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LA Observed columnist Bill Boyarsky's latest book, "Inventing L.A.: The Chandlers and Their Times," has been nominated for this year's Southern California Independent Booksellers Association awards. Bill's up in the nonfiction category with Father Gregory Boyle for "Tattoos on the Heart" and Charles Fleming's "Secret Stairs: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Los Angeles." The Glenn Goldman Award nominees are Taschen's big book "Los Angeles: Portrait of a City" edited by Jim Heimann, "Ed Ruscha's Los Angeles" by Alexandra Schwartz and Getty's book on the Irving Penn show, "Irving Penn: Small Trades" by Virginia A. Heckert and Anne LaCoste. Finalists in other categories include Aimee Bender, Robert Crais, Francesca Lia Block and Eve Bunting. The winners will be announced in October.
Boyarsky is also the author of "California’s Big Daddy: Jesse Unruh, Power Politics and the Art of the Possible," "Backroom Politics" and three other books. He is the former city editor, Metro columnist, national political writer and City Hall bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times, though the paper's blog item on the book prize finalists refers to him only "as a former Times writer." His latest column for LA Observed is on the push to clean up the air at the Port of Los Angeles.