dinkelspiel

Through Frances Dinkelspiel’s literary blog, Ghost Word (francesdinkelspiel.blogspot.com), I kept up with the progress of her biography of Isaias Hellman, a Jewish immigrant who arrived in California in 1859 from Bavaria. As with many immigrants, Hellman had very little money; however, by the end of his life, he had transformed Los Angeles into a modern city and helped California become an economic power.