Leo Politi (1908 - 1996), born in Fresno, moved to Italy with his family at age 6. After receiving his art training he returned to California in the 1930s. Politi worked on Olvera Street painting portraits of tourists. He later wrote and illustrated children's books, including Pedro of Olvera Street and Juanita, which center around the Blessing of the Animals. Politi was awarded the Caldecott Medal, the nation's highest honor to authors of children's books, for Mission Bell and Song of the Swallows. In addition, his book of drawings of the houses on Bunker Hill that were torn down in the name of progress during the late 1960's, is cherished as a reminder of lost treasures of Los Angeles architecture.1 An elementary school has been named in his honor and in recognition of his 75th birthday, Mayor Tom Bradley proclaimed April 1984 as "Leo Politi Appreciation Month."2Footnotes:1 "Hill's Angel," by Bob Kendt, Downtown News, January 18, 1993, Vol. 22, No. 3, p. 1; "Leo Politi: Author of Children's Books, Artist," Los Angeles Times, March 30, 1996, Sec. A, p. 18.
2 "An Artist Remembered," by Jon Regardie, Downtown News, April 8, 1996.
The text has been provided courtesy of Michael Several, Los Angeles, December 1998.
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