hello from hell
updates from Los Angeles
What a fucking week. I’m not quite ready to discuss it all, but suffice it to say, despite evacuation threats, a blaze just four miles from our house and nonstop Watch Duty red-flag alerts that had me sleeping in my clothes, me and mine are all physically safe and our current home — and our new home, as of next week — are both safe too. This is not the case for dozens of people we know, including three of my closest friends whose homes burned to the ground late Tuesday as they fled in the night with their children and pets.
Just a few miles from where we live, entire neighborhoods are decimated. Supermarkets, schools, churches, libraries, local coffee shops and restaurants — just poof, disappeared. Things I love in LA are gone forever, including Zorthian Ranch, a magical, 70-year-old artist’s colony in Altadena where I once spent a week writing Ambition Monster.
The air is thick with smoke and collective grief. It’s impossible to wrap your head around. Yesterday on my (masked) dog walk, it was raining debris, what initially looked like snow or ash was actually tiny pieces of scorched books.
The closest I’ve ever felt to this was in New York, in the days just post 9/11. Even if you weren’t personally impacted by the tragedy, you knew someone who was, felt the palpable heartbreak and terror, could smell the destruction in the wind. In those days post 9/11, I couldn’t imagine how New York would ever be the same. Looking back, I don’t know that it ever was. I feel that way about Los Angeles now. Our communities will rebuild, but some essence has forever changed, so much of the city’s history vanished. The fire’s left an indelible mark.
Obviously, the worst thing anyone could do in this moment is send anyone a Mary Oliver quote or talk about how it’s just stuff (but I’m already seeing it happen!). We can’t toxic positivity our way out of the emotional and physical mess.
What we can do is help and here are a few places I’ve been looking to, if you’re interested.
The LA Times has a quality list of orgs to donate to. I know anecdotally animal shelters are in dire need of support.
If you’re local, Mutual Aid LA has compiled the most comprehensive, reliable list I’ve seen for resources and how to volunteer and which supplies are needed.
Zorthian Ranch has a GoFundMe if you want to lend a hand in rebuilding a haven for local artists and also keep this land out of the hands of greedy developers.
And last, and this one is personal, but my dear friend/wonderful person (and former Lucky mag staffer) Liz Flahive lost everything in the Eaton fire. She’s a television writer who’s already been living though the Hollywood shitshow of the past few years and can use our help. You probably know (and I suspect love) her work: She writes mostly feminist TV/strong female characters and was the co-creator/showrunner of the Netflix show G.L.O.W.
More soon.
xo
I've lived here 30 + years and been through many shitshows, from the Northridge Earthquake to Rodney King and everything in between and since. NOTHING holds a candle (no pun intended) to this. It's Apocolyptic. There is no other word for it. I know so many people who have lost their homes. And, I fear, it will put the final nail in the coffin of the movie and TV business.
Jenn, I'm heartbroken for you and the whole city. But as usual, your writing really crystallizes things. I'm a New Yorker and remember the feeling of 9/11 vividly, I am so sorry you are experiencing that shit show a second time (minus Bush and Cheney, but still...). Hugs.