Michael Parrish was a fine journalist, author -- and in his later years, private investigator.

He passed away in Los Angeles on February 9, 2013;  details can be found on L.A. Observed and in the "Passings" column of the Los Angeles Times... incidentally, the employer who delivered Michael's 1995 layoff notice in the form of a denied credit-card charge while he took a source to lunch.