Long before 'mean girls' became part of the popular lexicon and Paris Hilton had exhausted her 15 minutes, photographer and documentary filmmaker Lauren Greenfield was focused on the peculiarities of modern-day youth culture. In 1997, she published her first book, 'Fast Forward,' an award-winning collection of photographs documenting the fast-track trajectory of kids growing up in Los Angeles u...more

NEWS: Karl Greenfeld and L.A. Times and NPR film critic Kenneth Turan will conduct a conversation on Greenfeld's latest book, 'Boy Alone: A Brother's Memoir,' on Friday, September 10 at 7:30 p.m. at Village Books, 1049 Swarthmore. In his book, Greenfield, a magazine journalist, and author of 'China Syndrome,' tells the story of his life growing up with his brother and chronicling the hopes, dreams a...more

Historian and novelist Robert Rosenstone will debut his new novel 'Red Star, Crescent Moon: A Muslim-Jewish Love Story,' with a reading on Saturday, September 11, from 4 to 6 p.m. at his home in Pacific Palisades. The reading will take place at 5 p.m.   The novel is set in Spain against the vibrant and colorful background of a women's film festival, the seductive activities of a movi...more

New research points to rat poison as a culprit in the animals' decline

By RENNIE CHAMBERLAIN Special to the Palisadian-Post For the past dozen years, the National Park Service has been tracking mountain lions, coyotes and bobcats in the Santa Monica Mountains to study how these animals are adapting to the urban environment, gathering data on genetics, diet, movement patterns, number of kittens, size of home ranges, and mortality rates.   Laurel...more

Actor Greg Bryan follows a circuitous road for his dream, accustomed to both the euphoria and the disappointment of the career, yet through it all still imagining the best of all possible worlds in his dream scenario where is the producer.   'I'd call all my friends and I'd say 'I have a role for you, and I can pay you more than you need.''   Bryan's fantasy reveals...more

By RANDY YOUNG Special to the Palisadian-Post While working on chronicling the history of Santa Monica Canyon, I always was aware of this great scholar of California Cool, Martin 'Marty' Sugarman. His H2O Magazine has set the standard for highlighting the state's beach culture and spotlighting the surfer lifestyle. For the past two decades, he has also painted his beloved Pacific Oce...more