The big orange

by Jack Clifford Smith

This is a book about Los Angeles for everyone who already knows about Los Angeles, and also for those who don't know a thing about it, and for those who thing they do. It is also for those who think it doesn't exist

Genres: History

252 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Smith was born in Long Beach on Aug. 27, 1916, grew up in Bakersfield and Los Angeles, and spent some time in the Civilian Conservation Corps before joining the merchant marines at age 21. He went into journalism, first for the Bakersfield Californian, then for the Honolulu Advertiser, United Press, the Sacramento Union, the San Diego Journal, the Daily News, Independent and Herald-Express, all in Los Angeles, before joining the Los Angeles Times in June 1953. He remained with the Times until his death.

He got to the Honolulu Advertiser by working his way there on a passenger ship. In World War II, he joined the Marine Corps and was a combat correspondent who took part in the assault on Iwo Jima, going ashore with his rifle but without his typewriter, which had been lost at sea.

At Belmont High School in Los Angeles, Smith served as editor of the student newspaper, the Belmont Sentinel. He said later that was the highest position he ever reached in his career.

Posthumously, some of his books are listed for sale using his middle name, Jack Clifford Smith.

For more details see:
Jack Smith's Obituaries
Jack Smith (columnist)

Reviews

[David Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

These mid-1970s pieces explore 30 attractions around LA and Orange County, including the Farmers Market, Rose Bowl Flea Market, Watts Towers and Disneyland. Forty years on, most are still around but altered, while a few, like Lion Country Safari and the Pike, are vanished, making this a record of a different time. Smith is gentle, descriptive, witty and respectful, and these articles for Westways magazine are delightful.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Similar to Jack Smith’s LA, but the columns are longer and more broad. Each one is about a different place around LA, some of which no longer exist. I enjoy his folksy humor and the way he weaves together his own experience with the history of the place. But most of all, these are truly valuable as a time capsule of everyday life in LA in the 1970s.

[TrumanCoyote · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times Jack can seem like a bit of a snob, and he does resort to the occasional cheap shot (as well as coming off a bit condescending in places). But what shines through more than anything else is his great affection for an oft-maligned place.

[Richp · Rating 4 out of 5]

For fans of the late Jack Smith, or of touring unusual places in and near Los Angeles, this is very good. These columns were published in the SoCal autoclub magazine, so they are different than the LATimes columns, although I would expect a certain amount of overlap.

Some of the places described were featured on Huell Howser's shows, which can be obtained from KCET.

[Cynthia Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I lived most of my life in Los Angeles, until 1993, so it was like a walk back in time to read this old favorite book again. Many of the places described in the "travelogue" of Los Angeles have changed since it was written in 1976, but a lot is similar, if changed.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used to stay at a house in Baja, next to the house that Jack built. It was like talking to an old friend. I don't like the prevailing attitude in the book, that animals exist to amuse humans.