AUTHORS IN OUR MIDST
Highlighting Writers in Naglee Park
Lila Naimark
Lila Naimark was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana to parents who were from Tennessee and also strict Pentecostals. These two factors continue to inform most of her writing.
Retired from a 30-year high-tech career, Lila now enjoys her German shepherd, Valentina, photography, travel, her five grandchildren, and music from pretty much all decades. Her memoir, Duke of Earl: Rock ‘n’ Roll, Religion, and My Road to the Real Me, was published in October 2025. Her short stories have been published in The Fallen Leaf Anthology, Vol. 2 and The Portland Leader periodical.
The book, Duke of Earl, looks at the 1960s through the eyes of Lila Naimark, a young girl at odds with the life she was born into. In her parents’ view, a strict adherence to Pentecostal doctrine was the only way for their daughter to avoid eternal damnation. Lila’s experience of being a questioning evangelical spanned 1959 to 1971. 1960s “muscle cars” provided tastes of freedom; Top 40 music gave voice and guidance to her inner struggles. In Duke, she shares her religious struggles, relives thrilling rides in fast cars, and weaves lyrics from Top 40 songs—from the beginning to the “will she or won’t she?” conclusion. The magic of QR codes and Spotify make it possible for the book to include links to her playlist of these songs.
Geoff Alexander
In addition to writing, Geoff Alexander is the founder of the Academic Film Archive of North America, dedicated to the history, preservation, and scholarship of the classroom academic film. He wrote two books on academic film, one on starting and running a sustainable nonprofit organization, and another on Hawaiian influences on mainland culture. He taught in the Santa Clara County school system, hosted radio programs on non-commercial stations for eight years, ran a high-tech marketing company for 25 years, and a travel business out of Bangkok, Thailand for 15 years. He holds a Master’s Degree in Education and attended the Berklee College of Music.
His most recent book is We Weren’t Angels: A Memoir of Sex, Drugs and Crime in Boston’s Combat Zone. Boston’s “Combat Zone,” the nation’s largest adult entertainment district during the last half of the 20th century, lured white- and blue-collar workers, lawyers, professors, judges, and cops to watch and chat up its adult performers, many of whom earned more than white-collar professionals. By 1985, its multi-decade run was over. This first comprehensive history of the Combat Zone, authored by an active participant, is told through the gritty perspective of a Boston cab driver married to a star dancer. It introduces the district’s strippers, club owners, transgender performers, prostitutes, and cops as they fought for survival and success in a time of sexual revolution and political upheaval.
Geoff’s current book project is a biography of Lorenzo W. Milam, community radio impresario. Read Geoff’s fiction, short stories, and nonfiction essays at his author’s website: www.geoffalexander.com.
Originally published in The Advisor (Naglee Park neighborhood newsletter).