Life & Work with Caylin Ellowitz

Today we’d like to introduce you to Caylin Ellowitz.

Hi Caylin, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I really can’t remember a time when I wasn’t interested in architecture and local history, As a kid, I loved visiting Los Angeles with my family on the rare occasion we had a reason to come here. In college, I took several art history classes and some architecture classes, including one that was a field trip every week to LA, which I thought was so much fun.

The city is such a contrast to the suburbs where I grew up, I just remember thinking everything here seemed important because of how beautiful and old it was. I got into preservation casually, occasionally volunteering for the LA Conservancy and taking walking history tours everywhere I traveled. I sort of think that everyone would be a preservationist if they knew more about the history of their built environment or took time to observe it more closely. I also think the environmental impact of the amount of demolition and redevelopment going on now should be of concern to everyone, especially since we have other good options like adaptive reuse. When I had the opportunity to pick any project I wanted to write for my graduate thesis, I wanted to write something fun that could have a life beyond the graduation requirement, so I decided to write some children’s books about LA’s cool old buildings that had faced proposed demolition but came back from the brink through the work of citizen advocacy. I want kids to get it that our individual and collective actions can have a major impact on our environment and the livability of our towns and cities.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It’s been a really enjoyable road for the most part. I had the idea for the book series a couple of years ago but didn’t have a chance to start until the last semester of my grad program in the project writing class. I was extremely fortunate in that the LA Conservancy let me borrow some research materials from their library which I had when lockdown began in March. If I hadn’t had these already when things started closing, I would have had a lot of difficulty getting my hands on good research materials. So, I wrote all throughout lockdown and was able to get a lot done in a focused and rather intense period. After that, I began querying literary agents which is a somewhat tedious and lengthy process but has been eye-opening and pretty doable since a friend helped me turn the process into a game. Without the game, I really think it would be pretty difficult, though not because it’s a complicated process, just because it’s repetitive and sometimes can feel like emailing into the void, along with millions of other starry-eyed hopefuls. After doing this process over and over, I really feel for my friends who do a lot of auditioning. I have a lot of other ideas for children’s books, so at some point probably sooner rather than later, I’ll start writing something else and probably be doing both at the same time.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I write children’s books about wonderful old LA places that have been saved by citizen lead preservation efforts. My first two books are about Central Library, beloved since 1926, and Hollyhock House, a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Hollywood which is now a museum and part of a group of Wright’s American buildings named UNESCO World Heritage sites in 2019. Both of these places are such iconic institutions that people are surprised when they learn that both places came close to being lost, but that’s the point of the books- to point out that the things we take for granted actually need our care and attention. I write for both kids and their parents and hope that my work will start conversations about why old places are not only relevant but really enjoyable when they’re part of our everyday lives. I love to feel connected to bygone ways of life by visiting the places of the past, and when they’re in regular use today, it’s easy to see that our lives are maybe not so different than lives before ours.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Well, I’m still an emerging writer so I’d say that if I’ve had any success, it’s due to my feeling that these stories want to be told and they chose me to tell them. When long stretches of querying have me feeling drained, I just try to keep in mind that I would have loved these books as a kid and there are kids out there waiting for them, especially kids who are anxious about the environment. Preservation is a quality of life issue on so many levels, it’s about connection, the experience of livability, empowerment, and sustainability, all things that kids get interested in when they feel they have a voice and a stake, which of course they do.

Contact Info:

• Email: caylin.ellowitz@gmail.com
• Instagram: @travelwithcaylin

Image Credits
Meka Tome (personal photo) http://mekatome.com additional photos are selfies