New Park Opens at Wilmington Drum Barracks
On Dec. 7, Los Angeles Recreation and Parks and the Councilman Joe Buscaino opened a Civil War themed park adjacent the Wilmington Drum Barracks. Warren E&P donated the land several years ago under former councilwoman Janice Hahn’s administration. The park has state of the art features that include exercise machines that withstand inclement weather. Historical state of the art play ground equipment. Photos by Betty Guevara from previous page
work—we all need to pay the rent, right?—but I get the impression that she would have accepted complete anonymity if somehow that would have increased her effectiveness in promoting her community. As it happens, Diane was not anonymous. Many people knew her; many people loved her. But even more people in Long Beach will miss her, whether they know it or not. They’ll miss her because their community has lost one of its champions. To whatever heights Long Beach rises, it will be a little harder to get there without Diane. We’ll miss her. I’ll miss her.
Diane Gershuny. The Local Publication You Actually Read December 27, 2013 - January 9, 2014
to have things just so. As was her way, Diane displayed nothing but alacrity in helping me out. That always stuck with me about her: how ready she was to be helpful. In the case of my Fingerprints reading, there was nothing in it for her—I wasn’t paying her; she wasn’t promoting the event. And yet she helped beyond what was asked. She loved 4th Street, so I’m sure the fact that the event was happening at Fingerprints was partial motivation. But I have no doubt that had I made the same request for a reading I was doing in Boston, she would have been no less generous. I didn’t know her well, but I think that was her way. There are people in far better positions to eulogize Diane on a personal level. From my perspective, the best I can do is to meditate on how the loss of someone like Diane diminishes a community. I have never been part of a community remotely like Long Beach, and its glory comes down to the people. Yeah, the weather’s great, and it’s nice to live near the water (despite its surflessness), and there are many cool businesses and so forth, but it’s all meaningless without the people. And if Long Beach is on the rise—as I’d like to think it is—it’s due only to the work of community members. Diane Gershuny epitomized what I’m talking about. You didn’t have to know her well to know that she loved Long Beach and was doing more than her part to make it that much more loveable. And unlike many of us simultaneously promoting Long Beach and our own individual ends, Diane never seemed interested in making it about her. No doubt she desired a fair wage for her
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