Author remembers Hollywood legends

For devotees of Hollywood’s golden age, veteran film and television writer Ken LaZebnik has compiled a book of 14 essays on its greatest legends and its forgotten luminaries, and brings it to Flintridge Bookstore & Coffeehouse Sunday.

“Hollywood Digs” recalls the last days of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s life, when the famed author lived on the Encino estate of film actor Edward Everett Horton. It also tells the tragic saga of legendary stuntman Jock Mahoney and follows the tale of Micky Moore, a child actor alongside Mary Pickford who spent 84 years in the business.

LaZebnik’s book also pays homage to Kathy Kohner Zuckerman, the real-life inspiration behind the film sensation “Gidget,” who will appear alongside the author at Sunday’s reading and book signing.

More than 60 duotone photographs of never before released galleries from photography Leigh Wiener have been included in the book and are brought to life by LaZebnik’s deft and idiosyncratic portraits of Hollywood legends — from Paul Newman and Frank Sinatra to Judy Garland and Milton Berle.

“I have always been attracted to stories of the little guy, and so some of my favorite pieces are about these slightly obscure figures whose memories are quickly being lost in the haze of history,” LaZebnik writes.

The book signing begins at 3 p.m. at Flintridge Bookstore & Coffeehouse, 1010 Foothill Blvd., La Cañada. For more information, call (818) 790-0717.