And for what? A Wilshire Boulevard-spanning, obscenely expensive campus that won't even have enough room for the permanent collection?
No one wants this museum except for a handful of billionaires (who, by the way, are passing the costs to YOU, the taxpayer) and a man with the audacity to assume he can do better than William Pereira. To do all of this during a pandemic, while ordinary Angelenos are struggling, is inexcusably wasteful and selfish.
Send a clear message to the museum's director by signing this petition update.
And now that the steam hissing out of my ears has had a chance to dissipate...
I have a lot I want to accomplish before I expire. Publish my book, tear up a parking lot and put a salvaged historic building on the site, become a bestselling author so I can buy up historic properties and keep them from being destroyed...but I've mentioned previously that I'd like Los Angeles to have its own French-American museum someday.
One of my recent tour guests (hi Jacques) asked me about that. The fact of the matter is, a museum is a VERY costly undertaking (even if you'd be thrilled with a very old and very small building) and I don't have millions of dollars. So far, all I have is a vintage set of highball glasses from a defunct French restaurant in Hollywood, some old bottles from Broguiere's Dairy, and two books signed by historian Remi A. Nadeau (great-great-grandson of the freighter Remi Nadeau).
A lot of us are deep-cleaning and reorganizing our homes right now. If anyone has anything they no longer want that would be a good fit for such a museum, I'd be grateful for first refusal. (Please do not entrust me with any treasured family heirlooms until and unless I can get good security and good insurance coverage. I would never forgive myself if something happened to them.)
To heck with it - these are uncertain and scary times, but life's too short not to dream big.
And if anyone happens to have a building lying around (who am I kidding, right?), drop me a line. I have several ideas for multiple revenue streams. (Note: Blogger is STILL eating my comments, so include an email for a reply.)
