Photo by Aaron Salcido.
Saul Gonzalez is a KQED correspondent and the co-host of The California Report. Before moderating a Zócalo event that asked “How Much Can We Expect of Our Leaders in Crisis?,” he spoke in the virtual green room about his favorite place to get a burrito in Los Angeles, what he has in common with pineapples, and finally reading Don Quixote during COVID.
What weapon would you choose for the zombie apocalypse?
The crossbow. I’m sure my aim would be terrible. But it seems eco-friendly; you grab your arrow out of the zombie’s head, and you can reuse it. So I’ve actually thought about this, and that’s what I’d do.
I’m a big believer in going back to pre-gun medieval weapons for everything. Of course, I would try to talk to the zombie first. Talk it out of violence. But I don’t think that ever works.
What are you reading right now?
Mark Arax’s latest book. It’s called The Dreamt Land: Chasing Water and Dust Across California. It’s a really beautiful book about the role of water in California’s civilization.
I’m spending a lot of time during the pandemic just reading. I’m really trying to get through books that I’ve meant to read for a long time, like Don Quixote. I bought it like 10 years ago, and it’s been taunting me, and I finally read it in the early days of the pandemic.
What’s your favorite restaurant in L.A.?
The place that always comes to mind is Yuca’s, a phone booth-sized burrito stand on Hillhurst in Los Feliz. It’s a James Beard Award winner. Dora and her mom run the place. I go there, and grab a burrito, and go to Griffith Park and read my newspaper when I have time.
What’s your ideal Sunday morning?
I like to get up early to take photos. So I’m often up really, really, early in the morning taking photos of different parts of L.A.: Downtown, the beach, East L.A. …
What’s a place you’ve photographed that stands out in an unexpected way?
There’s this place in this lost world between Vernon and East L.A. It’s by the railroad tracks where Los Angeles becomes Vernon. One of the most amazing mural art collections in the city is there. It’s a really industrial area. The closest residents are on Olympic. People don’t really go to this spot except people who go to work there and the muralists. And there’s just amazing mural art. A lot of them have an L.A. theme. I was just there the other day taking photos.
What’s the last thing that inspired you?
I was at an event where they were handing out school supplies to families when the school year started. Meeting just ordinary moms and dads and kids who are facing the pandemic in really stoic ways—life was tough enough before the pandemic, and now there’s the pandemic, and they have to figure out how to keep a roof over their head, and put food on the table, and educate their kids. And they’re just doing it, or they’re trying to do it. That’s always inspiring to me.
What’s your secret superpower?
My superpower is having a really strong sense of all the things I don’t know, and wanting to correct that.
What fruit best describes you?
A pineapple. Prickly on the outside, but generally sweet inside.