Baseball's 'Stealing Home' Is First Up: New Library Author Series

LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CA — Two writers, Eric Nusbaum and Gustavo Arellano, next week will kick-off a 10-month, "Be The Change Series: Inclusion – Diversity – Equity – Antiracism" series via libraries throughout the Southland.

The pair will discuss Nusbaum’s new book, Stealing Home: Los Angeles, the Dodgers, and the Lives Caught in Between, during a free, public-library forum at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24. Registration for the virtual event is available at this link.

The library-sponsored forum, available to all Los Angeles County residents, coincides with Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month and is intended to help build a collective understanding of systemic racism, elevate the voices and stories of Black, Indigenous and People of Color and inspire the community to be the change, organizers said.

Nusbaum's Stealing Home is a tale of baseball, family, the American Dream and the fight to turn Los Angeles into a big league city.

"The hills that cradle Dodger Stadium were once home to three vibrant Mexican-American communities," library organizers said. "In the early 1950s, those communities were condemned to make way for a utopian public-housing project. Then, in a remarkable turn, public housing in the city was defeated amidst a Red Scare conspiracy.

"Instead of getting their homes back, the remaining residents saw the city sell their land to Walter O'Malley, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers. But before Dodger Stadium could be built, the city would have to face down the neighborhood's families, including the Aréchigas, who refused to yield their home. The ensuing confrontation captivated the nation and the divisive outcome still echoes through Los Angeles today."

The work of Nusbaum, a writer and former editor at VICE, has appeared in Sports Illustrated, ESPN the magazine, The Daily Beast, Deadspin and the Best American Sports Writing anthology.

Gustavo Arellano is a long-time investigative reporter, a Los Angeles Times columnist and author of ¡Ask a Mexican! and Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America.

The Be The Change Series also will discuss the one-year anniversary of the 2020 racial justice protests and 100-year anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre.

The series will include virtual lectures, exhibits and online programs from authors, curators and historians. The effort is led by Glendale Library, Arts & Culture, the Southern California Library Cooperative and Santa Monica Public Library with sponsorship and funding from the City of Glendale Arts and Culture Commission and Glendale's Urban Art Fund.

Other upcoming author programs include:

• American Indian Heritage Month – with Walter R. Echo-Hawk, In the Courts of the Conquerors: The 10 Worst Indian Law Cases Ever Decided, Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 6:30 p.m.

• Black History Month – with Richard Rothstein, The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021 at 6:30 p.m.

For more information, call library information at 818-548-2021, email staff at LibraryInfo@GlendaleCA.gov or follow this link.

ALSO SEE:

• 'Nights Of Jack' Plans Halloween Drive-Thru For 2020 In SF Valley
• Griffith Park's 'Haunted Hayride' 'Drive-Up' Scare For 2020