Keeping History Alive Series Continues With Author, Paul Haddad

Join us on Saturday, January 18 at 11 am in the historic barn as author, Paul Haddad discusses his latest book, Inventing Paradise: The Power Brokers Who Created The Dream Of Los Angeles.

Inventing Paradise: The Power Brokers Who Created the Dream of Los Angeles traces the improbable rise of Los Angeles through the prism of six visionaries who had outsize influence on the city’s growth, starting Phineas Banning, the Father of Los Angeles Harbor. Other titans of industry include Harrison Gray Otis, Henry Huntington, Harry Chandler, William Mulholland, and Moses Sherman.

In the early 1880s, Los Angeles was a violent, dusty, 29-square-mile pueblo with a few thousand souls, largely unchanged since its founding in 1781. By 1932, its size had swelled to within 96% of its current 468 square miles, housing a staggering 1.2 million people. In just 50 years, L.A. had joined the ranks of other world-class cities. Power came from a select few, whose triumphs, scandals, and correspondence are well documented in Inventing Paradise. 

Author of the Los Angeles Times Bestseller Inventing Paradise: The Power Brokers Who Created the Dream of Los Angeles, Paul Haddad has penned several nonfiction books exploring the contextual roots of his native Los Angeles, including the critically acclaimed Freewaytopia: How Freeways Shaped Los Angeles and 10,000 Steps a Day in L.A.: 57 Walking Adventures, also an L.A. Times Bestseller.

This event is FREE for Friends of Banning Museum members and $5 for non-members. Parking is on the street. Call 310-548-2005 to reserve your seat. Leave a message.