Partially solved mysteries: In our last episode,...
Partially solved mysteries: In our last episode, you’ll recall that hiker Clifford Merry wondered about a poetic plaque that had been torn off a mountaintop in the Hollywood Hills.
Well, Bruce Fier of Reseda phoned to identify himself as one of the artists who (unilaterally) named the hill Mt. Iris and dedicated it “to the spirit of a rainbow goddess” in 1974.
“My friend Milano Kazanjian used to go for walks up to that spot with his father,” Fier explained. “It’s just west of the Hollywood sign and on a clear day you can see Long Beach, the ocean, Catalina, and north beyond the San Fernando Valley. We decided we’d do an art piece. Today it would probably be called performance art.”
Fier checked with the city and found that the hill was unnamed. So he took it upon himself to christen it in honor of Iris, the golden-winged goddess of the rainbow in Greek mythology.
“Everyone should be able to name a mountain,” he said, adding that “the rainbow goddess was inspired by a girlfriend of mine at the time named Laurel.”
No one knows whether city workers or vandals tore out the bronze plaque, which was set in concrete. But Fier is philosophical.
He quoted a poem he wrote for the ceremony: “Rainbows come and go and are ephemeral by nature. The essence of a rainbow is what stays in the mind.”
List of the day: Perhaps inspired by U.S. Senate hopeful Sonny Bono, the ex-singer/songwriter/famous husband, several other Southern Californians with links to Hollywood have filed to run in the June 2 primary, including:
* Bob Weber (Libertarian), 32nd Congressional District, motion picture technician.
* Carin Rogers (Libertarian), 35th Congressional District, sound editor.
* Paul Burton (Peace and Freedom), 38th Congressional District, musician/writer.
* Nelson (Ric) Start (Republican), 41st Congressional District, actor.
* Elliott Graham (Democrat), 43rd Assembly District, producer/director/photographer.
* Lee Chauser (Peace and Freedom), 56th Assembly District, teacher/playwright.
* Howard A. Sands, 2nd Supervisorial District, actor.
Then there’s Garden Grove Rep. Robert K. Dornan, whose film career consisted of a starring role in the 1964 non-Academy Award winner, “The Starfighters.” B-1 Bob portrayed a pilot trying to prove himself in a squadron his father disapproved of. Or, as TV Guide once summed up the movie: “Air Force potboiler with no-star cast.”
Retired--by the voters: Speaking of the primary candidates, John J. Lynch, a congressional hopeful in the 25th District, lists himself as “ retired county assessor.” Actually, Lynch was defeated by Kenneth P. Hahn more than two years ago.
Just the facts, ma’am: State Sen. Ed Davis, the former Los Angeles police chief, has an executive secretary named Mavis Friday. No, she isn’t related to Joe.
miscelLAny:
The number of pizza parlors in L.A. County, and five surrounding counties, increased to 2,537 in 1991, according to Restaurant Consulting Group Inc. of Evanston, Ill. That’s a 40% increase since 1987.