Feminist bookstore welcomes men, too

'Sojourner' not for women only

By BRAD ALTMAN
Staff Writ r
Owners of Long Beach's only
feminist bookstore, the Sojourner,
say men have helped make their
business a success.
l
?Men are welcome1 here," co-
owner Carol Irene insists.-"We
hav.e books on male liberation,
too."
The Sojourner, 538 Redondo Ave.,
opened in November 1975. It is
advertised as "a place where
women can browse, talk, enjoy . . .
take time to be."
"Men have pool halls and bars
and all sorts of places," said Ms.
Irene. "Until recently, women
lacked places where they could
.relax, talk'and browse.
"We want human liberation,"
she continued. "It won't'exist un-
less women are free to be them-
selves. When men are liberated
from stereotyped sex roles —
women will be, too."
At the second anniversary cele-
bration, guests munched cupcakes
frosted with the women's equality
symbol.
In the early 1970s, Ms. Irene, 43,
and her business partner, Maria
Dominguez, 45, were mothers and
full-time housewives. The women's
movement blossomed and they be-
came ardent feminists.
•Bookshelves are stocked with
feminist and political literature.
- Merchandise is "of interest to all
women" — jewelry, pottery, leath-
ercraft, hand-blown glass, posters,
greeting cards; children's toys and
non-sexist/racist books:
"Kids please (Do) Touch the
Books," advises a sign.
Also available are records and
poetry published by women-owned
recording and printing collectives.
Customers may buy recipe books,
but "cook books don't sell well,"
sighed Ms. Irene.
Hiding a wall in the back of the
small shop is a corkboard bulletin
board. Here is information on
where to get a foot massage, buy
property, hunt for a roommate, or
find information on women's lec-
tures and concerts.
In one corner, underground
newspapers with names like "Big
Mama Rag," for feminists and op-
pressed minorities, including
homosexuals, are featured.
There are whistles to fend off
would-be rapists, feminist holiday
greeting cards proclaiming "Peace
on Earth, Good Will to People,"
and multi-colored adhesive stickers
insisting "200 years or inequality is
nothing to celebrate."
, "College -students buy required
texts for women's studies classes
and high school students visit to see
what a non-traditional bookstore
looks like," said Ms. Irene.
The shop is lively and cheerful.
Water is kept hot for coffee and
tea, there are ash trays for
smokers and giant floor pillows for
those who want to relax. Often, to
add to the ambiance, incense is
burned and the buoyant voice of a
feminist singer on the stereo can be
heard.
"I was sort of expecting to be
attacked," admitted one first-time
.customer named Ron Mclntosh, a
6-foot-l, 205-pound tree trimmer.
"But the women who work here
aren't hostile to men.
."In fact," he said, his blue eyes
sparkling, "They're absolutely MARIA DOMINGUEZ AND CAROLE IRENE
-Staff Photo by ROGER COAR
friendly."

L.B. planners to take good look at shoreline

meetings — would be held sepa- well-maintained buildings through1
. Long Beach city planners will The strip is zoned 'R-5, which some kind of zoning incentive pro

take a good look at the city's snore-
line T hursday at a meeting that is
likely to set the tone of public de-
bate over the future of the city's
downtown and oceanfront areas.
Planning officials, expecting a
sizable turnout, have booked a
large room in the Veterans Me-
morial Building for the day-long
session. (The building is two doors
down from City Hall on Broadway.)
Normally, Planning Commission
meetings are held in the City Coun-
cil chambers.
Ellis Crow, a principal- planner
for the department, said the
lengthy session — which will get
under way at 9 a.m. — will include
a public hearing on a planning de-
partment recommendation that the
shoreline strip opposite Bluff Park
be converted into a low-density
residential zone.
means that any new structure must
be at least five stories high. Rezon-
ing to R-2, which the department
proposes, would allow a maximum
height of 35 feet.
The strip is a narrow parcel of
land that stretches from Kennebec
Avenue to Redondo Avenue and ex-
tends 200 feet inland from Ocean
Boulevard.
The planning department, in a
report issued two months ago, out-
lined other possibilities for the
strip. Among alternatives were a
proposal to retain the R-5 designa-
tion and another to reduce the
zoning to R-l, which would allow
only single-family homes.
The commission will be asked
to determine the strip's zoning at
the conclusion of the hearing.
The commission will hold a
joint meeting with the board of
INDEPENDENT
MONDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1976
directors of the city's Redevelop-
ment Agency on the first draft of a
new downtown Long Beach plan.
The two boards will also be given a
preview of possible land uses for
the bluff communities along the
ocean. The bluff communities
stretch from Alamitos Avenue to
Appian Way and extend inland to
Seventh Street.
The proposals and recommen-
dations that come out of the joint
session — as well as other public
meetings in the future — will be
SECTION B-Page B-l
taken into consideration when the
planning department draws up the
shoreline element of the city's
general plan.
Partly for that reason, public
comment has been invited in con-
nection with both subjects.
The so-called Seadip area — a
1,470-acre area south of Seventh
and east of Marine Stadium and
Alamitos Heights — will not be
considered at Thursday'.s joint
meeting. Planning officials indi-
cated that a Seadip meeting — or
rately at some later date.
Crow said the planning depart-
ment staff will divide the bluff
communities into two parts: the
segment east of Bixby Park and
the segment west of the park.
He said the department will
propose what amounts to a preser-
vation plan for the section east of
the park. "Well try to preserve the
character of existing neighborhoods
through density control," he de-
clared.
The area west of Bixby Park
will be a 'different matter, though
— and, quite likely, a controversial
one. There, the uses are mixed and
many of the residential units are in
a state of decline.
Because parts of the area are
in poor condition, said Crow, "it
may be beneficial to encourage the
recycling of some of the older, less
gram."
The area is now primarily R-4,
which permits almost unlimited
density and height. Crow said the
planning staff, however, would like
to put controls on height in the area
while encouraging "slightly higher
densities" than now exist Much of
the section consists of single-family
units, duplexes and small apart-
ment houses.
THERE SEEMS to be some
sentiment in favor of high rise for
the area. Moreover, the high-rise
concept has been endorsed by the
•city council and the planning com-
mission. So the question of height
could be a hot one.
(Turn to Page B-4, Col. 5)

Yule buying brisk, Carson's residents

but usual items out
By LARRY LARUE
Staff Writer
Items that usually sell well in
December aren't moving this year,
but Long Beach area merchants
claim holiday sales are still higher
than last year.
And to capitalize on the holiday
spending, the vast majority of
stores will be open for business
Sunday, Dec. 26 — the day after
Christmas.
Store .managers f r o m Broad-
way, Bullocks, Sears, May Co. and
,J.C. Penney a!! said business is
brisk, though the traditional winter
strongholds like heavy coats and
w a r m clothing aren't selling be-
cause of unseasonably w a r m
weather.
"You just don't sell many
heavy coats in 70-degree weather,"
said Ray Velkers, manager of the
downtown Sears store. "But in
every other part of the store, items
are moving very well."
At the May Co. on the Cerritos
Mall, a store spokesman said a
surprising trend had developed in
Grants for repairs available
Good news for poor homes in Carson
Under the right conditions, it
could be good news tor a Carson
homeowner to get tagged for fail-
ure to have his house up to building
code standards.
City officials are looking for 18
homeowners who may be eligible
for grants of up to $5,000 each
under a neighborhood rehabilitation
program.
. However, the recipients must
meet certain qualifications, said
Peter P. Kinnahan, project man-
ager for the Carson Community
Development Department.
To start with, they must live in
the North Keystone area, east of
Main Street and north of 213th
Street; or in one of two neighbor-
hoods being improved as part of a
1976 that wasn't there last year:
the night shopper.
"Last year, sales were consist-
ent throughout the day, but this
year there's a big rush after about
6 p.m.," the spokesman said. "It's
really noticeable."
Another consumer trend, mer-
chants agree, is the move toward
"quality merchandise," which
often means, more expensive mer-
chandise.
"But it is Christmas season
again," one manager said. "And
many people tend to stretch that
budget to buy something they know
someone special really wants."
That's what the merchants say.
The shoppers are something else.
Maggie Cervantez, a Long
Beach mother shopping with her 3-
year-old daughter, said that finan-
cially, things are the same in her
family as they were last year — not
bad, but certainly nothing to allow
extravagance.
"We're only buying for the chil-
dren this year," she explained.
second Carson redevelopment
project—west of Avalon Boulevard
between 220th Street and the San
Diego Freeway, or south of Se-.
pulveda Boulevard on both sides of
Avalon.
Then they must have no other
means of paying for the city-re-
quired corrections of building code
violations.
In such cases, the city will use
$90,000 from this year's allocation
of $731,000 under the federal Hous-
ing and Urban Development Act to
make direct grants to the home-
owner to pay for repairs, up to a
maximum of $5,000 per home.
The program had a top limit of
$3,000, but the Carson City Council
raised the ceiling a week ago when
ROBERT BEARDSLEY
Buying for the Kids
"Nothing for the adults."
For Robert and Lynita Beards-
ley _ a young couple herding two
tykes about the Christmas displays
- the outlook was the same.
"We're buying just for the kids,
and we're buying lots of little
things, stocking s t u f f e r s . . . .
"They want so much for every-
thing," Mrs. Beardsley said.
Geraldine Whitmore and hus-
band Harold disagreed slightly on
Christmas, 1976. Harold thought
the staff advised that the average
cost of such rehabilitation would be
$5,000.
"The program is really de-
signed to help out those people who
are on a fixed or limited income
and have no other way of meeting
these repair costs," Kinnahan said.
For example, the first category
under which such grants may be
approved is for persons with an
annual income of less than $4,000,
which is more than $1,000 below the
federal standard for poverty.
Even then, the recipient will
only be given an amount equal to
the percentage of the repair cost
that cannot be financed with a spe-
cial low-cost loan (Section 312 loan)
without forcing the family's total
rate service in city
Carson residents, services offered
by the Los Angeles County Fire
Department rated both highest and
lowest in public confidence among
municipal services.
Opinion Research of California, a
MAGGIE CERVANTEZ
Nothing for Adults
they were spending about the same
amount as last year, but Geraldine
was quick to head him straight.
"We can .spend more this year,
but we're buying practical things —
no silly gifts," she said.
Mrs. George Moosburger of
Seal Beach is the kind of Christmas
shopper merchants hate. M r s .
Moosburger, who is 86, says she
doesn't shop at all anymore.
"I'm too old for that stuff," she
said. "I just send a little money." „
housing costs above 25 per cent of
annual income.
Above the $4,000 level, the
grant applicant must first have
been refused a loan by at least two
lending agencies, either because
his income is too low to qualify or
because the lender has certified
that it will not make loans in the
neighborhood.
To protect the city from a situa-
tion where a homeowner might ob-
tain a grant, fix the property and
immediately sell at a substantial
profit, Kinnahan said, the grant in-
cludes a r e q u i r e m e n t for
repayment if the property is sold
within three years.
(Turn to Page B-4, Col. 5)
By BOB ANDREW
Staff Writer
In a December survey of 400
The survey was conducted by
Long Beach-based polling firm, at
the request of the Carson-Do-
minguez Industrial Council.
The industrial council was then
trying — successfully — to sway
the Carson City Council to delay
construction of a community center
building in the civic center. That
issue was decided Dec. 6 when the
council voted 3-2 to order a rede-
sign of the building, but the other
community attitudes shown by the
survey remain of interest.
Those surveyed gave the city
an overall positive image by a 51.8
per cent to 46.5 per cent.
"Considering the general pub-
lic's dissatisfaction with taxes and
the quality of government in sur- .
veys conducted by the consultant
throughout California," the report
said, "(this) may be considered
fortunate for Carson " Grant, %-acre; Heritage, 4, and
HOMEOWNERS, all of whom
were also registered voters, were
asked to rate the quality of 14
specific community services on a
scale of 1 (very adequate) to 5 (very
inadequate). Each of them was
rated above the midpoint.
Fire protection ranked highest,
with a mean score of 1.64, while
fire inspection, the department's
other major function, was last, with
a 2.87 rating, barely above the
break-even point.
Fire service in Carson is pro-
vided by the Los Angeles County
Fire Department, with the funds
coming from taxes levied by spe-
cial assessment districts. City offi-
cials have no direct control over
the level of service or the tax rate.
Park facilites were the highest-
ranking service over which the city
council has direct control, with a
rating of 1.95.
When Carson was incorporated
almost nine years ago, only two
municipal parks — both with less
than 15 acres — were being oper-
ated by the county in addition to
the Victoria Regional Park which
remains under county control.
Those neighborhood parks were
transferred to city control, as were
two others in county areas later
annexed to Carson. The four parks
involved are Carson, 12 acres, with
a county-built swimming pool;
Scott, 13 acres, to which the city
added a pool this year; Stevenson,
4 acres, and Dominguez, 7 acres.
In addition, the city has com-
pleted — or nearly completed — six
others, is purchasing 8.5 acres at
190th Street and Wilmington Boule-
vard for another, is scheduled to
develop the %-acre Malloy mini-
park this fiscal year, and is in
preliminary stages of acquiring
land for two more as part of a
redevelopment program.
THE CITY-BUILT parks are
Carriage Crest, 4.5 acres; Del
Amo, 8.5; Dolphin, 12; Vincent
Walnut, 14-acre.
Recreation programs at those
parks and the citywide street light-
ing program were rated equally at
2.04.
Police protection, which the
city council has proclaimed to be
the city's highest priority expendi-
ture, was given a 2.24 rating.
Police services are provided
under a $2 million annual contract
with the Los Angeles County Sher-
iff's Department
Since the contract manpower
operates out of the same station
with those regularly assigned by
the department for service in unin-
corporated areas, it is hard to dis-
t i n g u i s h who is w h o , but
department estimates indicate that
the city contract buys the equiva-
lent in service of a municipal police
force with 60 sworn personnel.
(Turn to Page B-4, Col. 1)

I,ETTKH FHOM
MALCOLM
EPLEY
FORT BIDWELL — This is Chapter II of my little
report on a recent trip to the South Pacific, and 'that'll
be it People who go off somewhere and have a good
time should be careful not to bore stay-at-homcrs with
detailed and endless accounts.
First about Milford Sound, on New Zealand s south
island. Nobocly' who goes "down under" should miss it.
We were there on a stormy day, which added to the
excitement as we cruised along the base of immense
perpendicular cliffs, with hundreds of waterfalls orna-
menting the moss-covered walls. Some of this water
drops 5000 feet or more; only one fall we saw was in big
volume, but all.wcrc beautiful.
We went to Milford by coach from Tc Anau, where
we spent a csuple of cold nights. Though it was the
WHILE THE so-called outback and bush of Austra- for a three-day idyll. It's an 80-mile trip and a little
beginning of summer down under, we encountered win- costly — $142 for the two of us, round trip. Our island
try weather in both New Zealand and Tasmania, which lia are widely mentioned, we found the cities most visit was highlighted by a "reef walk" across the coral
gave us a clothing problem when we jumped by airplane impressive. and seawater pools where we saw all sorts of interesting
to the northern area on the Tropic of Capricorn! The skylines of Melbourne and Sydney, which we
visited, were marked by huge skyscrapers, many of marine life. (Jane is still nursing some coral cuts on her
ankles.)
IN TASMANIA, Australia's somnern island state, them a-building with hammerhead cranes on their On the way west, we had paused for a sojourn in a
we found at Hobart a definite pro-America sentiment crowns. Botanical gardens, museums, art galleries, etc., thatch-roofed cottage at Moorea lagoon near Tahiti and
because of a recent visit by the USS Enterprise. Taxi provide special attractions, while Sydney's magnificent on the way back we spent some do-nothing days at
drivers, hotel people, and everybody we talked to spoke new opera house is a world wonder. lovely Yanuea Island in Fiji. .Great places, and all well-
warmly of the Enterprise men who had swarmed over filled with American and Japanese tourists.
the town. Apparently the Navy men outdid out diplomats It was out of Melbourne where we encountered a
in spreading good will. trip highlight - the "March of the Fairy Penguins." At
IN AUSTRALIA, we had our troubles with the way
Hobart has a beautiful and important bridge, a a coastline point, exactly on schedule at dusk, hundreds they speak English. Jane picked it right up, but 1 never
section of which was knocked out a while back when hit of little penguins emerge from the surf, collect in groups was sure what people were saying. In a pub we sat for
by a ship. The ship's captain, according to our cab on the beach, then march to burrows in adjoining dunes. an hour with a Sydney couple. I talked to them, but
driver, blamed the bridge builders. He had hit other Tour buses carry hundreds of sightseers from Mel- never understood a word they said
bridges and they hadn't collapsed. It'll take another bourne each night to witness this phenomenon, which is Australia':- exchange rate delayed us — 80 Aussie
year to complete repairs. so surely timed that floodlights are turned on the beach
From Hobart we visited Port Arthur, the famous at the right moment. dollars lor inir humtm! at bunks, "i at hotels. Of course
We enjoyed three island resorts on our little jour- they waited until the day we left before devaluing the
British prison of the last century. Part of Hobart was dollar and m:ife thins alw.it even.
built by the convicts, and in one antique shop I saw ney. That's it, and now we're back in Fort Bidwcll
some bottles of clear liquid labeled "Convict Sweat." From Gladstone, north of Brisbane, we flew by
Those Tasmanians miss no bets for tourist dollars. helicopter to Heron. Island, on the Great Barrier Reef, waiting for Christmas. A merry one to all of you!