Pacific Ocean Park book available now!

Hi all - I'd normally post this in "Beyond Tiki" - but since my upcoming book on the long-lost P.O.P. has such a high TIPSI quotient, I figured I'd post it here...

'Pacific Ocean Park: The Rise and Fall of L.A.'s Space Age Nautical Pleasure Pier' is an upcoming book by Christopher Merritt and Domenic Priore on Feral House, set to be released sometime in Spring of 2014.

We're just getting started with a Facebook page I'll be updating occasionally - please go check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/PacificOceanParkBook

Thanks!

[ Edited by: Hakalugi - changed subject to indicate "available now" - 2014-07-13 17:59 ]

There are lots of fans of the ol' P.O.P here

TikiCentral: Pacific Ocean Park, Venice CA

and if the book is as entertaining and informative as Knotts Preserved, then it will be a welcome addition to all our book shelves.

That is the one place I wish I could have seen in person! Looking forward to the book

[ Edited by: sandradee 2013-08-06 20:14 ]

Couldn't come from any better 2 pop culture experts: 1 on beach culture and the other on theme parks! But do we have to wait till next year? What a tease!
Day one.
Louis

Agreed, Dominic's pop surf culture book was excellent!
Hell be at the Surf Guitar 101 convention this Sat.
And have books with him for sale.
And probably his beach boys and riot on the sunset strip books too.

Jeff btd

Always looking for another great book for my collection...keep us posted!!!

Thanks everyone! Domenic and I are very excited to bring this out - it's been in the works for far too long. We have a great publisher in Adam Parfrey and Feral House - and a really talented book designer in Sean Tejaratchi.

Hi all -
Sorry for the lack of updates - but after much. much hard work by all of us, the book is finally at the printers. Here's the cover:

There is a good amount on the Mystic Isles section of the park, and the Mystery Island Banana Train ride in particular - you can pre-order here:
http://www.amazon.com/Pacific-Ocean-Park-L-s/dp/1934170526

(Although the page count is a misprint - it isn't 360 pages, more like 265…)

Best!

Chris M (Tangaroa)

Oh - and please join our Facebook page - I put up a new image every day - there are some fun Jim Casey tikis up today….

https://www.facebook.com/PacificOceanParkBook

Neato subject matter, Tong, thanx for tackling an ignored subject of my incredible So. Cal childhood. Part of my endless thrills there would include starring at whatever nuttiness the venerable rock club The Cheetah had going on next door, got my first mental image of Alice Cooper there, sure wish I'd snagged any of the many sketched posters tacked up. Any mention of The Cheetah in the book? It's worthy of a book all it's own!

WOW...how exciting. Looking forward to adding this book to my collection.

"Forward by Brian Wilson"

What a great plus to what already looks to be a great book! Can't wait.

On 2014-03-30 15:26, Tangaroa wrote:
Hi all -
Sorry for the lack of updates - but after much. much hard work by all of us, the book is finally at the printers. Here's the cover:

Just ordered two copies. My most vivid memory, from when I was a wee kid, was the diving bell attraction. Can't wait to see what else I might recall from POP!

If its anything like Dominic's Pop surf culture book,
it will be amazing and must have.

On 2014-03-30 15:42, msteeln wrote:
Neato subject matter, Tong, thanx for tackling an ignored subject of my incredible So. Cal childhood. Part of my endless thrills there would include starring at whatever nuttiness the venerable rock club The Cheetah had going on next door, got my first mental image of Alice Cooper there, sure wish I'd snagged any of the many sketched posters tacked up. Any mention of The Cheetah in the book? It's worthy of a book all it's own!

Hi Msteeln -

Yes - we have a whole section on the Cheetah nightclub, including many of those sketched posters you mention, photos of The Doors and The Byrds playing, etc.

Hi all - we just got "Boing Boing-ed!" You'll find some very tiki-centric images of the "Mystic Isles" section of P.O.P. there.... http://boingboing.net/2014/05/05/pacificoceanpark.html

Hi everyone - I just received our first test prints from my publisher - take a look with this preview video: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=750603608295016&set=vb.603634642991914&type=2&theater

On 2014-05-27 06:22, Tangaroa wrote:
Hi everyone - I just received our first test prints from my publisher - take a look with this preview video: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=750603608295016&set=vb.603634642991914&type=2&theater

looks to be another masterpiece, chris. i CAN'T WAIT 'til this comes out!

Just added to my Amazon cart. Can't wait.

Nice work, looks great. Looking forward to the release.

DC

This is the fantastic book I've been waiting for - looks great! Thanks for the update!

Hi everyone at TC - here's the page with all the Pacific Ocean Park book tour information - hope to see you at one of the signings! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=769846449704065&set=a.645195438835834.1073741856.603634642991914&type=1&theater I promise lots of mid-century modern goodness! All best, Chris M

I got a "going to ship soon" notification from Amazon a couple days ago. I can't wait!

Thanks for the preview, it looks wonderful. I already have mine on order.

Amazon shipped my order today.

On 2014-07-03 17:00, Tangaroa wrote:
...hope to see you at one of the signings! ... All best, Chris M

Hey Chris, I'll see you at the upcoming signing at Downtown Disney.
Looking forward!

Got mine in the mail today. Looking forward to scanning through it in the daylight tomorrow.

Dominic will also be selling n signing the P.O.P. book at the
Surf guitar 101 convention:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=46911&forum=17&14

Got my two copies on Thursday and have already paged through the book with a couple friends. Truly a beautiful and amazing book rich with photographs, history, and stories.

I am fortunate to have gone to POP when I was a kid. I still have memories of the diving bell. Our family photos seem to have disappeared, so this book helps a lot.

Great book Chris! Was at Downtown Disney today for the book signing. Wow, what an understatement. This was an event and a great one at that! Chris and Domenic gave a well over an hour long presentation on the history of Pacific Ocean Park. Continuous flow of excellent slides and some amazing video clips too!

Here are some re-posts of some P.O.P. eye candy found elsewhere on TC:

More photos here:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=10938&forum=2&start=0

Near the spot where it once stood we came to celebrate the memory of Pacific Ocean Park via Christopher Merritt and Domenic Priore slide-show presentation at the Santa Monica History Museum yesterday, July 13th. The presentation was entertaining, fun and the audience enjoyed it. In case you haven't heard the P.O.P. book is FANTASTIC! The color pics of the Mystery Island Banana Train ride alone are worth the price of the book. Thanks and hugs to the authors for the effort it took to bring this project to full fruition, to the donors of all the material pictured in the book, and the fans of POP who never lost enthusiasm in all the 47 years since POP has been closed. L to R: Christopher Dylan Merritt, Greg Reyes (TikiG) and Domenic Priore.

very cool, can't wait to get a copy.

Jeff(btd)