Here's a nice little story from writer Mark Evanier's blog, called modestly News From Me. Seems he began teaching a humor writing class at USC yesterday, but his car broke down. He took a cab to campus, then to catch one home walked over to Jefferson and Figueroa and called for a pick up at Felix Chevrolet.

The cab driver was a very old gentleman from Kenya who told me he'd gone off-duty when he heard the radio call that they were looking for someone to pick up outside Felix Chevrolet. "I signed back in to get you," he told me. "I love Felix, always have." As a tiny Kenyan, he said, he had a Felix the Cat shirt that he wore everywhere until it was so ragged that his Mama started insisting he give it up. He refused and refused up until the day it came out of the laundry in tatters. He said that sixty years after the fact, he still suspects sabotage on his mother's part.

I asked him if he'd ever seen a Felix cartoon. He said he didn't think so. I asked him if he'd ever read a Felix comic book. He said he didn't think so. I asked him what it was about Felix that made him so special. He said, "Felix always seems so happy. When things get me down, I just look at him and he makes me feel better." As good a reason as any, I'd say.

Evanier's website also has pages on old L.A. restaurants that should be entertaining for long-time residents.

Photo: PublicArtinLA.com