Show & Tell: LA Fires and Ways to Help
Unstacked Digest for the week of January 6 - 12
Los Angeles is on fire.
Many people have lost everything. I have been incredibly lucky and have been spared. I don’t have a lot I want to say to you all about books this week, because Los Angeles is on fire.
My family and I are all safe. We did evacuate for one night out of an abundance of caution, but we are safe. Thank you all for checking in on us.
I won’t be giving a traditional Grown Up Show & Tell this week. I will share the two books I read this week before Tuesday (both reviews I wrote before the fires as well) and the few other things related to The Stacks. Other than that, I just want to share some fire resources.
I will not be raging about the horrors of capitalism1 and climate change. Though I might some day soon. I will also not be raging about the out of touch ways people have behaved this week. though I may use that for a thing I hate in a future week of GUS&T. But please know I feel the rage. Deeply.
I hope to be back more in the swing of things by the end of this week. There will be episodes, but there might not be much else. We’ll see. The winds are picking back up today, LA is not in the clear from these fires. I am going to stay focused on my city and my people. The Stacks and that work comes second. Thank you all for understanding that.
FIRE RESOURCES
The below is a very truncated list of ways to help. I am sharing more over on my Instagram. I have a saved story there with more to make things as easy as possible. This list is more geared toward folks wishing to help who have not lost their homes or jobs. I do have resources for those folks, so if you need them please reach out.
The Stacks Community
Sadly two members of The Stacks community lost homes in the fire. Cherie, who works with me on events (the tour), design (the new website), and more (The Mega Challenge) lost her home. If you wish to support Cherie and her daughter, please check out their Gofundme. I adore Cherie and couldn’t do so much of what I do without her.
I do a live show with LAist in Pasadena called One for the Books, and my amazing producer Becca Stumme also lost her home. Her son also lost his preschool. The scope of these fires is just beyond what I can comprehend. If you can chip in to support Becca and her family, that would mean a lot.
While Nikki High and the folks at Octavia’s Bookshelf do not work with me, they are a part of the LA book scene and they’re part of my community here in LA. They set up a relief site immediately following the fires at their shop which is in Pasadena. I visited on both Friday and Saturday and got to see and talk to folks who had lost their homes and were receiving donations. They are making such an impact in the community. That cannot be overstated. All of this while Nikki didn’t know the status of her home2 and is living out of a hotel. This is just one example of why indie bookstores matter.
GoFundMe
Please consider donating to any of the many many many Gofundmes. Money is the most urgent need right now. For folks who feel like they can only give $5 here and there this is the best use of that money. I know many of us feel like there is too much need and we can’t make any impact, please do not feel that way. A little money can go a long way with these large communal efforts. A handful of people giving $5 dollars each quickly can amount to a suitcase to carry things from place to place as people find their new permanent housing. Resist the urge to let shame or feelings of inadequacy stop you from giving whatever you can. Whatever you can do is more than enough. Thank you.
If you’re not able to donate money or have maxed out your contributions for the moment, consider the advice above. Be a shepherd for a Gofundme. Make this your obsession. Enlist a friend to do that same and see who can hit their goal first. Get weird and competitive about it. Folks could use cheerleaders right now, and my sense is that you could be a really good one.
Looking for a list to take on as your own? Here is a list of Black families impacted by the Eaton Fire. It is color coded and organized by fulfillment of goals.
@rachel davies made this incredible list and it has prioritized Gofundmes that are under 30% funded. Have at it.
Donate
Mutual Aid LA Network is amazing and have this incredible spreadsheet of who needs what and where and when. If you don’t want to give to individual people, you can donate to Mutual Aid LA and the money you give will get into the right hands.
Inclusive Action is a nonprofit in LA that focuses on serves “underinvested communities” and builds “thriving local economies by improving access to transformative capital”. They are currently giving $500 grants to outdoor workers (think: gardeners and vendors) who will no longer be able to earn a living in the places they were working. They are integral to LA and are being overlooked in some ways because they didn’t lose their homes. Your donations will go directly to these workers.
Volunteer
For my LA and SoCal people, this spreadsheet has details for in person volunteer opportunities. I used it today when I got turned away from one location to find another place to spend some hours sorting through donations. Highly recommend.
Out of town folks, I do have some ideas and ways to connect people with opportunities for volunteering which I will hopefully share when the time is right. This is a marathon and not a sprint. Right now, money is the number one thing, but eventually there will be other ways to help out. Please stay connected so you can do your thing and make magic for folks in other ways when the time comes.
Be Nice
This post above has a bunch of slides for how to help friends who may have lost homes or jobs. I found it very helpful and was told by a friend who lost her home in the Maui fires that it was good advice.
Ok that is it from me for now on this front. Please expect more over the coming weeks and months. The fires are not over and the winds are picking up for the early part of this week. We’re staying vigilante and trying to be safe here in LA. Please do not forget about us and the help we need now and moving forward.
Ok, now onto some more “business as usual” book related content3.
This Week on Unstacked
I am still thinking about Jeremy Strong’s Golden Globes look. I only hope he is nominated for every award humanly possible so we get to see more of his fashun.
Voting for The Stackies is now underway. This is a perk for all paid subscribers to Unstacked, so if you want to weigh in on the best of books 2024, this is your time.
Books I Read This Week
Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering by Malcolm Gladwell
Gladwell revisits and expands upon his smash hit book, The Tipping Point. I used to be such a fan of Gladwell but this book just drives home the point he really is a one trick pony, and the trick isn’t even that good. I found this book to be engaging because I love the way he formulaically sets up mysteries and then solves them for us. It is gratifying as hell. However, the second you put any of his logic up for scrutiny you realize either, what he is saying isn’t new at all, he’s just giving old ideas new names (“overstory” instead of “context” in one case). Or worse, he made up the problem he’s solving for just so that he could solve it. While I find his writing so compelling (he crafts great arguments) I rage because his logic is so flawed and at times can be problematic and damaging.
Fave of the week!
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
This is sci-fi novel about time travel and empire. I don’t want to say more because I assume your’e all reading it for The Stacks Book Club this month, and I do not wish to spoil. That being said, this book was not my favorite, not by a long shot (but greta johnsen liked it so much, it made its way onto The Stacks Top 10 of 2024 list, so what do I know). I found it to be boring and then way the pay off came it was messy (and not in the good gossipy way). I didn’t find much of the social/political commentary thought provoking, it was obvious. It missed the mark for me across the board, sadly. I am leaving this review purposefully vague, but I promise to spill my guts on the January 29th episode of The Stacks dedicated to the book.
Housekeeping
Debut author, Irvin Weathersby Jr. came on the podcast to talk about his book that explores white supremacy in art and monuments, In Open Contempt.
Thank you all again for your love and support and for all you’re doing for Los Angeles. I appreciate it more than you know. If you can boost this post to get it to more folks4 I would be grateful. Take care of yourself, be nice to your friends from LA, and stay safe.
If you want more of me and my nonsense be sure to listen to The Stacks podcast every Wednesday and follow me over on Instagram for a lot more book content.
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Today at least.
She has since found out it is still standing, but she can’t get in and she doesn’t know the scope of the damage.
I skipped doing my loves and hates from the week. I just don’t have the energy.
Especially your filthy rich aunt and/or Jeff Bezos (or whatever billionaire you might know).
❤️❤️
Thank you for sharing how and where we can send donations.