FEW STARS MOVED as easily from silents to talkies, as Myrna Loy. Most famous for her Nora Charles role in the Thin Man movies with William Powell, Loy grew up in Los Angeles and (according to the L.A. Observed site) attended the Westlake School for Girls when it was indeed situated in the old Westlake neighborhood on Alvarado across from what is now MacArthur Park. For decades a statue of Loy, titled "Inspiration," graced the front of Venice High School (protected by a fence). Over the weekend, the statue was rededicated on the school's front lawn. The statue figured prominently as plot point in Bret Lott's 2008 novel, Ancient Highway, a fictionalized account of his family's trek to Los Angeles.
Here's my L.A. Times story about the book, a haunting family story where Los Angeles figures as one of the main characters. I spent the day walking around with Lott in his old neighborhood in Echo Park; it was a profile of place as much as it was about the author himself.
-- L.G.
