A fan of my Facebook page, Michael Newman, just sent me this photo of his father taken when he was 15 years old, back in 1928. Here he is taking a dive into the pool at the Garden of Allah. You can clearly see the main building in the background.

Michael told me that his grandfather, Edwin de Baun Newman, had been Thomas Ince’s business manager in 1924, then was Mary Pickford’s general manager in 1925 during the filming of “Little Annie Roonie” and then later worked at MGM.

I love it when people send me photos like this – it lends an air of reality to a place I spend so much time thinking (…and dreaming…) about.