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Deadly Times: The 1910 Bombing of the Los Angeles Times and America's Forgotten Decade of Terror

The bombing of the Los Angeles Times on October 1, 1910 remains one of the
deadliest crimes ever to go to trial in California. At least 20 workers at the
Times died in the explosion and the fire that followed. More than 100
others were injured. On Thursday, February 20th in the Library’s
Barth Community, learn all about it from author and journalist Lew Irwin, when
he presents this fascinating look into Los Angeles history at 7:00 p.m.



 The
story of the bombing, the manhunt for the perpetrators, and the aftermath that
would wreck the career of America's most famous attorney and set back the
American labor movement by a generation, makes for fascinating reading,
particularly at a time when terrorism again threatens American society.  The magnificent cast of characters
includes: General Harrison Gray Otis, owner of the Los Angeles Times, whose
determined effort to keep Los Angeles non-union led to its being singled out as
a bombing target; William J. Burns, who tracked down the bombers and became the
first director of the FBI and founder of what remains the largest private
security organization in the world; Earl Rogers, the brilliant criminal
attorney, who became Erle Stanley Gardner's model for Perry Mason; the
legendary attorney Clarence Darrow, who defended the bombers but who in
desperation attempted to bribe two jurors; the muckraking journalist Lincoln
Steffens, who had hoped to persuade the bombers to confess to him, thereby
giving him the scoop of a lifetime.



Author Lew Irwin has had a hand in nearly every
facet of news and information broadcasting. His career in journalism began in
high school at the Los Angeles Times where he researched a sports trivia
column. While still an undergraduate at USC, he was hired to host News Today, a nationally syndicated
radio program whose regular contributors included Eleanor Roosevelt and
legendary commentator H. V. Kaltenborn.  For
the next 15 years, Irwin's was a familiar face and voice in Southern California
as he anchored television news programs or directed the news operations of
leading radio stations, always adding a flair for humor and for pointing out
the extraordinary. In 1968, he produced and hosted The Credibility Gap on KRLA Los Angeles, which integrated topical satire
and music with the news. Time and Newsweek wrote full-page articles about it,
and it was featured in a long segment on the CBS Evening News with Walter
Cronkite.  He currently is the
publisher/editor of Studio Briefing,
a daily digest of entertainment industry news. (http://www.studiobriefing.net)



On Deadly Times: The 1910 Bombing of the Los Angeles Times and America's
Forgotten Decade of Terror
by Lew Irwin:

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Harry Chandler has called it,
"a most fascinating and can't-put-down story."



"A gripping must-read tale of turbulent times." -- Dr. John
Horgan, director, International Center for the Study
of Terrorism, Penn State University

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 "Irwin, a veteran television journalist, is an artist in prose."
-- Anthony Mostrom, L.A. Weekly



 "Masterfully" written. -- Publishers Weekly



 





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