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Locals collaborate to shed light on the ‘lost’ stories of Burbank

While standing outside of Burbank City Hall, Mike McDaniel, who wrote a book called "Lost Burbank" with his friend Wes Clark, shows a vintage photo of the building.

While standing outside of Burbank City Hall, Mike McDaniel, who wrote a book called “Lost Burbank” with his friend Wes Clark, shows a vintage photo of the building.

(Raul Roa / Burbank Leader)
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Burbank native Wes Clark claims to have read every book there is about his beloved hometown. However, when approached with the chance to publish his own take on the city, Clark didn’t want to do what everyone else before him had done.

Instead of focusing on the nitty-gritty details about Burbank, Clark and Mike McDaniel, a fellow Burbanker and longtime friend, opted to share with readers the forgotten lore that made the city what it is today and why it is known by people around the world.

“Lost Burbank,” which is being distributed by Arcadia Publishing and goes on sale Monday, sheds light on some not so well-known stories, such as the “Battle of Burbank,” the origin of the Turkey Crossing and two songs written about Burbank.

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The publishing company initially contacted Clark about writing a book that would put Burbank in the spotlight.

“[Arcadia Publishing] sent me a couple of copies [of their history books] to give me an idea of what they were looking for,” Clark said. “One of them was ‘Lost Flint’ and when I got through that book, I thought it was really depressing. It thoroughly bummed me out.”

With that in mind, Clark and McDaniel, who are both 60 years old, focused on making their book more light-hearted by including tidbits that the average Burbank resident may not know about.

“What I wanted to do was incorporate as many interesting facts about Burbank and as much of its history I could cram in there,” Clark said. “I just wanted the book to sparkle. I wanted the text to be the kind where somebody could jump on any page and get snared right away and want to finish the page and go onto the next one.”

Clark and McDaniel recognized that Burbank’s presence reached further than just Southern California. Most people know about the important role Lockheed Corp. played during World War II and that the films made in the city’s Media District have been seen by millions of people all over the world.

However, fewer people know about the Cooper Underwear Co., which is now Jockey, and its factory in Burbank or about Maurice Poirier, a Frenchman who lived in Burbank who Clark and McDaniel believe was the first inventor to patent an early type of independent-suspension system.

“Whatever happens here can go global, and most people don’t realize that a lot of stuff started here,” McDaniel said.

Clark concurred, quoting a phrase then Mayor Jess Talamantes said during Burbank’s centennial in 2011.

“He was playing off of [the] Las Vegas’ ad campaign of ‘What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,’” Clark said. “He said, ‘What happens in Burbank is seen globally.’”

The two Burbank natives’ love for their city’s history goes back to when they were students at Burbank High School and has grown from there.

Clark moved to Springfield, Va., in 1984 to follow his love of history, specifically the Civil War. However, it was through learning about that piece of American history that he became more interested about how his hometown came to be.

“The history of the place that I was from was every bit as interesting as the history of the place where I live,” he said.

On the other hand, McDaniel has never left Burbank. He works for the city in its print shop and lives in the house wherehe grew up.

Regardless of where they are, Clark and McDaniel continue to dig up tidbits about their hometown.

“I don’t think there’s another city in the whole United States that can claim the things that Burbank can claim and have the things that came out of Burbank,” McDaniel said. “A lot of cities have a claim to fame, maybe one thing that they can point to. Burbank has thousands of things that [it] can point to. You can stand here with pride and say, ‘Hey look! I’m a member of this community.’”

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Anthony Clark Carpio, anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com

Twitter: @acocarpio

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