2500 Strand

Growing up in Hermosa Beach, California, During World War II

by C. Scott Littleton

C. Scott Littleton's memoir of growing up in Hermosa Beach, California offers a unique and intimate portrait of life on the beach during World War II. 2500 Strand focuses on the years the Littleton clan occupied the beach front property of 2500 Strand. This touching personal history elucidates how one American boy saw the events of a world in peril: from the news of France's capitulation to Germany in 1940, to the tumultuous years in the wake of Pearl Harbor, the underlying war hysteria of Japanese internment camps and nightly air raid drills, and a first-hand account of the famous and unexplained "Battle of Los Angeles." With his typical scholarly insight, attention to detail, and deep love of history, Littleton's memories are unforgettable.

C. SCOTT LITTLETON is Professor of Anthropology, Emeritus, at Occidental College in Los Angeles, California. He is a specialist in Japanese religion and culture, the origin and distribution of the Arthurian and Holy Grail legends, and comparative Indo-European mythology. He is the author of The New Comparative Mythology: An Anthropological Assessment of the Theories of Georges Dumézil (3rd edition, University of California Press, 1982); (with Linda A. Malcor) From Scythia to Camelot: A Radical Reassessment of the Legends of King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table, and the Holy Grail (2nd edition, Garland, 2000); Shinto: Origins, Rituals, Festivals, Spirits, Sacred Places (Oxford University Press, 2002); Phase Two, a science fiction novel (Invisible College Press, 2002); and well over one hundred articles and reviews in a variety of professional journals and popular magazines. He is the editor of The Sacred East (The Ulysses Press, 1999); Mythology: The Illustrated Anthology of World Myth & Storytelling (Duncan Baird, 2002); and Gods, Goddesses, and Mythology (Marshall-Cavendish, 2004).

Born in Los Angeles, Littleton spent his early years in Hermosa Beach, CA, where most of this book takes place. He received a Ph.D. in Anthropology from UCLA in 1965. He has two married daughters, and has lived in Pasadena, CA, with his wife Mary Ann since 1967. The author’s hobbies include cycling, body surfing, researching the UFO phenomenon, and reading (and writing) science fiction.