(October 2, 2023 - Los Angeles, CA)—The Autry Museum of the American West hosts a conversation with Zev Yaroslavsky on his memoir Zev's Los Angeles: From Boyle Heights to the Halls of Power, A Political Memoir on Tuesday, October 10, 2023, at 7 p.m.

The son of Ukrainian Jews who immigrated to the United States in the early 1920s, Zev Yaroslavsky’s memoir charts the journey of a young social activist who battled to free Soviet Jews before becoming one of the most consequential elected officials in Southern California.

Combining an activist’s passion with a seasoned politician’s skill, Yaroslavsky challenged the region’s power brokers, making his memoir an engrossing guide to the history, politics and culture of Los Angeles over the last five decades. 

"My book is more than a memoir," Yaroslavsky said. "It's a history of Los Angeles spanning one of its most transformative periods—the last half-century. It chronicles the growth and demographic changes that characterize the L.A. we know today."

Yaroslavsky fought the Los Angeles Police Department’s excessive force and political spying policies, led the effort to ban local taxes from funding the 1984 Olympics, teamed with President Clinton to avert a catastrophic county bankruptcy, helped develop L.A.’s modern transit system, won a bruising battle with real estate interests to save the Santa Monica Mountains from rapacious development and was pivotal in the development of Walt Disney Concert Hall and the modernization of the iconic Hollywood Bowl. 
 
The conversation with Yaroslavsky will be followed by a book signing and a light reception. Admission is free but remember to reserve your ticket online as there will be limited seating.

For more information, please visit theAutry.org.

---

This event is produced with support from the John and LaRee Caughey Foundation. The Caughey Foundation supports non-profit organizations working towards civil rights and promoting the study of the American West. Although the Foundation is closing after 55 years of good work, the John and LaRee Caughey Foundation has provided funding for many years for the biannual Caughey Lecture series at the Autry Museum of the American West.

 

Download press release as PDF (201.17 KB)