Book excerpt: "The Watts Towers of Simon Rodia are one of the unique treasures of Los Angeles and the product of one man's obsession. Rodia, a poor Italian immigrant, settled in a sleepy railway junction south of downtown in 1921 and spent the next thirty-four years single-handedly assembling a frenzy of shapes and color. Rising to one hundred feet, the towers were built without machine equipment, scaffolding, bolts, rivets, welds - or plans!" "Bud Goldstone, who knew Rodia personally, and Arloa Paquin Goldstone have worked to preserve the towers since 1959. They tell the exciting story of how the towers were first rescued from demolition by the City of Los Angeles itself and then saved from natural and man-made disasters. They present new biographical information about Rodia and his innovative techniques and discuss the towers as art, as architecture, and as a singular expression of urban culture in Southern California."--Page 4 of cover.