Nicole Maggi’s L.A.
Our L.A. series
I got to know Nicole years and years ago at a writer’s night out with mutual friends. A few of us still meet up every few months to catch up on writing and life. We all have really been through a lot together; family struggles, serious health setbacks, parenting challenges, of course writing frustration, but also incredible writing and life wins. And finally I get to spend more than just an hour or two at our favorite dinner spot with her.
Nicole is an incredible writer. Currently, I am savoring her newest book (second in the National Parks Mystery series) Lost in Yellowstone. She is the author of eight books, a lover of the outdoors and national parks, and volunteers with her daughter’s Girl Scout troop which of course makes her a fabulous mom.
On a recent warm Saturday, I met Nicole at her house and hopped in her car for the day. I was told to be ready with hiking attire, water, and a journal. But first coffee.
“I am a coffee shop writer,” Nicole said.
She took me to one of her favorite coffee spots in Burbank, The Ugly Mug. An adorable place despite the fact that they had to make sure people didn’t make it their office for the day.
Nicole wrote her non fiction book Hidden Wonders here. We judged the line too long and went to another favorite place, Basecamp where “vintage mountaineering charm meets artisanal coffee” Seemed a perfect start for the day I thought we were about to have. We picked up our iced honey vanilla lattes (yum) and continued winding our way through Burbank. At the crossstreets are signs that show people on horses. There are zones for horses in the Rancho area of Burbank and sure enough ahead of us down the block someone is walking their miniature horse (Little Sebastian!).
We hit the freeway with Lord Huron playing softly in the background. Nicole grew up 90 miles north of New York City and went to college in Boston. After school she lived in NYC.
“New York City has an energy you can’t escape,” she said.
After 10 years in NYC she and her husband moved to Los Angeles. She, like me, also came out here as an actor. Her first apartment was at the base of Runyon Canyon. Nature is so close here. It’s definitely a wonderful thing about this city.
“Fun fact. Los Angeles is the only metropolitan city with a mountain range bisecting it,” Nicole said. “NYC is in my blood but California is my soul.”
We headed out on the 101 freeway west toward Malibu. This was her “when shit hits the fan” drive. I see why this was the case. It’s a good thinking drive. Beautiful as you hop off the freeway to wind your way through the Santa Monica Mountains. Soon we will be at the ocean.
We talked about when we first got into writing and how in high school her junior year English paper was on Truman Capote. It didn’t surprise me that she has a deep love of him. She told me about when she was ten years old her family took a cross country trip to go to the Olympics in Los Angeles. She learned much later that during this trip in Los Angeles Truman Capote died. It was also on this trip that her love for national parks was born. Her family stopped at some of them along the way. An interesting kismet intersection of things: true crime, writing, Los Angeles, and National Parks.
Speaking of…. Our first stop on this adventure was Solstice Canyon, a park within the Santa Monica National Park! Of course she takes me here. We lucked out with a good parking spot and set out on our hike. She let me use her walking stick! And now I need one for myself. It was a wonderful hike and one I could handle. Lots of shade, not too crazy uphill and there was a reward at the end! A waterfall. We talked about national parks (see a couple bonus questions I included for her at the end of this blog post). We also saw the ruins of two homes.
Near the waterfall, Nicole took me to the spot where she liked to journal. We took some time to journal for a bit together.
I need to hike more often. Maybe I’ll even invest in hiking boots.
We worked up an appetite so we headed to the Malibu Country Mart which I hadn’t been to in probably 20 years. I don’t remember it having so many stores! We splurged and had lobster rolls at Broad Street Oyster Company which were delicious.
We left the beautiful Malibu coast, driving up highway one, seeing the burnt out shells of the homes that fell in the fires. The conversation turned to true crime. Nicole loves true crime. She is the person, when if I’m wanting to go down a true crime rabbit hole, I ask what I need to listen to and she’s got the reccs. (I Think Not, Uncover, Brief Recess podcasts just to name a few). This conversation was appropriate for the last destination. There is a dark side to Los Angeles.
There used to be houses here.
We drove up through Beverly Hills to the area above Benedict Canyon. We got to a property dubbed Falcon’s Lair. Originally built for silent movie star Rudolph Valentino and then after a few other owners, owned by billionaire tobacco heiress Doris Duke. It happens to be for sale right now if you have just under 8 million to spare. But why we were in this area was for someone else. Sharon Tate’s house where she and others were murdered is right down the street on Cielo Dr. It was very desolate here. No one would know if you were killed. We quietly paid our respects and drove away.
We made our way back to Burbank following the L.A. river. Yes the river that is not much of a river at all. But there is beauty to it in places. She showed me a half mile span that has a mural of the history of L.A, The Great Wall of Los Angeles painted on its concrete walls. It was created in 1978 by Judith Baca who recruited a number of artists to contribute. Baca explained, “I thought, what if we on this endless wall came all together? And I began painting The Great Wall thinking that I would create a narrative mural, with a team that would work across race and class, having them understand that their history, black history, Chicano history, Asian history, women's history, was all of our history. To see ourselves connected, visually demonstrated as connected in the imagery.” It was registered a historic landmark in 2017.
Protecting things like this is so important. History teaches us so much, if we let it of course. And untouched places on this earth are important to conserve. Nicole and a few other authors have a Substack, Authors Supporting the Parks, advocating for National Parks. Nicole’s passion for the national parks is contagious, but honestly if you just go to one you need no convincing. They are very special places.
Nicole, how long have you lived in L.A.?
19 years! January 2027 will mark my 20 year anniversary.
Where have you lived in the city?
When we first moved here, we lived in Hollywood, right at the base of Runyon Canyon. I used to get up at 6am to hike the canyon. The view from the top, where there's a perfectly positioned bench, is amazing.
Then we wanted to buy a house, so we moved to the Valley, where we've lived ever since.
What do you love about L.A.?
I think my favorite thing about L.A. is that you can drive 10 minutes and be in absolute wilderness. I lived in NYC for a decade before moving here, and you had to drive hours to really get out of the city there. Here, you can hike into Griffith Park or the Santa Monica Mountains and feel like you're nowhere near a city. Being able to access nature so readily makes it so much easier for me to keep my equilibrium.
What do you think is a misconception about L.A.?
I think a lot of people believe that Angelenos are flaky or phony. And yes, I've certainly met my fair share of phonies here. But I've also met true blue people who are genuine and authentic. I've found more of a community here than I ever did when I lived in NYC.
The way people came together and looked out for each other after the fires really solidified this.
How would you encapsulate your L.A. experience in just a couple sentences?
I moved to L.A. from NYC because after a decade of living in Brooklyn, I could no longer hear my own thoughts. So I came out here to be able to listen to myself again. And not only have I been able to listen to myself in the 19+ years I've lived here, I've heard things that I never knew about myself, that only this city was able to tell me.
What is your dream hike?
Oooh...The Narrows in Zion National Park. That hike features very prominently in my book A MURDER IN ZION, so people assume I've hiked it. Alas, it was raining when I visited the park so The Narrows was closed because of the flash flood risk. I would love to go back and do it.
But I did get to experience Zion in the rain, when all sorts of waterfalls appear that aren't usually there. It was magical.
What can we do to preserve our national parks?
Get educated about what's happening. There are tons of influencers on Instagram who are dialed in to everything happening and are often the first to report on national park news, which isn't really being covered by the mainstream media. Check out organizations like the Sierra Club, the National Parks Foundation, and the National Parks Conservation Association, all of whom are the front lines of the fight to protect our public lands. If you live near a national park, get involved with that park's nonprofit partner (most parks have one, such as Zion Forever or The Yosemite Conservancy). Lastly, get loud. Call your reps and tell them to vote for legislation that protects public lands instead of stripping them.