The Man Who Designed The Hollywood Look

     His name was Paul Revere Williams and you've probably never heard of him.  But that wonderful, sweeping, "Hollywood" style, Mediterranean-meets-futuristic, was something he did better than anyone else.  He designed in many other styles, too, everything from a YMCA in a struggling neighborhood to a bachelor pad for Frank Sinatra.  That swoopy, still-futuristic tower at LAX?  That's his work.

     He was one of the most successful architects in the area.  Orphaned in childhood and of modest means, he worked his way up to the top of his profession before WW II.  He reminds me of the characters you meet in a Robert A. Heinlein story.  And, oh, yes, there's one more thing.