Alice Short

Alice Short on Monday was named an assistant managing editor of the Los Angeles Times, in charge of the Health, Food, Home, Travel and Image sections. The appointment was made by Editor Russ Stanton. Short has worked at The Times for 21 years, starting at the Valley Edition, where she served as deputy editor and editor of the former View section.

Alice Short on Monday was named an assistant managing editor of the Los Angeles Times, in charge of the Health, Food, Home, Travel and Image sections. The appointment was made by Editor Russ Stanton. Short has worked at The Times for 21 years, starting at the Valley Edition, where she served as deputy editor and editor of the former View section.

Jodi Picoult is a familiar name to those of us who race through the Hudson News stores at LAX just before we board a plane. We are smug in our certainty - we know what we're getting when we pluck one of her novels from the pile. Her prose goes down easy, and she fills her stories with characters confronted by moral quandaries and life-changing decisions. That's certainly the case in "The Storyteller," which opens with the narration of Sage Singer, a lonely young baker who befriends a 95-year-old man in her grief support group.

Long after her books end, Alice Munro's characters live on in the mind like cranky, cheek-pinching relatives from childhood. Once you've read her, you can't forget Flo from the 1977 story collection, "The Beggar Maid"--stubborn, fiercely proud, with her work-scuffed knees, flowered aprons and penchant for warning people to "get out of my road"? Then there's Addie Jordan, a.k.a.

Long after her books end, Alice Munro's characters live on in the mind like cranky, cheek-pinching relatives from childhood. Once you've read her, you can't forget Flo from the 1977 story collection, "The Beggar Maid"--stubborn, fiercely proud, with her work-scuffed knees, flowered aprons and penchant for warning people to "get out of my road"? Then there's Addie Jordan, a.k.a.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - When I told friends I was planning a trip to Birmingham, the reaction was universal. "Alabama?" one asked. "On purpose?" I shared their skepticism, viewing the travel literature with the jaundiced eye of a longtime Angeleno who puzzled over the concept of vacationing in the South. But I was flying here for a business meeting that had been scheduled for Presidents Day weekend, so why not take some extra time and look around? It's not the oldest or most storied city in the South.

Today the L.A. Times announced the appointment of Joy Press as Books and Culture Editor. The memo about the appointment, from L.A. Times Editor Davan Maharaj and Assistant Managing Editor for Features Alice Short, follows. We are delighted to announce that Joy Press, who has had a distinguished career as a writer and editor on a variety of cultural and entertainment topics, is our new Books and Culture Editor. Her presence will allow us to expand our coverage of publishing and literary culture, with a special emphasis on ramping up our digital content.

Leo Wolinsky, Metro editor of The Times, and John Lindsay, executive editor of the Calendar section, have been named assistant managing editors, Times Editor Shelby Coffey III and Managing Editor Michael Parks announced. Senior Editor Carol Stogsdill will take on paper-wide responsibilities for a variety of cross-jurisdictional topics, with welfare reform and education being initial ventures.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Is it possible for an Angeleno to leave home and find love in a region where sunshine is merely a rumor and 50 shades of gray are a daily atmospheric reality? It's helpful if the pursuit of that bliss involves a white-hot controversy that upon occasion dominates headlines and ensnares academics, government officials and medical researchers. I am speaking, of course, of carbohydrate love. Portland - where the constantly caffeinated seem to have an ever-growing selection of pastries to consume with their coffee - is a logical destination.

If you grew up female in the second half of the 20th century in the United States, you might hold these "truths" about children's literature to be self-evident: •Nancy Drew commanded a certain loyalty from readers, but we all knew that real-life 18-year-olds couldn't live as she did, thwarting danger at every turn. And the boyfriend? Ned Nickerson was not only a ridiculous name, but Ned Nickerson was also a superfluous human being. Nancy Drew's girl friends, Bess and George, played important roles in the teen sleuth's dramas.

CONTENTS: PREFACE: A Business Deal Done--A Controversy Born CHAPTER 1: The Deal CHAPTER 2: The Debate CHAPTER 3: The Meeting CHAPTER 4: The Decision CHAPTER 5: The Hard Sell CHAPTER 6: The Prelude CHAPTER 7: The Visitor CHAPTER 8: The Press CHAPTER 9: The Wall CHAPTER 10: Otis CHAPTER 11: The Aftermath Journalism Is A Very Different Business--Here's Why [see sidebar] Another Staples-Like Proposal Was Made to Times [see sidebar] * PREFACE / A Business Deal Done -- A Controversy Born The newsroom

Location: 928 S. Western Ave., Los Angeles. From the 10 Freeway, take the Western Avenue exit and head north. Hours: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Sun. What you'll find: A quick drive by Koreatown Plaza won't yield a lot of information. It sits like a monolith on Western Boulevard, between 9th and San Marino streets, offering few clues to what's inside. Three floors of shops face inward, with second- and third-floor walkways overlooking a low-key courtyard area on the first floor.