Mimi Clar Melnick
Mimi Clar Melnick (born Miriam Clar on December 25, 1935 in Hollywood, California – died June 14, 2013 in Los Angeles, California) was a journalist, author, and jazz salon host in Los Angeles.
She came from a Jewish family; her father was a fireplace merchant and her mother a dancer. Mimi studied classical piano as a child, graduated from John Marshall High School in 1953, and earned a music degree from UCLA in 1960.
Starting in 1958, Melnick worked as a music critic for the Los Angeles Times, writing more than 200 articles through 1965 about jazz musicians, concerts, and also classical music and theatre. She contributed to many other publications over the years, including Vogue, Life, Harper’s, Folklore International, and Western Folklore, among others.
Beyond journalism, she co-wrote two books with her husband, Robert Melnick, about manhole covers as historical artifacts and urban art. Their research helped Los Angeles preserve fifteen manhole covers in 1984 at Heritage Square. She also edited and published her mother’s autobiography about life as a vaudeville dancer.
In 1996, Mimi began hosting the Double M Jazz Salon in her Encino home, inviting dozens of musicians such as Horace Tapscott, Bobby Bradford, and Gerald Wiggins, and drawing hundreds of jazz fans, including Morgan Freeman, Marla Gibbs, Amber Tamblyn, and Russ Tamblyn. The mailing list grew to about 500, with roughly 70 attendees at each event.
Melnick died from complications after open-heart surgery. Her husband, Robert Melnick, had died in 1982. Her work lives on in her archives at California State University, Northridge. After her death, the Double M Jazz Salon continued for several years, sponsored by her brother Richard Clar at the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum in Culver City.
This page was last edited on 1 February 2026, at 23:23 (CET).