Mr. Ayers and Mr. Lopez

A 12-minute video from 60 Minutes: Mr. Ayers and Mr. Lopez

This is the 60 Minutes (a popular weekly news program from CBS News) story about Mr. Ayers and Mr. Lopez. It provides helpful background information for the stories.

 

Steve Lopez’ Points West stories about Nathaniel Ayers

Here are the stories – beginning with the earliest – that Steve Lopez of the L.A. Times wrote about Nathaniel Ayers. The descriptions were written by Mr. Lopez and come from the Times’ The Envelope: The Awards Insider.

  1. Violinist Has the World on 2 Strings – Nathaniel was shy in our first encounter a few months ago, if not a little wary. He took a step back when I approached to say I liked the way his violin music turned the clatter around downtown L.A.’s Pershing Square into an urban symphony.
  2. A Cello Backdrop for Voices Inside – When I saw Nathaniel Anthony Ayers back in his usual location, I had to ask: How could he stand playing a crummy violin when he had a brand new cello waiting for him several blocks away?
  3. A Twilight Concerto for Rats and Cello – I know only part of his story. I know him playing the cello on a dairy crate in the morning sun, suspended somewhere between boy genius and lost traveler.
  4. A New Stage for Homeless Musician – Alexis Rivera, owner of Little Pedro’s Blue Bongo in downtown Los Angeles, was riding his bike to work one night when he saw Nathaniel Anthony Ayers playing violin near the mouth of the 2nd Street tunnel. Rivera stopped and listened for more than an hour before approaching Nathaniel with a proposition.
  5. Vicious Circle of Hope, Despair – I got the message while I was out of town. The owner of Little Pedro’s said Nathaniel had flipped out while playing cello at the downtown Los Angeles club, launching into a belligerent tirade in front of his audience.
  6. A Ray of Hope for Future Nathaniels – The timing was perfect. I had just asked a Yale professor why there are no mentally ill people living on the streets of Norway, where he helped design some of the most progressive mental health treatment in the world. Then a colleague mentioned she was working on a story about Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies dumping a mentally ill man on skid row in downtown Los Angeles, where thousands of chronically ill people sleep on filthy, rat-infested streets.
  7. From Skid Row to Disney Hall – Nathaniel was in a panic over what to wear.
  8. Stakes Are So High, It’s Hard to Wait – I could tell something was bothering Casey Horan and Shannon Murray, and it wasn’t hard to guess what. They’re in the business of patience, and I’ve got very little of it.
  9. Man of the Streets, in Three Suites – First Suite: The Apartment
  10. The Best Present for Nathaniel: a Future – Christmas came a couple of weeks early to the skid row apartment of a soulful gent who goes by the name of Nathaniel Anthony Ayers.
  11. Mr. Ayers drives toward a mulligan – Of all our many adventures, the trip to the golf course in Griffith Park might be the most memorable.
  12. L.A. Times reporters move into the spotlight for “The Soloist” – When a film crew hits The Times’ newsroom to re-create a story from its pages, reality gets a little weird.
  13. Serenade in the key of glee – Steve Lopez takes Nathaniel Anthony Ayes to San Francisco, where he is honored for helping decrease the stigma of mental illness. The original Disciples of Beethoven Award honors the street musician who has touched so many hearts.

To learn more about Nathaniel Ayers