WRITERS’ HAVEN: Some of the most fertile...

WRITERS’ HAVEN: Some of the most fertile minds in literary history settled at one time or another in the San Fernando Valley. From F. Scott Fitzgerald toiling in Encino to Evelyn Waugh musing in Glendale, to James M. Cain crafting the script “The Postman Always Rings Twice” at a small rented house in Burbank, writers have come here for the bucolic views and cheap rent. See Valley Life! Page 8.

GRAMMY FESTIVITIES: Valley parks will be humming with music Sunday in honor of the Grammys. Northridge, Woodland Hills, Sylmar, Lake View Terrace and North Weddington parks will hold events ranging from local bands to preschool music recitals. . . . Parks and recreation official Steven Soboroff organized the events to emphasize that L. A., not New York, is home of the Grammys. Ceremonies are Wednesday at the Shrine Auditorium.

PLAYING GAMES: Once a month, beginning today, Valley Life! will take a look at video games and all the new systems and gadgets needed to play them. Staff writer Aaron Curtiss rates the games for the everyday player, with an informal guide to which ones are worth the money and which are not. . . . The column will run the last Friday of each month. See Valley Life! Page 5.

ROAD LESS TRAVELED: Vietnam vet Michael Liscio is on a journey of remembrance. . . . The 52-year-old Sherman Oaks runner began a trek in Hanoi earlier this month and hopes to finish 1,300 miles away in Ho Chi Minh City by April 30, the 20th anniversary of that city’s fall.

TEA, CRUMPETS AND O. J.: To the 10 British students spending the semester studying American journalism at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, it appears that we are both more insular and more objective than our British counterparts. . . . Although impressed by the freedoms of the American press, the visitors complain that they can barely find a scrap of news from home. “All the news is about O. J. and traffic,” said one (B3).