Page 2 August 8, 2019
Calendar of Events
Deadline for Calendar items is the prior
Thursday by noon. Calendar items are $1
per word. Email listings to marketing@
heraldpublications.com. We take Visa and
MasterCard.
THURSDAY, AUG 8
• Baby and Toddler Story Time, 11:30 AM.
– 12:00 PM., ages 1-3 yrs., Inglewood
Public Library, 101 W. Manchester Blvd.,
Call: 310-412-5380.
• Preschool Story Time, 1:00 PM. – 1:45
PM., ages 3-5 yrs., Inglewood Public
Library, 101 W. Manchester Blvd., Call:
310-412-5380.
• Chess Club, 4:00 PM.- 5:30 PM., free,
Crenshaw Imperial Branch Library, 11141
Crenshaw Blvd., Call: 310-412-5403.
• Chess for Adults, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM.,
free, Crenshaw Imperial Branch Library,
11141 Crenshaw Blvd., Call: 310-412-
5403.
FRIDAY, AUG 9
• Teen Club, 3:00 PM. – 4:30 PM., Inglewood
Public Library, 101 W. Manchester
Blvd., Call: 310-412-5380.
SATURDAY, AUG 10
• Family Story Time, 1:00 PM., Crenshaw –
Imperial Branch Library, 11141 Crenshaw
Blvd., Call: 310-412-5403.
• Saturday Story Time and Art Activity,
2:00 PM. – 3:00 PM., Hawthorne Library,
12700 Grevillea Ave, Hawthorne.
MONDAY, AUG 12
• Baby & Toddler Story Time, 11:00 AM.,
children ages 1-3 yrs, Crenshaw – Imperial
Branch Library, 11141 Crenshaw Blvd.,
Call: 310-412-5403.
• STEM Activities for Kids, 3:30 PM., Crenshaw
– Imperial Branch Library, 11141
Crenshaw Blvd., Call: 310-412-5403.
TUESDAY, AUG 13
• Brick Building, 3:30 PM. – 5:00 PM., free,
By Roz Templin, Library Assistant,
El Segundo Public Library
You may be familiar with the story of “American
Sniper” Chris Kyle from the book published
in 2012, the movie starring Bradley Cooper
in 2014 and other publicity over the recent
years. Chris was murdered in 2013 and his
widow Taya has been in the process of reclaiming
her life through public speaking and in service
to others, heading a foundation and inspiring
other charitable groups with her words and deeds.
American Spirit is a celebration of what is
good in our country: the people who still believe
that helping those less fortunate and/or in trouble
is an instinctual response. Taya tells the stories of
more than 30 individuals who pay it forward and
establish means to address those struggling with
disease, homelessness, hunger and the varied ills
we all face in our society. Many of these “working
class heroes” saw a need and filled it, no matter the
hardships they faced themselves in establishing
methods of serving those who are desperate
for help. She also includes a few of the rich
and famous who have donated time and money
to causes and people that touch their hearts.
Santa Monica-based Angel Flight West is a
network of more than 1,400 volunteer pilots
who transport non-emergency medical patients
and their families across the country for treatment
in faraway hospitals and medical centers.
Even victims of domestic violence are assisted
in their quest for a new life in another city.
The pilots fly their own planes and pay for all
costs out of their own pockets so that those
whose lives are in turmoil can more easily cope.
Helping veterans who have sacrificed so
much for our country and its people is very
close to Taya’s heart. She shines a light on
Operation Safe Haven, a tiny house community
for homeless veterans in New Jersey.
Donnie Davis served in the Air Force and as
a police officer before becoming a pastor for
the Amazing Grace Community Church. He
led an initiative for the church to purchase an
abandoned 277-acre campground with a 65-
acre lake. Tiny houses are built by volunteers
in order to give shelter to veterans who are
battling mental trauma and homelessness.
There are other feel-good stories such as
the couple who started a program that helps
kids who are aging out (at the age of 18) of
the foster care system. When she was just four
years old, Alex Scott held her first childhood
cancer fundraiser in her front yard and raised
over $2,000. By the time of her death in 2004,
Alex raised $1 million and inspired a legacy of
hope and cures for childhood cancer – Alex’s
Lemonade Stand. And there’s the blind veteran
whose work with disabled bike riders inspired
a volunteer organization that takes blind bikers
on rides through New York City. These and
other accounts will make you smile through
your tears while you reach for your wallet and
start to pull up your sleeves yourself. We can
all make a difference in someone else’s life.
This book is available as a book on CD and
is read by the author. There are many other
books in the library on the topic of helping
those less fortunate: ask our library staff for help
in locating these items and do a good deed! •
Entertainment
Film Review Check It Out
American Spirit: Profiles in Resilience, Courage and Faith by
Taya Kyle with Jim DeFelice
Roz Templin
Anton Yelchin, Remembered,
in Love, Antosha
By Ryan Rojas for Cinemacy
The new documentary Love, Antosha
captures the life of the intellectual, spirited
and beloved artist Anton Yelchin. Directed by
Garett Price and produced by Drake Doremus,
the film captures Yelchin’s life story and
acclaimed film career that ended at the age
of 27 after a freak auto accident in 2016.
Using home video footage, self-shot videos,
interviews with friends and Hollywood talent
alike – as well as his personal diaries – we
are given a comprehensive look inside the
mind of an artist who was creatively unbound
and yet still internally conflicted.
Antony Yelchin appeared onscreen for
most of his life, in a total of 69 film and
television projects (most widely known as
Chekov in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot).
The film celebrates the creativity that Yelchin
permeated throughout his life, where stars
like Kristen Stewart, Chris Pine, John Cho
and Jennifer Lawrence offer remembrances
through on-camera interviews. Whether it
was devouring classic films, playing music
in his band (The Hammerheads) or furthering
his passion for photography, Yelchin was
always learning, growing and searching. But
it’s this same anxious artistic drive to pursue
his passions that also reveals his restlessness
in other areas of his life. The film does not
shy away from showing an artist conflicted
and often occupied with complexities.
Love, Antosha reveals that Anton secretly
battled the auto-immune disease cystic fibrosis
(which was never publicly acknowledged)
and bouts of breathing and coughing issues.
A curious and self-aware person, the documentary
portrays one heartbreaking moment
when Yelchin researches the average age of
life expectancy for people with his disease.
The results show less than 40 years old. The
question may arise as to whether or not, on
some intuitive level, the self-aware Anton
knew that his life would be short-lived? And
if this drove him to subconsciously consume
as much art and experiences as he could in
his young life.
Beyond his creative and artistic drives, one
of the most genuine parts of the documentary
is the relationship between his parents,
Viktor and Irina Yelchin. Former Russian
figure skaters fleeing Jewish persecution in
Ukraine, the Yelchins immigrated to the US
where they raised their only child, Anton aka
Antosha. Whether it was hugging, dancing
or showering her with his affection, Love,
Antosha demonstrates his purity of heart by
the many handwritten notes that he gave her,
all signed, “Love, Antosha.”
Love, Antosha is a beautiful dedication of
a great artist and missed human being who
inspired so many. There’s no shortage of
loving things that people have to say about
him, remembering how much of an old soul
and wise beyond his years he was. But the
film also succeeds by not shying away from
the other truths of his life. In revealing the
insecurities and fears that drove him, it paints
an honest picture of a young man’s journey
to understand life. It’s in continuing to be
curious and compassionate that, beyond just
watching his films, Anton will always live
on through us all.
Love, Antosha is now playing at Landmark’s
Nuart Theatre. •
Love, Antosha, Courtesy of Lurker Productions
Ryan Rojas.
American Spirit: Profiles in
Resilience, Courage and Faith by
Taya Kyle with Jim DeFelice
Crenshaw Imperial Branch Library, 11141
Crenshaw Blvd., Call: 310-412-5403.
• Hawthorne City Council Meeting -CANCELED,
6:00 PM., Hawthorne City Hall,
4455 W. 126th Street.
• Chess for Adults, 5:00 PM., free, Inglewood
Public Library, 101 W. Manchester
Blvd., Call: 310-412-5380.
• Preschool Story Time, 12:30 PM. – 1: 15
PM., children ages 3-5, Crenshaw Imperial
Branch Library, 11141 Crenshaw Blvd.,
Call: 310-412-5403.
• Nutrition & Wellness for Seniors, 11:00
AM. – 1:00 PM., Hawthorne Library,
12700 Grevillea Ave, Hawthorne.
WEDNESDAY, AUG 14
• Building Bricks/Board Games, 2:00
PM. – 3:30 PM., free, Inglewood Public
Library, 101 W. Manchester Blvd., Call:
310-412-5380.
• Children’s Chess Club, 4:30 PM., children
18 & below, free, Inglewood Public
Library, 101 W. Manchester Blvd., Call:
310-412-5380.
• Smarty Pants Story Time, 11:30 AM. –
12:00 PM., Hawthorne Library, 12700
Grevillea Ave, Hawthorne.
• Inglewood Visionaries Toastmasters Club
#4404 Meeting, 6:00 PM., Inglewood
Center for Spiritual Living, 525 No.
Market St., For more info: www.ing4404.
toastmastersclubs.org
THURSDAY, AUG 15
• Chess Club, 4:00 PM.- 5:30 PM., free,
Crenshaw Imperial Branch Library, 11141
Crenshaw Blvd., Call: 310-412-5403.
• Chess for Adults, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM., free,
Crenshaw Imperial Branch Library, 11141
Crenshaw Blvd., Call: 310-412-5403.
• Family Movie, 2:00 PM., Inglewood Public
Library, 101 W. Manchester Blvd., Call:
310-412-5380. •