columnist Joe Goodman is off this week, but I thought I would share a few of his best stories so far.
There seem to be few people that know the Valley better than . He was born in Toluca Lake and has lived in Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Northridge, Encino, Woodland Hills and Calabasas.
Goodman's local knowledge was invaluable when he was a key expert intervewee for North Hollywood-Toluca Lake Patch's recent video series on the .
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Goodman and Studio City Patch Editor Mike Szymanski have known each other for a long time, and Szymanski suggested I meet him because he thought we could share his column. So I met Goodman one day over lunch at Aroma Cafe and before the lunch was over I had agreed for him to be a regular weekly columnist for North Hollywood-Toluca Lake Patch. I hadn't actually read a single word of his writing and it is the only time in my career as a journalist I hired someone without having read any of their work. There was just something about him. I figured if he was half as entertaining in his writing as he was while talking, we'd be in business.
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