Justin’s Newsletter: February 2025
Vol. 5, Issue 2
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What’s Up With Me
Last month, my newsletter was just sharing my family’s GoFundMe page. After my family lost two homes in the Eaton Fire, I couldn’t get a full newsletter together. I had too much going on. A disaster like this is all-consuming. Thanks to everyone for your support so far (feel free to share the link with anyone who’s interested in supporting Eaton Fire survivors). The grief is indescribable, and doesn’t get better with time—Altadena was my home, my community, and now so much of it is gone forever. Zorthian Ranch, where I got married, Fox’s Restaurant, the Town & Country Club, Rancho Bar, Altadena Hardware, countless neighbors’ and friends’ homes, and so much more. This was such a special, unique place. Now it only exists in our memories. So unbelievably fucked up.
I was quoted extensively in this front page LA Times story about my family’s situation in the fire, and how we and everyone else west of Lake Ave. did not even get an evacuation warning until it was far too late. All of the known deaths happened west of Lake. My parents had to flee at 3 in the morning, barely escaping with their lives, and still there was no warning until half an hour after that. Thank you to the Times for putting a spotlight on this issue, which needs investigating.
I was also quoted in this Pasadena Now story about Altadena, and my initial reflections in the days immediately after the fire were published in Culture Honey Magazine, as were my wife’s.
Read my new article in Pasadena Now about the indie rock band Bright Eyes, who played an Eaton Fire relief show in Glendale and a full set at the Wiltern. Photos by Mercedes Blackehart. Dedicated to my late friend Levi Groseclose, who turned me on to Bright Eyes back in 2009 in Oakland.
Watch the January and February 2025 episodes of my TV show, “Pasadena Monthly with Justin Chapman.” In January, I focused on the Eaton Fire and interviewed Altadena Town Council Vice Chair Nic Arnzen, who represents the same district I did when I was on the Council in 2005-2007. In February, I interviewed Katie Hill, former member of Congress and the new CEO of Union Station Homeless Services.
"Pasadena Monthly" has been nominated as a finalist in the Alliance for Community Media West's WAVE Awards (Western Access Video Excellence)! Winners will be announced in March. Watch the nominated episode here.
Two episodes of my other TV show, "Well Read with Justin Chapman," have also been nominated as finalists in the WAVE video awards. Hat trick! Watch the nominated episodes here and here.
Around Town
Great Reads
Here are some recommendations for interesting books I’ve read recently:
Adolf Hitler (volumes 1 & 2)—John Toland
Published in 1976, these massive volumes are a very deep dive into every facet of Hitler’s life, from his early years and the questions around his grandparents’ heritage to his beggar/artist/soldier years to his early political development to the rise of the Nazi Party and of course through the entirety of World War II. A must read for anyone who’s interested in history and/or scared of the unstoppable rise of authoritarianism (and how to stop it). Feels particularly relevant these days, for some reason I can’t quite put my finger on.
The Last Ronin and The Last Ronin: Lost Years—Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman
These trade paperback collections of the next generation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics/graphic novels are so good. With a new, serious, gritty narrative in which three of the four turtles are dead and the focus is on the last surviving turtle as he battles Shredder’s grandson, followed by another one in which four brand-new turtles grow up and take their place in a post-apocalyptic New York City, these comics are really well-written and well-drawn adventures that break new ground in the now 41-year-old franchise (!). There is a third collection (The Last Ronin II: Re-Evolution) coming out on July 8 that continues the story of the four new turtles, Yi, Odyn, Moja, and Uno, led by Casey Jones’ and April O’Neil’s daughter, Casie Marie Jones. The kids like me who grew up with the Ninja Turtles are now in their late 30s and early 40s, so these adult versions mean the Turtles are growing up right along with us.
Spotlight on My Past Stories
My daughter and I are heading to San Francisco next month for an Irish citizenship ceremony. Here’s a throwback to my story in the Irish Post about journalist Fintan O’Toole’s book We Don’t Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Modern Ireland.
And read all of my journalism here.