I may just be the only person who has ever visited Hollywood and missed the iconic Hollywood sign. Thanks to investors, including Hugh Hefner, the opportunity for me to someday catch a glimpse of the sign remains a reality.

When I was around 12, my parents, grandmother and I took a cross-country vacation. As an adolescent, I really could not have cared less about the national parks, geysers and buffalo. I remember really enjoying Mt. Rushmore and the Grand Canyon but being most excited about Hollywood — seeing the sign, wandering the Walk of Fame and visiting Universal Studios. Needless to say, I totally missed the sign as we drove through the area.

On my next trip to LA, with the Global Traveler staff, I still missed the sign, but I enjoyed hanging out the sunroof of a limo as we made our way down Hollywood Boulevard and comparing my hand size to those of the stars preserved in cement outside Grauman’s Chinese Theater.

The Hollywood sign is set in the Hollywood Hills area of Mount Lee. Each letter is 45 feet tall. It first went up in 1923 as an advertisement for a housing development but eventually was left up, becoming the icon it is today. The letters originally spelled out HOLLYWOODLAND, but the “land” was eventually dropped. Vandalism and the effects of weather eventually took its toll on the sign, which is now preserved and restored by the Hollywood Sign Trust.

Recently, investors were eager to develop the 138 acres. Outcry resulted in a worldwide fundraising campaign. Funds were about $900,000 short when it was announced Hugh Hefner had donated the money and the sign would be saved. Hefner also made a contribution in 1978 to help save the sign.

I had never really read up on the history of the sign before coming across this recent story, but now that I have, I must say it’s pretty interesting. The world has certainly pitched in many times to help save one of its most well-known landmarks.

— Kim Krol, eFlyer editor, circulation and public relations executive