When your college classmates are Francis Ford Coppola and Jim Morrison, you're almost certainly destined for greatness. Michael Childers went from UCLA film student to resident photographer at Laurence Olivier's National Theatre in London to one of the founding photographers of Interview magazine. He also worked on Midnight Cowboy and became director John Schlesinger's partner on and off the set for more than 30 years. Add to that countless magazine and album covers, as well as posters for such films as Grease, Coal Miner's Daughter, The Terminator and Ocean's Twelve. This past fall, the West Hollywood library hosted the exhibit “Author, Author,” featuring Childers' images of Ray Bradbury, Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee and Gore Vidal. And in 2003, the Palm Springs Desert Museum organized a 40-year retrospective titled “Icon and Legends.” Childers, a Palm Springs resident, signs that exhibit's companion book, Icons & Legends: The Photography of Michael Childers, which includes a glamorous Natalie Wood (Childers was one of the last to photograph the actress before her death) on the cover and an introduction by David Hockney, who calls his friend “an insider on the edge — a good position to be in.”Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd., W. Hlywd.; Wed., Jan. 9, 7 p.m.; free, book is $29.95. (310) 659-3110, booksoup.com.

Wed., Jan. 9, 7 p.m., 2013

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