I don't normally write about current events, but an article by Paul Silva in our neighborhood paper, The Beach Reporter, made me realize I needed to write this. This week two young men from my hometown of Manhattan Beach had their lives end way too soon. One, a senior at the University of California at Berkeley, was spending a semester abroad in England. He was hit by a car as a pedestrian. He had looked the wrong way (the way we usually look in America) for oncoming traffic as he stepped off the curb to cross the street. The other young man, a high school student, was riding in the top of a double-decker bus celebrating a friend's birthday. He stood up on his seat at the wrong time and hit his head on an overpass. As a mother who has lost one of her sons (mine to suicide and just as sudden), I know the death of a child is the worst thing that can ever happen to a parent. And I just had to say how much I mourn with the parents and families of these two talented and able … [Read more...]
Manhattan Beach September 11 Memorial
I had often wondered how our September 11 Memorial beams came to us. Our local paper, The Beach Reporter, solved the mystery for me this week. The article says Manhattan Beach resident, Jeff Neu, received the contract to recycle the steel from the World Trade Center, and he donated two red beams from the collapsed towers to the Manhattan Beach Fire Department. The memorial on the corner of Fifteenth Street and Valley Drive, in front of the fire department, was designed by Scott Yanofsky of the Terra Firma Group and dedicated on September 11, 2007. Yanofsky designed the placement of the beams to mirror the placement of the towers as they stood at the World Trade Center. A memorial ceremony is planned for tomorrow, September 11, 2011, at 8 am at the memorial site. Since I live just a few blocks away, on Valley Drive, I'll be there. Please join if you can. The Manhattan Beach September 11 Memorial Launching A Landmark I live in a land of landmarks the Hollywood sign, the … [Read more...]
Book launch and signing – a huge success
The launch party for Leaving the Hall Light On at Pages: a bookstore in Manhattan Beach CA last night was a huge success. People from all parts of my life attended: high school friends, former work colleagues, neighbors, friends from the Los Angeles area and Las Vegas, Ojai, San Diego, and Oakland, and many family members. In addition people came as a result of a wonderful article about my book in our neighborhood newspaper, "The Beach Reporter": http://www.tbrnews.com/articles/2011/05/12/stepping_out/step3.txt. The room was filled to the brim with standing room only during my reading, and it was a dream come true to have so many attendees wait in line for me to sign their books. In all, the event resulted in the sale of sixty-one books - with some people buying two or three. People I've known for years and people I've never met came up to me to tell me their similar story of bipolar disorder and suicide in their lives. I am indeed thrilled they chose to attend last night and … [Read more...]
