Martin M. Cooper has been observing and participating in the evolution of the San Fernando Valley for more than thirty years. He was a columnist for Valley Business Magazine in the 1980s; wrote a monthly column for the San Fernando Valley Business Journal column for more than six years (many of them published as North of Mulholland: Essays from the San Fernando Valley Business Journal); and has written columns and articles for a number of the area's community and business newspapers. Cooper has also taken a leading role in many of the Valley's philanthropic, civic, and community organizations,...