Early next Wednesday morning (August 14, 7 am, at Friendship Auditorium on Riverside Drive), I’m delighted to be the guest speaker at the 94 years old Los Angeles institution that KCET has crowned the “strangest club in Los Angeles,” the Los Angeles Breakfast Club. If you’re up for LA River stories, with a generous side of conviviality, ham, eggs, sing-alongs, and the famous reading of the cryptogram, then this is worth waking up for.

Here’s the link to more details, and you need to RSVP by email by Monday evening: https://www.facebook.com/events/1352935451524453/

Atlas Obscura promises “an interesting, invigorating lecture about world events.” I’ll be talking about the contemporary emotional history of the LA River and the power of places, illustrated with photos from the wonderful Myles Pettengill who’s been documenting the Glendale Narrows stretch of the river for almost a decade.

I would love to see you there!

And, if you’re not already following along on Instagram, I’m curating two river accounts: https://www.instagram.com/lariverx/ and https://www.instagram.com/iamthelariver that showcase river stories and images.

Artwork: Leo Limon Photo: Kevin Skaggs