Knott’s Bear-y Tales: The Complete History of the Whimsical Attraction
Sunday, January 26, 2025
2 p.m.
Central Library
Mark Taper Auditorium
Reservations not required.
Welcome to Knott’s Bear-y Tales! Authors Christopher Merritt and J. Eric Lynxwiler will speak about their latest history book focused on a most amazing Dark Ride, built at Knott’s Berry Farm in 1975 and still inspiring guests generations later. Follow the smell of boysenberries to a magical world of bears, fortune tellers, and some of the weirdest characters ever thought up by the mind of theme park designer Rolly Crump. Merritt and Lynxwiler sifted through several thousand images to write their newest book on the subject and will share images and stories from the making of the famed ride. Books will be available for sale after the lecture.
Southern California native Christopher Merritt has over 30 years of ride and show design experience, creating theme park attractions and environments around the world. He has served as an Art Director and Production Designer at theme parks located in California, Florida, Tokyo, Singapore, and Shanghai. In 2010, with Eric Lynxwiler, Merritt’s Knott’s Berry Farm history book, Knott’s Preserved, was published to critical acclaim. Four years later, Merritt released Pacific Ocean Park: The Rise and Fall of Los Angeles’ Space Age Nautical Pleasure Pier with co-author Domenic Priore. After five years of research and design, co-authoring with Pete Docter, the coffee table book Marc Davis in His Own Words: Imagineering the Disney Theme Parks was released in 2019. Merritt currently lives in Southern California.
Urban Anthropologist J. Eric Lynxwiler is a Knott’s Berry Farm historian and a co-author of Knott’s Preserved: From Boysenberry to Theme Park, The History of Knott’s Berry Farm, with Chris Merritt. While attending UCLA, he spent one school year behind the counter of Knott’s original, electric shooting gallery and works today as a graphic designer on Farm signage, merchandise, and the series of Knott’s Berry Market preserves. Lynxwiler has been a volunteer and Neon Cruise guide for the Museum of Neon Art in Glendale, California, for 25 years. He has also co-authored books on the history of neon signs in Los Angeles and the history of Wilshire Boulevard for Angel City Press. Lynxwiler currently lives 20.9 miles from Knott’s
For ADA accommodations, call (213) 228-7430 at least 72 hours prior to the event.
Para ajustes razonables según la ley de ADA, llama al (213) 228-7430 al menos 72 horas antes del evento.
Sponsored by Photo Friends. Presented by the Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection.