• Wendy Gilmartin, architect and writer of the L.A. Weekly’s “Fugly Buildings” blog, joins us for a discussion of some of the architectural horrors present in the city we celebrate. And…Wendy joins us to point out some of the ugly and ordinary structures, right on our route. Approximately 10:00AM, Vista Hermosa Park.

• Christine Peters, of Save Elysian Park, will be joining us at 11AM near Barlow Respiratory Hospital to tell us about efforts to stop the destruction of that historic site - and the plan to replace it with hundreds of condominiums.
• The Ukelele Orchestra of the Western Hemisphere wil be performing at our lunch break on Saturday, May 18. Approximately 1PM in the playground across from the Grace Simonds Lodge in Elysian Park.
• The Silver Lake Neighborhood Council and the Micheltorena Elementary Garden will be hosting a community pot luck and reception for us at 6PM on Saturday, complete with a photo show from Bob Inman. Info here.
• And more - surprises and yet-to-be-announced guests and talks all along the way!

Sunday, May 19, 2013:

• Diane Edwardson is dedicated to preserving the amazing Corralitas Red Car site at Silverlake’s north end. She’ll join us again to show us this magical open space, Sunday at about 11AM.
• The Swords of Fatima will be performing at our lunch break on Sunday, May 19. Approximately 1PM at the Silver Lake Rec Center. 
• Liz Thomas is a world-record holding ultra-light through-hiker. Andrew Lichtman and Ying Chen are long-time Big Paraders. Bob Inman is LA’s reigning stairway guru. All four of them have walked the Inman 300, the longest stairway route in the city, and are working to establish it as a national hiking trail. Join them on our version of the Tomato Pie loop, Sunday at 3PM. 
• Poet and naturalist Charles Hood grew up in Atwater and has been a dishwasher, a factory worker, and a nature guide in Africa. He also has been to the South Pole and most of the way to the North Pole. He currently is writing about the trees of L.A. - but will talk to us about two other interests: feral parrots and the Los Angeles River. We will meet him at about 4:30 along the Los Angeles River. Join point: parking lot of the Los Feliz Golf Course. (See BPLA guide/map for details, including a parking warning.)
• Jen Hofer is a Los Angeles-based poet, translator, social justice interpreter, teacher, knitter, book-maker, public letter-writer, urban cyclist, and co-founder of the language justice and literary activism collaborative Antena. Her latest translations include the homemade chapbook En las maravillas/In Wonder (Libros Antena/Antena Books, 2012) and Ivory Black, a translation of Negro marfil by Myriam Moscona (Les Figues Press 2011). Her recent and forthcoming books are available from a range of small presses, including Action Books, Atelos, Dusie Books, Insert Press, Kenning Editions, Litmus Press, Palm Press, and Subpress. She teaches poetics, translation and bookmaking at CalArts and Otis College. Poems from the sequence Front Page News, some of which she’ll read as part of the Big Parade, can be found at Alligatorzine, Public Access, and Spiral Orb. Jen will be walking with us and reading at Griffith Park’s beautiful and little-known and well-shaded Cedar Grove, Sunday at about 5:30PM.
• And more surprises and speakers as we walk!

Along the way:

• Dave Ptach lives in Fellowship Park and is the founder of Los Angeles Stairstreet Advocates and host of the weekly Tomato Pie walk, held every Tuesday night.
• Bob Inman is the stairway king of Los Angeles; he also leads practice walks, and is designing the Friday prologue as well as curating our Saturday night photo exhibit. His book is the ultimate pocket stairway reference.

Friends of the Big Parade:.

• Alissa Walker leads practice walks, knows Los Angeles inside and out, and is the world’s biggest Gelato fan.
• Andrew Lichtman and Ying Chen are the grizzled vets and ultimate public walk inspirers.
• Carrie and Dean Okrand are hot on their heels for that position.
• Kristin Bedford wrangled movies.
• Los Angeles Walks is the region’s newest pedestrian activism organization.
• The Echo Park Film Center helped make our movie - and tons of other public cinema events - happen.
• Helen Springut (of Thrillist) gave awesome advice and helped wrangle music.
• Friends of Griffith Park are our friends, too.
• Amazing music for 2011 came from RTNTHE44s and The Worldwide Ukelele Orchestra.
• Use the LA Metro to get to and from our walks.
• Learn about the Los Angeles Parks Department - we’ll be passing through over a dozen local facilities.
• GreenLAGirl writes about environmentally conscious living in Los Angeles.
• Streetsblog LA provides news and advocacy for self-powered and mass transit.
• LAIst, for breaking local news and information.
• The Great Los Angeles Walk is another group on-foot event.
• The Echo Park Historical Society has a local stairway map and comprehensive information on the historic neighborhood that contains nearly 1/3rd of the route’s public stairways.
• The Eastsider is Echo Park’s blog lifeline to the rest of the known universe…
• The “Welcome to Silverlake” website has info on the “other” neighborhood that has the walk’s high stairway concentration.
• Hope Anderson writes about Beachwood Canyon, the Hollywood Sign, and LA culture.
• Steven Box keeps the local transit powers-that-be honest.
• The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition is holding its annual River Ride the week before the Big Parade. You should try it!
• Silverlake’s In & Up Pilates will help build you core strength - and prevent injury - before the Parade.
• Fallen Fruit is all about the edible streets of Los Angeles - and beyond.
• The Los Angeles Eco-Village is a cooperative, sustainable, urban community.
• Lisa Anne Auerbach is a great artist and helped to organize the Big Parade
• Mike Eberts is author of “Griffith Park: A Centennial History.”
• Joe Linton is author of “Down by the LA River” and a blogger at LA Creek Freak. He co-led our river segment in 2012.
• Heather Mendoza is the organizer of the Echo Park Art Walk; in 2012, the venn diagrams for that event and the Big Parade intersected.
• Steve Moramarco performed for us in 2012. His band, the Abe Lincoln Story, is one of L.A.’s longest-running and smartest entertainment institutions.
• Charles Fleming has a book about stairs in Los Angeles.
• Puzzles is my kitten.
• Otto is my son.
• Kalee is my wife.