Joan van Nuys

Joan van Nuys was an American author of historical romance novels. She has also written standard romance novels under the pseudonym “Marianna Essex”.

Biography

Van Nuys was born Joan Carol Atkinson in Tarentum, Pennsylvania on April 13, 1929. Her father, an itinerant salesman and alcoholic, was convinced that music was the key to getting his family out from under the weight of poverty. Her older sister, Betty, was already considered a violin prodigy when Joan started learning the violin at age six. Although not a prodigy like her sister, she continued her studies and became an accomplished classical violinist.

She married Robert van Nuys in 1950. They settled in western Pennsylvania and had three daughters. In the 1960s and 1970s, she performed with the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra.

Joan began writing late in life after her daughter Carol moved to Norway in 1973; she compiled Carol’s many adventures into short story form. Although not a fan of the romance genre (she never read a romance novel before deciding to write one), she thought it might be an easy way to begin a writing career. In the early-1980s, she wrote a traditional romance featuring a Norwegian hero that got her an agent; however, the story was rejected by major publishers. She persisted and wrote two more romances under the pseudonym “Marianna Essex” that were published by Signet Books. Joan found the format for the boilerplate romance novels to be too restrictive so she turned to writing the more challenging historical romances. Over a period of seven years, she wrote seven critically successful and popular historical romance novels published by Leisure Romance and Avon Books. Some of these books were translated into other languages, and she attained a worldwide following. She died on May 20, 2000, after a brief battle with colon cancer. Her novels are still widely available on the Internet.

Van Nuys, Los Angeles

Van Nuys /vænˈnaɪz/ is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California.

History

The town was founded in 1911, and named for Isaac Newton Van Nuys, one of its developers. It was annexed by Los Angeles on May 22, 1915, after completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, providing it with the water required for further growth. Van Nuys was the first new stop on the San Fernando Line of the Pacific Electric Railway red cars system, which boosted its early land sales and commercial success.

Van Nuys became the Valley's satellite Los Angeles municipal civic center, with the 1932 Art Deco Valley Municipal Building (Van Nuys City Hall), a visual landmark and Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument starting the present day Government Center complex of government services buildings.

In 1991 Marvin Braude, a member of the Los Angeles City Council, redesignated a 45-block area from being a part of Van Nuys to being a part of Sherman Oaks. This redesignated area included the community of Magnolia Woods. Some area residents had presented a petition and several original deeds that stated "Sherman Oaks" to Braude. They argued that the area was originally a part of Sherman Oaks until the 1960s, when ZIP codes labeling the area as Van Nuys were established.

Van Nuys (disambiguation)

Van Nuys may refer to:

In the United States:

Van Nuys (Los Angeles Metro station)

Van Nuys is a station on the bus rapid transit Orange Line, in the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Metro Liner system. It is named after adjacent Van Nuys Boulevard, which travels north-south and crosses the east-west busway route and is located in the Van Nuys district of Los Angeles, in the San Fernando Valley. The Orange Line's service hours are approximately from 4:00 AM until 1:00 AM daily. Adjacent to the station is the Orange Line's bicycle path.

The platform features a painting by Roxene Rockwell called The New Town, which shows an example of the wheat and sugar beet fields that marked the area before it was developed.

Layout

Transit-oriented development

According to Urbanize LA, There is a planned mixed-use project next to the station. The project would require for the Keyes car dealership on Van Nuys Blvd and Oxnard St to be demolished along with the stretch of Atena St between Vesper Ave and Van Nuys Blvd to be demolished. The project will include 324 residential units, 17,000 square feet of commercial floor area and slightly over one acre of open space. The proposed mixed-use complex would feature parking accommodations in excess of that required by the Los Angeles Municipal Code.