Category: Kim Cooper

Crime Bus to the Atomic Frolic, Las Vegas weekender Jan. 26-28

Gentle rider,

We’ll be crossing state lines and violating the Mann Act next month, when the Crime Bus rolls from downtown Los Angeles to Las Vegas on Friday January 26 to take a luxury coach full of party people to the first ever Mondo Lounge Atomic Frolic weekend at the Aruba Hotel. The price is $130/RT (including your Atomic Frolic ticket), and we’ll have you home late Sunday January 28.

Organized by members of the Los Angeles ModCom architectural preservation league now resident in LV, the event celebrates the style, music, art and culture of the great American cocktail era, with live bands, naked girls, neon and architectural tours, lectures (including one by our own Nathan Marsak), best-dressed Fez contests, beat poetry, documentaries, DJs, pajama parties and similar silliness.

So where does the Crime Bus come in? We’ll be transporting many of the Los Angeles attendees, with the weekend’s celebration starting the minute the bus doors close. There will be cool tunes and films, good company, games and surprises, with a detour through historic and scenic Route 66, a meal stop at a suitably retro establishment, and the debut of a new Crime Bus tour featuring tales of high weirdness from the high desert.

The crimes of old Route 66 are nothing like the citified tales told on previous Crime Bus tours. For more than a century, bad people have done terrible things under the vast desert sky, and all too often they’ve gotten away with it. High desert crimes are also odder than city crimes. On the Crime Bus, passengers will boggle at the tale of the Indian guide who cleverly spirited a new bride away from her young husband in 1920, giggle at the hijinks surrounding the premature 1890 death announcement of Wells Fargo messenger Ed Knickerbocker, shudder at the ghastly 1946 RV vacation of 10-year-old John Oedekerk, bit by a rabid dog in Indiana and chased across the country by needle-wielding public health officials, gape at the courage of cross-dressing 1930s teen Martha Adams who ran away from her religious maniac family with 53 cents in her pocket, and marvel at the miraculous tale of the 6-year-old girl kidnapped, bound and left in the hills in 1983 who was rescued when an airsick helicopter searcher landed to vomit and saw her Raggedy Ann doll in the dirt.

The Atomic Frolic is a benefit for the support of protecting modernism in Las Vegas, something that’s long overdue. And tickets are just $30. We hope to see many of our Crime Bus friends in Las Vegas during the last weekend of January. For more info on the Atomic Frolic, please visit
Want a spot on the bus? me to reserve. Again, it’s $130 R/T for the bus and the event.

L.A. Alternative Publisher Martin Albornoz stiffs 1947project

(See update below) 

Gentle reader,

How pleased I was, during Sunset Junction week in late August, when the L.A. Alternative published an issue of their free weekly featuring my three-page pull-out crime map detailing the historic oddities and horrors of the Sunset Junction neighborhood. I heard from folks who attended the street fair that it was a big hit, with people walking around checking addresses and shuddering. (The Sunset Junction story can now only be seen right here at 1947project.)

A month after my story came out, publisher Martin Albornoz announced the paper was folding, but that he hoped to continue publishing online. Although at this point I was wondering where my payment was, I still dashed off a friendly email telling Martin that my husband Richard and I would be happy to meet with him and give him some ideas about how to pull this off, as we believed he and his writers had a lot to offer the community. He never replied.

Nor did Martin reply to my repeated emails, as the weeks ticked away with no sign of the $250 payment for the feature. I sent a certified letter demanding the money, which went uncollected. So I finally phoned and left a message, which resulted in the following email on November 27:

Hello Kim,
 
I just heard your message and Lesley had forwarded me your email last week. I’m not sure how much you know about the office and the state of LA Alternative but we aren’t in business anymore. We stopped publishing the print and online version about a month ago. I haven’t been in the office for about a month, I started a full time job, so I haven’t had a chance to pick up any mail or cut any checks. We are trying to cover as many outstanding obligations as possible when money trickles in from our advertisers.
 
You are on the list of people who need to be paid. I will be writing some checks in the next few weeks. Thanks for all your help and thanks for your understanding.
 
Best,

Martin
 
To which I replied:
 
Hi Martin,

Yes, I am aware that you stopped publishing. In fact, you may recall
that I emailed you offering to advise you about your online options,
but received no reply.

Nonetheless, I wrote a story several months prior to the LAA closing,
and am owed $250 for it. I would appreciate your putting me high on
the list of people to be paid. I will extend the courtesy of
additional three weeks to you before pursuing other options. Please
ensure I receive payment by December 18.

I heard from Michele that Lesley thinks she remembers sending me a
check. So it is possible that you have already tried to pay me and the
check was lost in the mail. I would appreciate your checking on this,
and recutting the check if that is the case.

I would also appreciate it if you would mail me a stack of copies of
the issue with my cover story. Bulk rate is fine.

Thanks, and best regards,

Kim Cooper
 
He did not reply. Two days ago, I emailed to remind Martin it has been three weeks, and I have still not been paid.
 
Hi Martin,

It has been three weeks since I last heard that "in a few weeks" you
would be writing checks, and there has been no sign of payment for my
cover story, nor of the copies of that issue that I asked for.

Are you prepared to make good on this debt now, or must I go forward
with the plan for publicizing the non-payment and filing in small
claims court that I spelled out previously [in the certified letter that I later emailed to Martin]?

Please spare us both any additional bother and awkwardness and send me
$250 now, or let me know exactly when you will be doing so. I am
willing to work with you, but not to wait indefinitely for payment,
especially if you don’t keep me informed of the situation.

thanks,

Kim Cooper
 
He ignored that email, too. And so it is with no pleasure that I am going public with this dishonorable tale, in hopes that it will inspire Martin to take responsibility for his debt and to let any other writers in the same situation know that they are not alone.
 
I’ve known Martin socially for more than a decade. I’ve consigned zines in his former zine shop in Silver Lake and had a Scram release party there. I’ve had nice conversations with him, publisher-to-publisher. I’m really shocked by how this has played out, and apologize to all of you for airing his dirty drawers here on 1947project. But I do think it’s important to shine a light on wrong-doing, and so here’s a blast of pure white.
 
Martin, send me my money, and pay off your other contributors. It’s the honorable thing to do, and it will make the next stage of your life more tolerable. Otherwise, I guess I’ll see you in small claims court. What A Drag.
 
*
Email received from Martin, 2pm December 20:
 
Hello Kim,
 
I just got word from someone that you’ve sent out an email about L.A. Alternative owing you money. I really am sorry about us owing you money, but we can’t pay with what we don’t have. We are owed money by some large advertisers and we owe lots of vendors money, hence, we went out of business. So, other than looking kind of petty, I’m not sure what you’ve accomplished. Like I mentioned to you, the newspaper will be filing for bankruptcy, which means you’ll get a letter stating that you’re owed money and once the process goes through, you’ll get your $250 out of the sale of the assets. With what’s owed to some vendors, I don’t believe there will be much left over but I do hope that you won’t be affected too harshly by this outcome. It really is unfortunate when a business can’t survive, but considering the hostile business environment that newspapers are currently in, this may become more common. Our self-published paper did give the huge corporate weeklies a run for the their money and thank you for being a part of that.
 
Good luck with your project, which btw, we supported in free ads announcing your readings and in the article which prominently mentioned your website.

 
–Martin
 
My reply:
 
Dear Martin,

Why is it that the only way I can get you to communicate with me is to
send out a mass email and post on my blog? You have had several weeks
in which to respond to my polite request for information on when I
would be paid, and you’ve ignored me. You never mentioned bankruptcy.
You actually said you would be sending checks out within several
weeks, which did not happen, so I emailed you again, waited two days,
and then went public.

I’m very appreciative of the support of the local press for the
1947project, and am always willing to give time and assistance to
reporters who have questions. But I worked for two weeks writing and
researching a huge story for your paper, which is something very
different.

I wish you only the best, and hope that you will see fit to honor your
promise to pay for this story. And it would be quite a nice gesture of
goodwill if you were to send me those extra copies of my feature that
I have asked you for several times.

I will update the blog entry with any good news you can send, which
should be an added incentive to you to do the right thing.

best regards,

Kim Cooper

 

All About the Weird West Adams Tour

WHAT: 1947project Weird West Adams Crime Bus Tour, Saturday 12/16/06, 11am-4pm. $47 cost includes snacks, beverages and five-hour luxury coach tour.
 
LOS ANGELES- Since January, the bloggers at 1947project have taken their Los Angeles crime history research on the road with their lively, mysterious and very popular Crime Bus tours. Past routes have explored the dark side of Pasadena, the secret history of downtown and the real story of the Black Dahlia case. In December, 1947project offers a new tour celebrating the Beverly Hills of the early 20th century, that grand swath of city just west of downtown: Weird West Adams.

On this five-hour tour, Crime Bus passengers will be treated to detailed descriptions of some of the most notorious, strange and fascinating forgotten tales from the past hundred years, each told at the scene of the crime. They’ll thrill to the carjacking horror of silent film starlet Myrtle Gonzalez, shiver as Dream Killer Otto Parzyjegla chops his newspaper publisher boss to pieces with the paper-cutting blade, shudder at the pickled poignancy of the murder-by-brandy of Benjamin Weber, marvel at the Krazy Kafitz family and their litany of murder-suicides, attempted husband slayings, Byzantine estate battles and mad bombings, then gag at terrible fate visited on kidnap victim Marion Parker by The Fox. There will be some celebrity sites along the route, including the death scenes of Motown soul sensation Marvin Gaye and 1920s star Angels baseball catcher Gus Sandberg.

And in a special treat for the holiday season, the Crime Bus will toast the Winter Solstice by visiting the city’s shortest street and remembering 2′ 11" Angelo Rossitto, the charismatic cult actor / newsstand operator ("Freaks," "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome") who famously visited the spot in his teeny-tiny car on 12/21/37.  All this, plus a robbery by Pretty Boy Floyd, Prohibition-era houses transformed into secret distilleries, fumigations gone terribly wrong, mashers, bad marriages, rotten drivers, assorted weirdos and a mummified teenage cult priestess.

Upcoming Crime Bus Tours include the 60th Anniversary Real Black Dahlia (January 13, 2007).

Want to reserve a seat for West Adams or the Black Dahlia? Just email us with the number of spots you’d like.
 

Rolling Stone lauds 1947project

Rolling Stone magazine, in a current feature on the growing influence of true crime blogs on the mainstream media, has named 1947project as one of the best stops on the Web. Making special note of the site’s year-long exploration of forgotten 1940s crimes, RS raves: "If you’re a fan of Raymond Chandler or Chinatown, this L.A.-noir site goes deep into the year 1947 and the murder of the Black Dahlia, positing the homicide as one of the most pivotal events in the city’s history.

Also singled out for notice in "Cyber Cops: Inside the frightening world of the Web’s original crime blogger" are Trench Reynolds of thetrenchcoat.com, Steve Huff of crimeblog.us, Mark Gribben of markgribben.com and the dark-side-of-myspace site mycrimespace.com.

We’re pleased to be in such good company, and welcome RS readers to explore our current site, a day-by-day accounting of L.A. in the year 1907, as well as our prior incarnation on blogger, where the subject was the 1947 of Beth Short, Bugsy Siegel and many other fascinating, forgotten figures. FYI, we also lead regular Crime Bus tours to scenes of mayhem and weirdness all around L.A., and hope local readers will subscribe to our email list to be kept informed of upcoming events, like this Saturday’s Pasadena Confidential tour, Weird West Adams on 12/16 and the 60th anniversary Real Black Dahlia tour on 1/13/07.

CourtTV rides the Crime Bus

Lisa Sweetingham of CourtTV rode the Halloween Horrors Crime Bus, and reports in with a charming little feature she calls "The bus ride to hell, and back."

LOS ANGELES — "Ladies and gentlemen, this tour should not be taken by anyone with a heart condition … We recommend you leave the bus immediately." A tour guide makes the announcement as the doors slam shut on our filled-to-capacity 56-seat cruising bus. We are rolling into Los Angeles noir, embarking on an exhaustive five-hour tour of grisly crime scenes and lesser Halloween hijinks from the ’20s to the ’50s.

The 1947project’s inaugural Halloween Horrors crime bus tour is touted as a BYOBB (Bring Your Own Barf Bag) event. And no children are allowed.

So why is there a clown breathing down my neck?

Crimebo the crime clown (aka Michael Perrick) bares his teeth and purrs in a gravelly voice as he walks down the aisle with a cauldron full of cheap candy, some shaped like eyeballs. "Something sticky?" he offers.

He pops a balloon animal and quips, "These things just keep committing suicide."

Kindly click to read on.

The Crime Bus Lurches Out of the Fog

Join us, gentle rider, on the Crime Bus! We’re taking a break from our regularly scheduled Crime Bus touring in early 2006 to develop some new and very wild rides, but private tours can still be booked during this time. Typically, public tours run on both days of a weekend about once a month, and prospective passengers can subscribe to our email list– just click the link at right to be kept informed of all the details. Or watch this site for announcements.

Tours include… THE REAL BLACK DAHLIA… PASADENA CONFIDENTIAL… WEIRD WEST ADAMS… NIGHTMARES OF BUNKER HILL… HALLOWEEN HORRORS… with more to come.

The Oddest, Oldest Fellow

Carl Schmidt

October 9, 1907
Los Angeles

The nation’s most senior Odd Fellow, Carl Schmidt of 2729 West Pico Street, died at aged 95, after a brief illness. Schmidt was born in Germany in 1812, and  emigrated to Philadelphia at 18, where he was known as a locksmith of great facility. He joined the Odd Fellow’s Lodge No. 12 at 21, and in 1852 moved with his wife Joanna to Madison, Wisconsin, then a tiny trading post, where he co-founded Lodge No. 17. He maintained active memberhip in this lodge until his passing.

Joanna Schmidt died in 1900, and the following year Carl moved to Los Angeles to live with their daughter, Mrs. Gus Kleaman. A week before his death, Schmidt gained the distinction of being the oldest person to spend an hour under anesthesia, as surgeons attempted to repair a rupture he had suffered at age 8, which had lain fallow for eight decades before becoming an irritation. He appeared to rally from his surgery, but complications set in, and he died at home surrounded by his family. The funeral was held at his bedside, under the auspices of the Odd Fellows.