Recounting County History With a Modern Perspective
Tustin resident Phil Brigandi’s “Orange County Chronicles” looks beyond the county’s popular image of beautiful people in beach cities to the often overlooked workaday lives in Anaheim, the barrios of Santa Ana, townhouse living in Brea and the diverse communities of Little Saigon, Little Texas, Los Rios, La Habra and Silverado Canyon.
Historian Brigandi, who served as Orange County archivist from 2003 to 2008, fills in the gaps with this collection of essays that explore the very creation of the county, as well as issues of race, citrus, attractions and annexation.
His $19.99 paperback book is available at local stores and online at www.historypress.net.
Queen Valencia and her court reigned over a pageant in downtown Orange in May 1930 to mark the start of the harvest season.
Delving Into Deserts of the Soul
Laguna Beach Books hosts a discussion led by local writer Julie Brickman, author of the story collection “Two Deserts,” on Friday, Nov. 8 at 6 p.m. at 1200 S. Coast Hwy Suite 105
“Two Deserts,” released last month by Hopewell Publications, follows the paths of two women of divergent cultures crossing literal and figurative deserts.
A New Jersey native, Brickman is currently working on two new novels.
Author Speaks Plainly on Complex Investing
Local author Timothy Spangler, author of “One Step Ahead: Private Equity and Hedge Funds After the Global Financial Crisis,” will speak about his book, answer questions, and sign books at Laguna Beach Books on Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 6 p.m.
Spangler promises a jargon-free guide to understanding private equity and hedge funds, from start-ups to venture capital firms.
Spangler, an adjunct professor at the UCLA School of Law, is the business section editor at the Los Angeles Review of Books and writes the Forbes.com blog “Law of the Market.”
Inside a Media Mogul’s Empire
NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik, who grew up in Laguna Beach, where his parents still live, starts a book tour in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Nov. 11 for “Murdoch’s World: The Last of the Old Media Empires,” published on Oct. 22.
Folkenflik, who this week was on the Colbert Report, makes an appearance at 7:30 p.m. at Culver City’s Actors’ Gang Theater, 9070 Venice Blvd., for “Did Rupert Murdoch Save Journalism?”, a Zócalo/ASU Walter Cronkite School of Journalism event.
Music Critic Reveals Johnny Cash’s Story
Former Los Angeles Times music critic Robert Hilburn, author of “Johnny Cash: The Life,” visits Laguna Beach Books at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 17, to speak about his book, answer questions, and sign books.
Hilburn tells the unvarnished truth about the musical icon, the subject of a Laguna Playhouse show in January. There will be a drawing for two tickets to “Ring of Fire: The Songs of Johnny Cash” at the book event, 1200 S. Coast Hwy Suite 105.
