Cliches have to start somewhere

Rafting (or canoeing, kayaking, etc) the Los Angeles River is one of the old standby L.A. feature stories that some journalist will propose every few years, thinking it's a fresh idea. Charlie LeDuff of the New York Times was the last to try that I recall, and he got in a little trouble. Anyway, Larry Harnisch at The Daily Mirror posts the evidence that reporter Charles Hillinger and a photographer did it for the Times way back in 1958. Hillinger died yesterday at age 82.