News, Column: Mike Davis’ final email to me captured the L.A. ‘sewer explosion’ — and reminded me to write, not mourn : detailed suggestions and opinions about Column: Mike Davis’ final email to me captured the L.A. ‘sewer explosion’ — and reminded me to write, not mourn .
After leaked audio of Los Angeles City Council members saying all sorts of bigoted blabber unleashed a political earthquake, I got an email from a much-missed voice.
“Even if the tape was made a year ago,” Mike Davis wrote to friends, family and me on Oct. 13, “its release correlates to the unexpectedly strong performance of progressive candidates in the June primaries and should be interpreted in that light.”
We had last talked in July, when the two of us spent hours at his San Diego home chatting about his life and, well, life. Mike had decided to end chemotherapy. The author of so many books that predicted the Los Angeles of today at its best and worst — “City of Quartz,” “Ecology of Fear,” “Magical Urbanism” — wanted to spend his last days with his wife and children and read, not write.
So his surprise note about what he deemed “the sewer explosion at 200 N. Spring” (referring to L.A. City Hall’s address) was a joy. Though brief, it was classic Mike: Unsparing. Brilliant. Funny. Caring. Prophetic.
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