‘Malibu Diary’ focuses on People, Politics & Land

When longtime journalist and writer Penelope Grenoble O’Malley wished to escape the hectic pace, noise and congestion of Los Angeles, she moved to Malibu in 1986 for what she imagined would be a more peaceful life. ‘I had contradictory impulses,’ O’Malley says. ‘I wanted to be alone and enjoy quiet anonymity. On the other hand, I wanted to feel part of a community.’ A community connection happened instantly as O’Malley took a reporter’s position at the Malibu Times, a high-profile job that brought her face to face with the growing pains and ensuing debates of a small community and with her own prejudices and bias. ‘I came smack up against my own values,’ she says. ‘As a journalist, you are in the privileged position of being forced to see all sides. It gives you the opportunity to really think things out.’ Her search for solitude was fraught with difficulties as she encountered devastating fires and floods and became embroiled in myriad local issues and politics: the rights of Native Americans vs. those of property owners, the struggle between an antidevelopment coalition and civic planners and the endless studies of septic systems and water quality. All of this is chronicled in her book, a work of literary journalism, entitled ‘Malibu Diairy: Notes from an Urban Refugee’ (University of Nevada Press, 2004). O’Malley will speak at Village Books at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 24. Part personal memoir, part environmental and social history, the book takes a sharp look at the complicated relationship human beings have with the landscape and how moving to a beautiful locale next to nature to ‘get away from it all’ comes with unexpected responsibilities. ‘It’s a lot easier to say what you don’t want than what you do want,’ says O’Malley, who became frustrated by civic leaders who were prone to brand all commercial development undesirable and whose rigid thinking continually blocked constructive action. O’Malley, who still writes for the Malibu Times, now lives in Agoura. A devoted environmentalist, she is committed to educating herself about the entire region that’s affected by the Santa Monica Mountains and how to protect it. ‘I need to be in touch with people with different views,’ she says. ‘I need to get out of my own Malibu mindset.’