Each month, we like to highlight one of our members. This month’s member highlight is author and historian Anna Sklar.

1) Tell me about yourself.

I am a professional writer and historian and am the author of Brown Acres: An Intimate History of the L.A. Sewers, 1860-2008 (Angel City Press, 2008)

2) Why did you join LACHS?

Because they supported my grant application to the Haynes Foundation and I wanted to “pay it forward.”

3) What do you value most of about Los Angeles and its history?

Now that’s a tough one.  Can’t be answered in a few sentences.  Essentially, however, I am a long-time resident of the city and have lived in many neighborhoods–from East L.A. to the San Fernando Valley to Silverlake to the Westside and points in between.  So, I value all its history–the good, the bad, the ugly, the entire mosaic of our past.

4) In your own words…

You’ve got to be kidding!

I was brought here by my father in 1944 as a mere babe.

I love Carey McWilliams and his take on Los Angeles best of all. I miss the old Pershing Square, old downtown, neighborhoods swept away by developers, single movie theaters, and so many lost icons of our collective past.

As a reporter in the 1970s and early 1980s I covered many, many Los Angeles stories, from the fires that have swept across the Santa Monica Mountains, to the mudslides that followed, to the notorious federal trial of Daniel Ellsberg and Anthony Russo, to the crimes of the Los Angeles Police Department, to rock-and-roll musicians, to local and national famous authors, to mostly minor television and movie actors, to a president-to-be, to contenders for the governor’s office, to a series of investigative reports on child abuse, cults, etc., and a whole host of writers of how-to books that were instantly forgettable.  The list is almost endless.  Much like the city itself, it includes wannabe celebs, victims, and literary and music and cultural royalty, as well as the apparently never-ending search by newcomers to reinvent themselves.  As with our board members as well as many of our other members I am a part of the history of Los Angeles.

Are you a LACHS member? Would you like to be featured in our member highlight? Or nominate someone else? Contact the Editor at web.admin@lacityhistory.org for more information.