Monday, January 19, 2026

Altadena Poets, Writers to Mark Eaton Fire Anniversary at Library Gathering

STAFF REPORT

Fifty-three weeks after the Eaton Fire tore through this foothill community and left it in ruins, the Altadena Library will host a gathering of local poets, writers, and community leaders on Tuesday evening to share reflections on memory, healing, and rebuilding.

The event, titled “Under the Stars: Voices of Resilience and Hope,” brings together 13 participants from across Altadena’s creative and civic landscape. Several of them lost their own homes in the January 2025 disaster, according to published reports.

Among the scheduled speakers will be Michele Zack, the historian and author of “Altadena: Between Wilderness and City,” who lost her 100-year-old home in the fire. Hans Allhoff, chair of the preservation group Altadena Heritage, will also participate; he lost his home on Sunny Oaks Circle. Sam James, CEO and co-founder of the Altadena Recovery Team, saw homes destroyed across her extended family, including part of her childhood home, according to UCLA.

James, a sixth-generation Altadena resident and first-year master’s student at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs, co-founded ART with three other Black women from the area to provide supplies, wellness programs, and policy advocacy for fire survivors.

Other scheduled participants include Brandon Lamar, president of the Pasadena NAACP; Kristen Ochoa, founder of the Chaney Trail Corridor Project and a UCLA psychiatry professor; Florence Annang, founder of THRIVE Learning Lab; and filmmakers Pablo Miralles and Patricia Cunliffe. Singer and songwriter LZ Love, photographer Sunny Mills, artist Heather Morrow, writer Nahshon Dion, and Erica Slater of the Altadena Community Garden round out the lineup.

The event is free and open to all, organizers said. No RSVP is required. Food and refreshments will be served.

The Altadena Library Community Room (Barbara J. Pearson Community Room) is at 600 E. Mariposa St., in Altadena. For more, call (626) 798-0833.