Los Angeles Times

Roberto Cortez: If anyone epitomizes the modern culinary equivalent of a Dadaist artist…

Abby Franke: An unexpected friendship, a challah tribute.

Bill Okal: The congenial conjurer, still working his magic on the street crowds at 76 yrs young.

The Golden Men’s Club Days: Aldous Huxley, Jim Backus and a whole lot of hula hoop calisthenics.

Clown Renegades: When the next generation of clowns ditch the Eight Clown Commandments.

Big City Pickers: The same old-time twang with unexpected young new pickers.

Marion Manners and Prudence Penny: The first celebrity chefs, if somewhat intangible ones.

Pam Wright: Cobbling things together, even with no place to call home.

Armand Sahakian: A tale of unexpected Turkish delight in California.

Kurt Kruegermann: Building a successful pickle factory, and a new life, from junkyard scrap.

Nancy Rowland: A schoolteacher with relish determination rooted in 1930s/40s Hollywood history.

Yvan Valentin: A Hollywood pastry sensation disappears from the celebrity radar.

Sisters of the Suds: Women in a testosterone-laden brew club era; the first inklings of the home brewing revival way, way back in 2008.

Popsicle Stick Furniture: The amazing Elmer’s glue-only furniture designs of David Hrobowski. (photos here)

Rogues, Nomads, Dissident Chefs: And so begins a year of cross-country travels, meeting countless characters for the book Secret Suppers.

Other Pubs

Renee Gunter: She calls it a crossroads, some call it selfless (neighborhood) devotion, with a fresh apple kind of tough love. AARP

Bill & Barbara Spencer: A cellist and her husband start a farm from scratch, albeit arguably not at the ideal twilight years time for backbreaking work. No matter. AARP

Brent Edelen: A 6th generation beekeper who flies his bees on prop plane, crashes overnight in caves, and is determined to get back to his raw roots. LA Weekly & Cooking Light

Steve Sando: A bean king on being a better neighbor, and giving a little chocolate love back. AARP