The Stranger in the Park

By Victor Johnson

This is a fiction story which covers a mini-history of life in Los Angeles, California. It begins in the 1920s and ends around 2016. It discusses issues of crime, race relations, and sexual morality.

Youll see how some people dealt with race relations by fighting segregation, fighting integration, blacks passing for white, and mixed marriages.

The book pays particular attention to how race affected life within the Los Angeles police and fire departments.

See how sexual jealousy caused one of the characters to commit double murder and how he tries to kill a third person.

Despite serious themes, I believe the reader will find some comedy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 13, 2017
• ISBN: 9781524573119

Victor Johnson

VICTOR JOHNSON, his parents and siblings are native Californians. His father was a police offi cer in Los Angeles following World War 2 service. His mother was a school teacher before becoming a full-time homemaker. Victor graduate from John Marshall High School in Los Angeles, and later UCLA. He worked for the Department of Treasury for 28 years before retirement. Prior to The Stranger in the Park, Mr. Johnson wrote Driving Mr. Charlie. Victor has been married to his wife, Cheryl for 22 years. They have a teenage daughter in high school.

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Copyright © 2017 by Victor Johnson.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-5245-7312-6

                eBook           978-1-5245-7311-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 12/30/2016

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January 3, 1949 saw the

birth of Clay Mckinney, the bi-racial second son of Joseph and Alma Mckinney. Clay was two years and four months younger than his brother, Joseph A. Mckinney. The McKinney’s were quite progressive. Alma, a black woman who could have passed for white, a hairdresser, and Joe Sr. a southern white man from Tennessee and a successful young firefighter for the city of Los Angeles. Joe and Alma had an agreement. In private, she was a black woman married to a white man. In public, and around Joe’s firemen friends, she was a regular white woman.

Joe came to California in 1926 at age four. Joe’s sister Vivian was six at the time. Albert Mckinney, Joe’s father was a building contractor along with younger brother Jack. Together, they formed the South Los Angeles Builders in 1927. It was a thriving enterprise until 1958, by which time, both brothers were dead.

Financially, Joe and his sister Vivian were quite secure. The Mckinney brothers were always building homes, both apartments and houses. Emotionally, the two were in turmoil. Al was a strong and handsome womanizer. Back in the day, many people did not blame him. His wife, Mary Johnson Mckinney was a school teacher, nice wife and good mother, but not too easy on the eyes. People have described her as having a big nose that spread all over her face. Friends and relatives say Al married Mary for stability in his life. By 1930, Al was gaining quite a reputation as a ladies’ man. At age 41, Al and Jack had earned a small fortune. This wealth by 1930’s standards made Al handsomer than he really was.

One afternoon in August 1931, Al was at one of his construction sites doing some carpentry. It was hot, so he was shirtless. Six one and muscular, shirtless Al was a favorite of women in the area. He caught the eye of one woman in particular. Her name was Stella Logan, a 32 year old divorcee with an 11 year old son, the same age as Vivian Mckinney. Stella was a beautiful mixture of white, black, and American Indian. She was previously married to a black man named Frank Logan, who by now is a convicted bank robber serving time in Kansas City Kansas. Together they had a son named Frankie born in 1920. Stella made a habit of walking past the construction site. This went on for 2 weeks, in an effort to see Al without his shirt. Al seemed to be at the location like clockwork. One day Al decided to talk to Stella. She had a favorite lunch spot at the corner of Central Ave. and Washington BLVD. Stella was a clerk at the nearby Newton Street police station. Al’s construction site was on the way. Stella had unique beauty which also attracted male admirers. Newton police station was filled with male police officers, both married and single. It was also a place for most of the black police officers. Due to some segregation in Los Angeles, Newton division was the only station with black officers.

Stella’s mixture was relevant during a time of nationwide racial divisions. She looked more white than black or Indian. Her black blood gave her hair a special wave pattern, while her Indian blood gave her the high cheek bones. Many of the policemen, both married and single dated Stella after hours. She stayed away from the black officers. Dating them in the 1930s might give her away. At that time in her life, no one knew for sure about her or Frankie’s race, except for family members and people in Kansas City. Even the old station commander Ed Coppage