Need help for a book

[Teria]

Hi everybody,

some of you may (or may not) remember a 70s' book series called "The three investigators", featuring Jupiter, Pete, and Bob from Rocky Beach, California. They used to investigate mysterious cases - haunted castles, stuttering parrots, whispering mummies, and so on. The series was cancelled in the US but was licensed to a german publisher and went on... and on.. and on. It's quite popular in Germany.

As things go, I have written one book for the series and am now researching for another one. For this, I'm looking for people from California who would like to provide me with info on all kinds of trivia, e.g. what do you call the plants that grow around the Hollywood Sign? What's your everyday life in school like? Are people listed in phone books, and do you find those books in telephone cells? Are your phone cables in the earth or above ground? It's amazing how much we take trivia for granted when in fact they're just national custom. And you find only so much info in travel guides or other books.

You can either post your info here or send it to me via PM. Since I've never been to California (and will probably never travel there), I'd be very glad and grateful for any kind of info you can give. Thank you in advance!