– Paul Tanck   I feel that 2016 is the year of death. Look at the “celebrities” that have left us suddenly and too soon this year so far: David Bowie, Merle Haggard, Glenn Frey, Patty Duke, Alan Rickman, Garry Shandling, Maurice White, Paul Kantner, Sir George Martin, Nancy Reagan, Morley Safer, Prince… All gut-wrenching...

by Jon Wolff The Free Venice Beachhead is the oldest newspaper published of, by, and for Venetians. It has reflected the complex Spirit of Venice for decades. The Beachhead has served as a chronicle of the history of struggle of the Venice Community and is known the world over as the journal of record of...

by Jon Wolff In April of 1969, a Venice activist by the name of Helene Wolff presented a prepared statement to Los Angeles City Planning Commission. It went something like this: The City’s study of Venice is founded on the idea that it is desirable that property values go up and that everything else is...

By Phyllis Hayashibara, member of the VJAMM Committee, [email protected] The Venice Japanese American Memorial Monument Committee takes great pleasure in announcing that David Williams, founder and owner of Williams Monument Company in Arvin, California, will supply the solid black granite VJAMM obelisk. David will be ordering the black granite from his supplier in India, known...

I worked with Margie Ghiz in the Midnight Special Bookstore collective when the bookstore was at 1335 1/2 West Washington Boulevard (now renamed Abbot Kinney Boulevard).  Then, as well as later after the bookstore moved to the Santa Monica Mall, Margie was a strong spirit of positive change. There will be a memorial service  this...

Venice California: “Coney Island of the Pacific”, by Jeffrey Stanton (1993 & 2005) Death is a Lonely Business, by Ray Bradbury (1985). The famous writer brings his descriptive powers to a novel set in Venice circa late 1940s If The Dead Had Email, by Jim Smith (2011). Available at Beyond Baroque and Amazon. Hour of...

By John Davis The L.A. County Board of Supervisors are on a rampage. They want to wipe out the natural virtues of natural coastal environments, replacing them with sterile flood control projects. First, the County supported California State Parks as it went after Malibu Lagoon; surfer Athena N. Shlien witnessed it. “As far as I...

By Marty Liboff As a small child, my mom used to scare me with gory stories and ghastly books that had horrible photos of dead Jews in concentration camps. She would cry, “See what the Nazis did to our family!” I remember around 1953 when I was about five there was a shop on Main...

By Greta Cobar Not long ago, only about six years, quite a few Venice long-term residents lived in vehicles. They were groovy – both the vehicles and the residents. The Venice vehicularly-housed citizens cared deeply about our beautiful resort by the sea, participated in community events and local politics, and lent a hand when one...

By Greta Cobar The very last two historic houses on OFW are about to be torn down. According to the Notice of Public Hearing posted on the Speedway side of the 811-815 Ocean Front Walk properties: “Permit for the demolition of two existing residential buildings containing a total of nine dwelling units, and the construction...