magnolia
PMB 386
Fort Collins CO 80521
Questions?
Email the author.
Call
Someplace Paradise
This tribute to Venice makes you wish you had been there and glad that
you weren't.
The dedication reads, To the true artists of Venice
- past, present, and always.

Call Someplace Paradise is non-fiction and covers the years 1978-1984.
These links take you to the site of the publisher, Xlibris, for a longer
description, or to read
an excerpt.
Here's a different excerpt, about the fabulous Venice
Festival at the Fox Venice Theater.
Direct order:
Trade paperback: $20, or CD in PDF format $10
money
order or check to
Pat
Hartman
305 W. Magnolia
PMB 386
Fort Collins CO 80521
The book is also available through Amazon
and Barnes
& Noble, and from the author via eBay.
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