I love books. I love them so much that when I was a kid in elementary school, I’d spend most of my Saturdays in the old San Pedro Library while many of my peers were out playing ball on the sandlots (which is why they became athletes and I became a sports writer).
I was into history and science fiction, but my favorite books were by humorist and poet Richard Armour, who wrote satires such as American Lit Relit, The Classics Reclassified, and It All Started with Columbus.
What I didn’t know at the time was that Armour was born and raised in San Pedro, his father having moved here in 1904 and opened a pharmacy. I discovered this when I got a copy of Armour’s Drug Store Days: My Youth Among the Pills and Potions, published in 1959 and still available on Amazon.
With that in mind, and knowing how much San Pedrans love their town, I’m going to list here and over the next couple of months all the books I know of that were either written by San Pedrans, written about San Pedro, or include San Pedrans.
It’s a long list that I’ve broken down by topic and present in no particular order. Many of the books are no longer available (although some may be at the library), many are self-published and hard to find, but most can be found on Amazon. I’ve reviewed many of them in this column over the years, and there are a lot of good reads; if I’ve missed one, let me know. So put down your smartphone, turn off the big-screen TV, and grab a book.
MEMOIR
Levitation’s View: Lessons Voiced From an Extraordinary Journey, Vol. 1 The Wonder Years and Vol. 2 The Wooden Years by Willie Naulls. If you have to ask who’s Willie Naulls, you’re not a real San Pedran.
Autobiography of Michael George Markulis: A Professional Police Officer, Educator, Family Man by Michael George Markulis.
Missing: The Search for My Son—A True Story by Vivian Churness.
The Uninvited Guest: From the Docks to the Doorsteps by Ed Storti.
Mooney: A Story About a Girl and Her Horse by Betsy Gude Borda. When residents of Paseo Del Mar had stables.
Tales From the Ammo Dump: A Vietnam Vet Recalls His Time in the United States Army by Van Barbre.
From East Garrison to the Ranch House by Peter J. Gravett. The Black experience growing up in San Pedro, as told by the retired Army general.
Escaping the Kill Zone: My Journey From LAPD’s Zebra Unit to Undercover Federal Operative in the Las Vegas Mafia by Mike J. Powell.
Second to the Last to Leave USS Arizona by Lauren F. Bruner and Edward J. McGrath. Seven San Pedrans died on the Arizona.
The Many Adventures of a Flying Fish Sailor by John Lewis Barbre. Van’s father.
The John Barbre Life Story by John Lewis Barbre.
Apricots & Figs: An Immigrant Father-Son Story by Anthony Pirozzi, Jr.
When the Devil Smiles the Angels Frown: My Life and Times in Rock ‘n’ Roll by Leo Rossi.
View From the Top of the Mast by Bungy Hedley. Hedley’s family lived at Royal Palms.
Eli Hedley Beachcomber Original 1943 Catalog by Bungy Hedley.
How Daddy Became a Beachcomber by Marilyn Hedley.
An Ocean of Inspiration: The John Olguin Story by Stefan Harzen, Barbara J. Brunnick, and Mike Schaadt.
A Gaetano in America: My Unexpected Journey from Gaeta, Italy to the United States by Ray Vaudo.
RELIGION
A Guide to Building Character in Blocks of Poetic Rhyme by Willie Naulls.
The Book of Daniel: A Well-Kept Secret Beyond and More by Charles Eisenberg. The minister and evangelist was the son of the owner of San Pedro’s legendary Shanghai Red bar.
40 Questions About Heaven and Hell by Alan Gomes. The latest of several books from the professor of theology at Biola, a San Pedro High graduate.
The Christian Family by Larry Christenson. A longtime Trinity Lutheran Church pastor and founder of the Lutheran renewal movement, wrote this best-seller.
Partnering with the King: Study the Gospel of Matthew and Become a Disciple of Jesus by John Hiigel. A Bible professor at the University of Sioux Falls and San Pedro High student body president.
Leadership in 1 Corinthians: A Case Study in Paul’s Ecclesiology by John Hiigel.
The Lutheran Theology of the Holy Spirit by Fred Perry Hall. Longtime Eastview resident sat under Christenson at Trinity Lutheran.
Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels by J. Warner Wallace. Raised in San Pedro, the retired Torrance police detective has written several books on apologetics.
Topics to come: history, sports, biography, novel, anthology, and others. spt
San Pedro native Steve Marconi began writing about his hometown after graduating from high school in 1969. After a career as a sportswriter, he was a copy editor and columnist for the News-Pilot and Daily Breeze for 20 years before joining the L.A. Times. He has been writing monthly for San Pedro magazines since 2005, and in 2018 became a registered longshoreman. Marconi can be reached at spmarconi@yahoo.com.
Share Your Comments