Al Martinez’s Korean War Letters, 8/21/24
EVENT:
“Al Martinez’s Korean War Letters”
Speakers: Sara S. Hodson
When: Wednesday, August 21, 2024
7:00 p.m.: Potluck Dinner
8:00 p.m.: Presentation
Where: Topanga Community House, 1440 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd.
Al Martinez (1929–2015) moved here from Oakland with his wife Joanne in 1972 to write for the Los Angeles Times. His column often featured Topanga topics and contributed to three Pulitzer Prizes. He discovered his style of combining humor with pathos in 1951, while writing almost daily letters to Joanne from the Korean War. A new book publishes 107 of those letters, I Promise You I’ll Be Home edited by Sara S. Hodson (McFarland, 2024). Hodson is a retired curator of literary manuscripts for The Huntington Library who acquired Al’s papers for the library and curated the show Al Martinez: Bard of LA in 2012.
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