Letters & Opinions

In his excellent podcast series, “Cold War: Prelude to the Present,” Bill Whittle opens the series by describing the Berlin Wall as “not only a wall between East and West Berlin.” He continues: "It was the division of humanity into two different camps… On one side of the wall, the Eastern side, were the collectivists, who believed that society takes precedent over the person.

I am often asked, "Where is the best place to start my manuscript?" Good question. There are as many answers to this one as there are questions. What, for instance, is the nature of your story? Are you working on a biography, or is your story fiction? Is it romantic, or about someone with a major disadvantage who is struggling to reach goals in life?

Bathed in early-morning sunlight, the 46-year-old L.A.-based tech centimillionaire and longevity celebrity didn’t look much younger than his age, although he claims to have the wrinkles of a 10-year-old and organs that are several years younger than his lifespan. We were standing at the Temescal Canyon trailhead in Pacific Palisades on Jan. 13, ahead of a Johnson-sponsored “Don’t Die” hike, one of many organized across the world that day and the only one hosted by him. Of the 500-plus people who had RSVP’d for the L.A. event, about 200 showed up.

Facing a state budget deficit of at least $38 billion, Gov. Gavin Newsom should be rethinking his expensive commitment to the state’s traditional system of mass incarceration. While insisting he will create a kinder, gentler brand of California prison, the governor has authorized $1 billion in raises for corrections officers and hundreds of millions more for prison buildings despite a steady decline of the incarcerated population and skyrocketing costs.

I received a rather unusual request this week from Barbara in Palm Springs. “I am writing about a government agency. How do I research that? I’ve been running into blank walls.”