Location: Cinnabar Street between First and Second Streets
Date: March 19, 1915
Construction worker Gregory Perez narrowly escaped death when the dirt walls of the apartment house basement he was excavating for contractor Philip Younger collapsed on top of him. Trapped beneath tons of dirt, he was protected by a network of collapsed wooden banks which came to a point above him. His frantic colleagues were able to introduce a sharp stick through the soil, letting sufficient air in that Perez was able to offer encouraging commentary during the struggle to free him, and after four hours he emerged, grateful and uninjured, into the light of day
Author: Kim Cooper
Kim Cooper is the creator of 1947project, the crime-a-day time travel blog that spawned Esotouric’s popular crime bus tours, including The Real Black Dahlia. She is the author of The Kept Girl, the acclaimed historical mystery starring the young Raymond Chandler and the real-life Philip Marlowe, and of The Raymond Chandler Map of Los Angeles. With husband Richard Schave, Kim curates the Salons and forensic science seminars of LAVA- The Los Angeles Visionaries Association. When the third generation Angeleno isn’t combing old newspapers for forgotten scandals, she is a passionate advocate for historic preservation of signage, vernacular architecture and writer’s homes. Kim was for many years the editrix of Scram, a journal of unpopular culture. Her books include Fall in Love For Life, Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth, Lost in the Grooves and an oral history of Neutral Milk Hotel.
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