Erika Schickel

Zorthian Ranch; Credit: Photo by Danny Liao

At Zorthian Ranch, a Return to Bohemia

Erika Schickel
The parties Jirayr Zorthian threw at his ranch in the foothills of Altadena were invitation-only events, yet everybody in Los Angeles seemed to rub elbows there: Caltech physicists, modern artists, Pasadena bluebloods, jazz musicians, the famous and infamous, hipsters, hippies and hedonists of every stripe came to dance, drink and......

When Night Was Falling

Erika Schickel
In the winter of 1975, my family made our annual trip from our home in New York to Los Angeles to visit my mother’s parents. Designed by my granddaddy in the ’50s, their house was a sleek, Neutra-inspired affair perched on a Pacific Palisades hillside, offering a sweeping ocean view......

Body Work

Erika Schickel
Sitting behind the wheel of his white Bentley in a white leather baseball cap, white slacks and a sweater trimmed with racing stripes, the fully dressed Bikram Choudhury seems smaller than he does in the tiny black panty he wears on the “throne” from which he teaches his particular brand......