By Natalie Edwards
Special to the Daily Press

DOWNTOWN There are two simultaneous trajectories to the life of Santa Monica resident and author Anna Sklar, one geographical arch that jumps across cities within Los Angeles, and another personal love for the demands of reporting that bridged jobs.

Now settled in her favorite Los Angeles enclave and retired from the nine-to-five routine, Sklar has combined both in the soon to be published non-fiction account of the history of the Los Angeles sewer system, “Black Acres: An Intimate History of the Los Angeles Sewers.” It is a history that parallels the rise of the city and delves into what made Los Angeles possible — water.

The text touches upon turn-of-the-century suicidal city engineers overwhelmed by the political nature of the day, the razing of the San Fernando Valley, the dumping of sewage into the ocean and subsequent closures from pollution, bond measures that promised treatment and delivered screening, and the building of pipes that directed sewage into deep sea pockets of sludge that Sklar called “the black hole of calcutta.”

“Black Acres” also traces recent developments, such as the more promising growth of progressive environmental organizations in the past two decades, like Santa Monica nonprofit Heal the Bay, that rallied for and succeeded in persuading local governments to stop sewage dumping and implement more aggressive sewage treatment.

While sections of “Black Acres” cover the same ground as “Chinatown,” Sklar admitted that her text may not maintain the same level of intrigue as the film noir classic. Both focus on a turbulent time in Southern California history: The early 20th century struggles between bureaucrats and engineers amidst underground deals, biased newspaper reports, and public outcry. But where “Chinatown” benefited from compositing different historical events, dramatic cinematography, and fictionalization, “Black Acres” maintains the suspense of historicity derived from conducting hundreds of interviews and scouring archives.

Still, Sklar admitted, “... nothing could really match Chinatown.”

Sklar became interested in the project in 1994 while working as a public information director for the City of Los Angeles. It was the 100 year anniversary of the first city-wide sewer system, a cheaply built redwood pipeline that deteriorated within five years, and Sklar had been asked by an engineer to research the history for the purpose of a possible report or documentary. What began as a professional task quickly shifted into a personal endeavor. Sklar had received both a bachelors and masters degree in history at UCLA and her curiosity was piqued by the project.

“I was particularly interested in the early years. How did they come up with the sewer system? I came up with some odd things. But then I had to make a living, so I put it aside,” Sklar said.

It wasn’t until two years after she had abandoned the book that, prompted by the suggestion of a City archivist, Sklar applied for and received a grant from the Los Angeles Historical Society.

It was a choice affair that channeled both Sklar’s loyalty to Los Angeles and her investigative streak. Born in the Bronx, Sklar grew up in Los Angeles strongly influenced by her immigrant and union activist father. As a youth, Sklar attended hootenanies and developed an interest in progressive politics that drove her education. After working for the city for a year, unhappy with her post and feeling that something amiss, Sklar picked up a pen.

Sklar’s career as a writer has always been, to use her own word, “paripatetic.” She had published book reviews in the L.A. Times with the aid of a professor who also happened to be the newspaper’s book editor, had written newsletters for the mayoral campaign of Tom Bradley, and had worked as an assistant to novelist Irving Wallace, but it was the Pentagon Paper Trials of 1971 that established her burgeoning career as a reporter.

“The first day of the trial,” Sklar said, “I basically snuck inside. It was January of 1973 and I told the publishing editor of the L.A. Free Press that I would like to cover it. He said, ‘Why don’t you try writing something?’ I spent the first five days writing a story and it just flowed. It was about the bizarre nature of the trial and it was the easiest thing I think I’ve ever done.”

Sklar followed her stint at the L.A. Free Press with stretches as a reporter for Earth News Radio, a nationally syndicated program, and NPR. For Earth News Radio, Sklar interviewed everybody from Ronald Reagan to Herbie Hancock; and for NPR, Sklar single-handedly covered the entire West Coast, driving hundreds of miles along the coastline, editing her own tapes, and sending them to Washington D.C. because NPR at the time didn’t have a Los Angeles bureau.

With two children at home, Sklar admitted, “There were times when I was exhausted but it was really exciting. Then it got to be that there was really too much. They wanted me to come back to D.C. and I didn’t want to leave my family. I didn’t want to uproot them.”

Before settling into a career working for the city, Sklar published a text entitled “Runaway Wives” on the 1970s phenomenon of women leaving their husbands in droves and settling in communities in the North- and Southwest; and while a Public Relations Director, Sklar compensated for the bureaucratic atmosphere of the workplace by making educational documentaries. The informational videos allowed her the opportunity, like “Black Acres,” to explore her overarching interests.

“I’ve always had a love for the history of Los Angeles,” said Sklar. “Especially the 1920s and the progressive movement, the attempt to create a more liberal community in Los Angeles.”

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