His 'Hollywood Songbook' reflected his physical and spiritual exile, but he wrote music beautiful and melodic, for 'someone who is actually listening.'

Hanns Eisler stood on the beach in front of his Malibu house looking at the Pacific Ocean and pronounced 'Nature is boring!' This, from a man who escaped Hitler's purge, who enjoyed the comfort of success in Hollywood, but who never abandoned his alignment with the common man, and who was ultimately deported, a target of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Eisler, whose wit and intellige...more

Hi-yo, Tony! Tom Mix rides again!   Ted Ashby, a retired police officer who lectures on the Old West, returned to L.A.'s present day West''Pacific Palisades''to deliver his latest lecture, 'The Amazing Tom Mix,' to members and guests at this month's AARP meeting. Held at the Woman's Club, last Wednesday's proceedings were conducted by Tina Schroeter, the new president of the Palisade...more

  The Pacific Palisades Library Association will host Dick Van Patten, stage, film and TV actor, and star of the popular TV family series 'Eight Is Enough,' on Tuesday, March 23, at 6:30 p.m. at the library's community room, 861 Alma Real.   Van Patten will discuss his new book, 'Eighty Is Not Enough: One Actor's Journey Through American Entertainment,' and share his pers...more

NEWS: Rich Capparela, the familiar voice on Classical KUSC 91.5 FM weekday afternoons, will service as master of ceremonies at the Brentwood-Westwood Symphony program on Sunday, March 21 at 3 p.m. at Paul Revere Middle School, 1450 Allenford Ave. The program, free to the public, features the works of J. S. Bach, Mozart, Dvorak, Schubert and Puccini. The orchestra, under the direction of Alvin Mi...more

UCLA Cognitive Science Professor Keith Holyoak's New Book Features His Poetry and Son's Illustrations

'Poetry is the most unpopular art form there is,' admits Keith Holyoak. 'It doesn't sell.' But poetry is Holyoak's passion, but it's not what he does to pay the bills. In fact, it might seem as something of a paradox to some that Holyoak, a longtime UCLA professor of psychology, a leader in his field, has chosen to make a side career of crafting verse. His new book, 'My Minotaur,' is a collecti...more

Seven Arrows Celebrates Its First Decade in Style

Savage animals converge against a vast red sky, as large, hand-painted depictions of Italian basilicas, a cello, a harp, a Navajo rug, and period costumes''representing different cultures and epochs''float above. 'I eat meat,' roars a cheetah, 'especially antelope!' 'I am one of the biggest reptiles in the world,' boasts a Komodo dragon. 'I am a cat. I am shy and my favorite food is deer,...more