MAVERICK MAYOR: A Biography of Sam Yorty

Sam Yorty is now in his second term as Democratic mayor of Los Angeles, having most recently beaten Jimmy Roosevelt and having made some hay out of the Watts riots. Publication costs of this biography of him are assured simply by distribution in California. But this is nonetheless a tediously inspirational book along the Horatio Alger lines (Yorty came from a poor family in Lincoln, Nebraska). It seems evident that his line of progress is directed toward the capital in Sacramento, and then toward an even larger Capitol. All too often Ainsworth is simply culling news items from Yorty's immense scrapbook collection, although the Sam quality in good Sam Yorty comes over like a brazen bell ringing that people are in distress. Yorty has been accused of being too hard on Commies -- but he has demonstrated that he knows where the votes are, even for a Democrat. In that regard, he supported Nixon and offered that Kennedy just wasn't ready for the Presidency. Since Nixon took California, maverick Sam had again displayed his nose for votes...A colorful figure dully rendered.