Mark Masek: 10 books

For more than 100 years, Hollywood Forever Cemetery has been one of the premier burial locations for entertainment celebrities, studio executives and members of the Hollywood film community. Today, it’s one of the top tourist destinations for fans who want to pay their respects to their favorite...

Until 1962, Westwood Memorial Park was a small, quiet, relatively unknown cemetery on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Then Marilyn Monroe was buried there, and she was quickly joined at Westwood by dozens of well-known figures from the world of entertainment. Although tiny Westwood can never replace...

Home of Peace Memorial Park in East Los Angeles was originally located near the current site of Dodger Stadium and opened in 1855 as the first organized community effort by the city’s pioneer Jewish settlers. The cemetery was moved to its current location in the early part of the 20th century, and...

Chicago -- the “City of the Big Shoulders,” according to Carl Sandburg -- is in many ways the most unique and genuinely American of all American cities. Proud, sprawling, tough, industrious, artistic, powerful, sinful and influential, Chicago was one of the nation’s largest and most important...

Forest Lawn Memorial-Park in Glendale, Calif., is one of the best-known cemeteries in the world, and one of the top tourist attractions in Southern California. Covering more than 300 acres, its more than 300,000 permanent residents include dozens of top film, TV and entertainment personalities, from...

“Holy Cross Cemetery: The Unauthorized Guide” is a complete guide to the burial locations of nearly 70 celebrities at the largest Catholic cemetery in the Los Angeles area, including film legends Rita Hayworth, Bela Lugosi, Bing Crosby, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Loretta Young, Jimmy Durante, Rosalind...

Although Forest Lawn Memorial-Park’s Glendale location might be more popular and more widely known, the Hollywood Hills location includes the final resting places of dozens of top film and TV stars, acclaimed musicians, and legends of animation and entertainment. “Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills:...

Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park, near Los Angeles, was founded in 1923, and is the oldest cemetery in the San Fernando Valley. Although more closely associated with the aviation industry than entertainment, Valhalla contains the graves of many well-known and legendary entertainers and celebrities,...

The original Calvary Cemetery was one of the first burial grounds in Los Angeles, opening six years before the city was incorporated. This guide book provides the most complete and comprehensive directory to find the exact burial locations of nearly two dozen stars and celebrities, from the Barrymores;...

In 1924, 23 people, mostly girls and young women from 5 to 26 years old, died in the Hope Development School fire near Los Angeles, a tragedy that has become an all-but-forgotten part of the city’s history. But the real tragedy was that state and county officials knew that the building was a dangerous fire trap, but were unable to find a safe location for the school.