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By Bud and Arloa Paquin Goldstone

Author Bud Goldstone saved Watts Towers from demolition in 1959 by creating a test that proved the Towers were structurally sound. Goldstone was instrumental in ensuring that this National Historic Monument exists to this day. 

The Watts Towers, located in south central Los Angeles, are the monumental work of one man: Simon Rodia. Born in Ribottoli, Italy c. 1879, Rodia immigrated to the U.S. when he was about fifteen. In 1921, he purchased a triangular-shaped lot at the end of a dead-end L.A. street and over the next thirty years he worked single-handedly--without machine equipment, scaffolding, bolts, rivets, welds, or drawing board designs--to build the nine sculptures that constitute the Watts Towers.

This book recounts the story of Rodia and his creation, as well as the considerable history of the Watts area itself. Other chapters discuss Rodia's building techniques and materials, as well as the conservation efforts underway at the site. Visitors to the Towers and the armchair traveler alike will enjoy this in-depth look at Rodia and his singular creation.

- Softcover
- 120 pages, 10.1 x 8.1 x 0.3 inches
- 83 color and 41 b/w illustrations
- 1997