From the wild horses way up north in Modoc National Forest to the jazz clubs of 1940s Los Angeles, Alta’s biggest stories of 2019 are as eclectic as the coast we love to cover. Wrap up your year with this recap of our most popular work, including a peek into the underground subcultures of the City of Angels, fiction and poetry from notable West Coast authors, and a podcast interview with the Vietnam War’s most prolific resister. This is a year in the life of Alta.
1. Feral Horses, Fierce Controversy
Wild mustang populations are out of control, competing with cattle and native wildlife for resources. If the federal government doesn’t rein them in, ranchers may take matters into their own hands. (This cover story also garnered the most reader mail of any story in 2019. Read the highlights.) By Jason G. Goldman
2. The Night Charlie Parker Soared in South Central L.A.
After spending six months in detox at Camarillo State Hospital, a reinvigorated Charlie Parker went to Jack’s Basket Room and gave what is considered by many to be the greatest performance of his life. By Lynell George
Caltech professor Gregg Hallinan and his team are scanning the universe for possible Earths with cheap antennae built from parts found online, cake pans, and, yes, chicken wire. They’re taking the lonely search for habitable planets and automating it. By Po Bronson
4. David Harris Might Be Dying, but He Continues to Resist
Few resisters from the Vietnam antiwar era had a bigger impact than David Harris, who inspired generations to have the courage of their convictions. Now dying of cancer, he wants his message heard again. By Alan Goldfarb, podcast interview by Beth Spotswood
The team at Alta is especially proud of this 16-page special section of the magazine featuring 28 book titles from West Coast authors, editors, critics, photographers, and poets. Our bookstore partners created in-store displays showcasing books from this section, we recorded a podcast with several included authors, and we hosted a number of events with writers who appear in our Book Guide. Edited by David Ulin
Longer fire seasons, bigger blazes, and urban encroachment into the wilderness pose new challenges for those charged with fighting flames from the sky. By Bonnie Tsui
7. Lost Beneath Lake Berryessa
Napa County’s largest lake covers 1.6 million acre-feet—and submerged an entire town. Dorothea Lange photographed the flooding of the valley in the 1950s. By Joy Lanzendorfer
Lucy Fisher started out as a waitress and ended up running a studio. Will Hearst sits down for a Q&A with the groundbreaking Hollywood executive. By Will Hearst
From the author of Maggie Brown & Others comes a new short story involving a dilapidated mansion, Lizzie Borden, and a feeling of existential loneliness. By Peter Orner
Far beyond the polish and respectability of Disney Hall and the Huntington lies a vibrant subculture of performance art, drag nights, and bondage and body modification events. Photographer Safi Alia Shabaik is there to capture it all. Photography by Safi Alia Shabaik
11. Make a Poem Cry
Luis J. Rodriguez was poet laureate of Los Angeles from 2014 to 2016. He’s the author of eight books of poetry and the founding editor of Tia Chucha Press. By Luis J. Rodriguez
12. To Live and Die at the L.A. Times
Billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong bought the Los Angeles Times and inherited a hot mess of plummeting revenues, declining circulation, unionization, and a damaging cyberattack. That was the easy part. By Mark Potts
