Rio La: Tales from the Los Angeles River

by Patt Morrison

The bestselling book about the Los Angeles River, originally published in 2001, is updated with an Afterword that includes the Los Angeles County 2021 Master Plan to improve the quality of life and ecosystem health in the region--all centered at the original source, the Los Angeles River.

RIO-LA: Tales from the Los Angeles River 20th Anniversary Edition traces the history and lore of the Los Angeles River. When the book was...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1626401039
• ISBN13: 9781626401037
• Release Date: January 2022
• Publisher: Angel City Press
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 10.2" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

The L.A. River Needs All the Help It Can Get

This book is done in a table top format and should be within reach at all times- at least for all Angelinos and natural flowing river advocates. It is not a scholarly treatment and not meant to be, rather, it is an anecdotal effort to bring awareness of the *existence* of the river and bring people up to speed via a quick overview of the history and current affairs of the river. This is accomplished with good text and photos by Patt Morrison (Los Angeles Times columnist, extraordinaire) and Mark Lamonica (a great photographer). It is ironic that the first Europeans settled and founded Los Angeles *because* of the river, never mind the Indians that were here first and had revered the river for centuries for it's life providing qualities, yet in so many years and due to huge population growth, demands for ever increasing water volume caused people to start looking elsewhere, ie., wells, lake diversions, catch-basins, etc. The river became a nuisance from it's pesky habit of changing it's course through periodic floods and then ran dry for much of the year. Eventually, the river was channeled and turned into a huge concrete drainage ditch- not a pretty site. Access to the river was fenced-off, so it pretty much became ignored. Well, not quite. Very dedicated people (including Patt Morrison) have been drawing attention to the river and calling for it's revitalization as a river complete with native flora/fauna. "Friends of the L.A. River" is one such group and there are many more. There are significant stretches of the river that have been rehabilitated to a more natural and original condition and many would love to see this happen over the entire 51 mile run it makes from the headwaters in the San Fernando Valley all the way to Long Beach where it meets the Pacific Ocean- and this is doable! The river just needs more attention drawn to it and that is the essence of this book. If anyone wants a more scientific (hydrology, meterology, etc.), scholarly and historically fact filled book about the river, check out what most people refer to as the definitive science and history of the river: "The Los Angeles River: It's Life, Death, and Possible Rebirth" by Blake Gumprecht (Patt Morrison references it in her book). In combination, these 2 books give a compelling voice of hope to the continuing revitalization and respect for Rio L.A.

A great read!!

That other review must be from a disgruntled author. Patt Morrison's book is filled with historical information about the Los Angeles River, plus wonderful anecdotes and a very readable style--I bought it because I saw it on the LA Times BESTSELLER list for six weeks and decided to see what I was missing. The people who put it on the list by buying it know what's great--I love this book. A book doesn't have to be long like Gumprecht's to be fulfilling. Plus this book has compelling photographs that tell their own incredible story. Hooray for Patt Morrison and Mark Lamonica!

Laugh Me A River

This is a great read. Are you frustrated by most Americanss lack of interest in our own "place" history? Then this is a must. Ms. Morrison, celebrated as one of the smartest and wittiest writers to come out of LA in a long time, takes a subject which to most of us appears, ironically, "absent" --- i.e: the LA River is, with few exceptions, DRY! -- and turns it into a re-discovery of the wild origins of this baffling city. There is legend, lore, intrigue (ruthless water grabbers right out of the movie "Chinatown") weird history, and many surprises. Imagine writing team Art Buchwald & Norman McLean pitching an environmental caper movie to studio mogul Molly Ivins, who recommends a polish by Scott Simon.