A lesson about time: Laura Hunt’s antique clock has an unfortunate encounter with Waldo Lydecker’s shotgun in “Laura.”
As I have said here before: So many stories, only one Larry Harnisch.
In September, I put aside a long series of posts on the making of the 1944 film “Laura” to examine the Georgette Bauerdorf killing, also from 1944.
With the conclusion of the Bauerdorf project, I will be resuming the posts on “Laura,” but there is a catch.
I try to work several weeks ahead, so when I stopped in September, I had more than a dozen unpublished posts on “Laura” and the research was fresh in my mind.
Three months later, however, the trail is cold and I have to go back and review some aspects of the film. There is no way to do this without a noticeable seam between the old and new. The old posts will run through about Dec. 24 and the new posts will follow. This is an open-ended project, but I expect to conclude in January or February at the latest.
And after I finish “Laura,” I will be taking an extended sabbatical, probably for a year.
I have been blogging about Los Angeles history on a daily basis since 2005, first at the 1947project, with a detour for a long series of posts on Donald Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files,” then the L.A. Daily Mirror, first at the Los Angeles Times and then as an independent project.
In that time, I have seen several history blogs sprout up and vanish – because they are an unimaginable amount of work. It’s the equivalent of a second job.
At this point in my life, aside from my duties at The Times, I need to make the Black Dahlia book my primary focus.
Mary Mallory’s posts will continue, as will the mystery photos, so there will be reasons to come back. But I won’t be writing anything else unless inspiration strikes. This was not an easy decision, because I enjoy doing the daily posts. But I have to be realistic and admit that if I am going to write a book, the blog will have to be put aside, at least for a year.
Stay tuned for “Laura” and then I’ll be taking a well-earned sabbatical.
