Wicked Crescenta Valley

From illegal gambling and prostitution to claims of alien abduction, Crescenta Valley has seen it all. Once home to thriving moonshine operations and shocking Nazi rallies, the valley's past is riddled with scandalous tales that many would prefer to forget. Yet not all of Crescenta Valley's tawdry history could remain forgotten or hidden in its day. The infamous C.C. Julian oil scandal made national headlines. Even today, recent information reveals a local internment camp for Japanese and Germans that opened the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed. Join Gary Keyes and Mike Lawler, authors of Murder & Mayhem in the Crescenta Valley," as they reveal the seamy underbelly that belies the valley's beautifully pleasant exterior."

Gary Keyes taught history, government and sociology at Crescenta Valley High School in La Crescenta for thirty-nine years. Currently, he is an adjunct professor of social science at Glendale Community College in Glendale, California. As a resident of the foothill communities for forty-five years, he became interested in local history when he helped his son's Boy Scout troop obtain their Citizenship in the Community badges. He lives in La Canada with a supportive wife of forty-nine years. Mike Lawler was born with a passion for history and spent much of his childhood digging holes in his yard in La Crescenta, looking for clues to the area's history. As a teenager, he was a student of Gary Keyes and was fascinated with Keyes's focus on some darker aspects of history. As an adult, he became a community leader in bringing local history to life with the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley and was thrilled to again team up with Keyes to air Crescenta valley's dirty laundry."