By Erna TAYLOR-STARK

Whether new to the Crescenta Valley or a life-long resident, The “Crescenta Valley” is ‘must read’ book. Author and historian Mike Lawler, a weekly columnist formerly with the Crescenta Valley Sun and now with the Crescenta Valley Weekly, has collaborated with Robert Newcombe to create an overview of the foothill community.
Lawler had plenty of material for the book. “Since I have been doing ‘Then and Now’ pieces for the weeklies for a long time, no actual research needed to be done for this book. I merely had to compile previous pieces. Robert is the wordsmith. I gave him what I had and he went from there,” said Lawler. “It took us a couple of months from start to finish to complete.”
“The Crescenta Valley” is not meant to be a comprehensive history of the valley, but an entertaining way to introduce the reader to those things that have changed and remained the same over the last 100 years. Then and now photos of local areas are presented side by side, providing an interesting perspective to those common locations that residents pass by each day.
Both men are longtime residents of the Crescenta Valley. Lawler has been here since 1962 and is the president of the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley. Newcombe, originally from Chicago, lives in one of the first houses built in the hills east of Montrose. He is very involved in the history of the region and the pair has collaborated on several projects celebrating the history of the valley. This is the second book about the Crescenta Valley they have worked on for Arcadia Publishing.
“The Crescenta Valley”($21.99) is available at “Once Upon a Time” in Montrose and by mail from the publisher at www.arcadiapublishing.com. It will also be sold at upcoming meetings of the Historical Society. The authors are donating all proceeds from the sale of the book to the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley.

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