Scott Thomas is the Stoker-nominated author of Kill Creek, which was selected by the American Library Association's reader committee as the top horror book of 2017,...
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Author Scott Thomas and his latest novel, Midwestern Gothic
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Latinos at War: The Fight Abroad and at Home in the United States
September marks Latino heritage month. As of 2015 Latinos make up 17.4% of the population in the United States. Historians estimate that around 250,000 to 500,000 out of a total 2.7 million Latinos in the United States served in World War II.
World Peace Bell Rings Out Message for Peace
Most visitors to the Central Library’s Maguire Gardens see Jud Fine's “Spine” installation and the unique collection of fountains that grace the gardens, but not everyone notices tucked away in the westernmost corner, nearest Flower Street, a quiet token of the most ambitious possibility, the World Peace B
Karma: The Good, the Bad and the Creative
Several months ago, while driving home during rush hour on a Friday night, my fiancée and I noticed a young teenager lying unconscious on the side of a busy street. We pulled over and called 911 to hopefully provide some help for him.
From an Indigenous Mind—The Four Key Connections
First, a number of greetings in the language of a few native peoples on this continent:
Lee Lawrie's Wise Owls Decorate the Library
The doors of wisdom are never shut.—Benjamin Franklin
The classic icon of wisdom, the owl, is found in several places around the original Bertram Goodhue Library building. These owls are not hidden, but they may not be obvious to the casual visitor.
International L.A.
Los Angeles has been a multi-cultural, polyglot city from the earliest times. In 1781, the pobladores, a small group of racially diverse farmers from Sonora, Mexico, arrived near the banks of the Porciuncula River at a place that would later become Los Angeles.
The Language of Heraldry
I recently completed an online heraldry class conducted by the University of Strathclyde, and I learned a great deal that will be helpful to me as a genealogy librarian.
Monsters, Aliens and Ghosts, Oh My! (Or, the Psychology of Fear)
Summer, along with hot temperatures and family vacations, usually brings major blockbusters.
Mystery of the Hope Street Tunnel
Did you know that when Central Library opened in 1926, the entrance at 530 South Hope Street was both the "front door" and mailing address? Patrons entered the gates at Hope Street and walked up a long sloping ramp to a circulation desk at the center of the lower level.
Historical L.A. Health Fads
For decades, Los Angeles (and the rest of Southern California) loved to market itself as a place where you could improve your health in the optimal climate of the region. (Pay no attention to the smog.) But much of the health information, good and bad, from the pre-smog era was hard to come by.