Los Angeles-born Kim Cooper is a creative and unpredictable soul whose only constant is a passion for celebrating underappreciated or endangered wonders. As publisher and editrix Scram, a journal of unpopular culture,
from 1992 to 2006, she brought academic quality scholarship and unusually great writing to the zine world. She organized the biannual Bubblegum Achievement Awards to honor the creators of great kinderpop like “Sugar Sugar” and “Yummy Yummy Yummy,” and as part of organizing MOCA’s performance art survey exhibition “Out of Actions” arranged for a train to hit a vintage Mercedes-Benz. Kim is author of the book “Neutral Milk Hotel’s ‘In The Aeroplane Over The Sea” and co-editor of the anthologies “Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth” and “Lost in the Grooves: Scram’s Capricious Guide to the Music You Missed.” With Save The 76 Ball co-hort Nathan Marsak, she hosts historic bus tours on the 1947project Crime Bus, including tours like The Real Black Dahlia and Pasadena Confidential.

Photo by Ricardo DeAratanha.