L.A.’s biographer doesn’t live here anymore: We’re...

L.A.’s biographer doesn’t live here anymore: We’re referring to John Weaver, the author of “Los Angeles: The Enormous Village” and of the Encyclopaedia Britannica’s essay on the city. Weaver grew so upset with the graffiti that he moved to Durham, N.C., five years ago.

Now, he has resettled in the warmer climes of Las Vegas. “This makes it easier to visit L.A., which I love to do,” Weaver said. “I just don’t want to live there.”

When he went to the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles recently to turn in his North Carolina license plates, he found a long line of other newcomers. “I was practically the only one who didn’t have California plates,” Weaver said.

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Is he also a friend of Simon Garfunkel?In its review of 1993, L.A.’s Downtown News lists, among the year’s winners, “Maguire Thomas Partners co-founder Robert F. Maguire III, who had the Central Library’s . . . gardens named after him.” Among the losers it includes “Maguire Thomas Partners co-founder James Thomas, who, thus far, has nothing important named after him.”

We hope this void is soon filled. (Perhaps ex-Mayor Bradley could give Thomas one of his designations . ) The seriousness of the founders’ identity crisis became clear last year when L.A. City Councilman Nate Holden mentioned his feelings about the firm.

“I don’t have anything against Maguire Thomas,” Holden explained. “He’s a friend of mine. I’ve known him for 20 years.”

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Triple leap year: That’s 1994, judging from the calendar put out by the Metropolitan Water District. Does a 368-day year mean increased rates for MWD customers?

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Dueling signs: Rikki Marie Alley, meanwhile, snapped a photo of a Lawndale street corner that must pose a quandary for motorists. Or bicyclists, such as Rikki Marie, who is 8 years old.

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Wanted--Ex-Dead People: Here at the clearinghouse for erroneous documents, ads and signs, we received a phone call from a Fox TV producer who is searching for people once mistakenly believed to be deceased. It’s for a talk show segment called “I’m Not Dead.”

We couldn’t help out producer Glenn Meehan, except to nominate Jerry Mathers of TV’s “Leave It to Beaver.” You may recall that a widespread rumor of the 1960s had Mathers being killed in Vietnam.

“We tried him,” Meehan said sadly. “But his people wanted too much money to have him appear.”

Sounds like the Beav’s getting advice from Eddie Haskell again.

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They could be heading your way! It’s the first sighting we’ve heard of this motorcycle gang. One member was seen in the South Bay, riding a salmon pink chopper with silver-buttoned saddle bags while wearing gloves festooned with cowboy-style fringes. The cyclist’s black leather jacket carried the ominous title:

“Hell’s Yuppies, Palos Verdes, Calif.”

miscelLAny:

A USA Today survey of football players entering Division I-A colleges from 1990 to 1992 found that Stanford’s recruits had the highest average SAT scores (1,069). UCLA’s footballers were tied for 12th at 896 while the Trojans of USC were 24th at 862. Oklahoma’s gridders ranked 100th and last at 759.