Steven M. Lopez (born 1953) is an American journalist who has been a columnist for The Los Angeles Times since 2001. He is the son of Spanish and Italian immigrants.

Lopez is a native of Pittsburg, CA and attended San Jose State University. He has been on staff at Time Inc. and written for Time, Life, Entertainment Weekly and Sports Illustrated. In addition, he was on staff at the Philadelphia Inquirer, the San Jose Mercury News and the Oakland Tribune. He wrote the novels Third and Indiana, The Sunday Macaroni Club, and In the Clear. He has also written a collection of his works from The Philadelphia Inquirer titled Land of Giants.

Lopez's series of columns about his unlikely relationship with schizophrenic bassistNathaniel Anthony Ayers inspired the film The Soloist, which stars Robert Downey Jr. as Lopez. Lopez has written a definitive film tie-in non-fiction work, The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music. Lopez has also written several novels. He was interviewed in the 2007 documentary Skid Row.

Justin Buchholz (born August 22, 1983) is an American mixed martial artist. Buchholz graduated from Lathrop High School in 2002, where he competed in wrestling. He competes in the Lightweight division.

Buchholz is a former ICON Sport Lightweight champion. He has also fought in EliteXC and he held an 8-1 record before signing with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

He lost his first fight in the UFC at UFC Fight Night 12 against Matt Wiman on January 23, 2008. Buchholz earned his first victory at UFC 86 against TUF 5 contestant and three-to-one favorite, Corey Hill.

Buchholz was defeated by Terry Etim via D'Arce choke at UFC 99. Buchholz and Etim traded heavy kicks and punches for the first few minutes in the bout before Buchholz landed a hard right hand which broke Etim’s nose. Buchholz pounced, but Etim was able to survive the round. Etim went back to his measured gameplan in round two, landing with some hard leg kicks, before hurting Buchholz with multiple knees from the clinch. A scramble ensued before the fight went to the mat and from there Etim was able to lock in the D'Arce choke to finish the fight.

Steven López (born November 9, 1978) is a 2000 and 2004 Olympic Gold medalist and a 2008 Olympic Bronze medalist in taekwondo. In 2001, he won the Lightweight Taekwondo World Championship, and in 2003 he won the Welterweight Taekwondo World Championship which he has since won in 2005, 2007 and 2009 making him the first Taekwondo fighter to win 5 World Championships.

Born in Nicaragua, Lopez's parents moved to New York City in 1972. In his native country, his father, Julio, worked for the government of the then-President Anastasio Somoza, who was overthrown in 1979 after the Sandinista Revolution. His father took odd jobs to support his family but later relocated to Texas. López first learned the sport of Taekwondo in his garage at the age of five from his father and Jean, his older brother. He is a 1997 graduate of Kempner High School in Sugar Land, Texas where he was voted "most likely to succeed" and was member of the National Honor Society.

López's siblings, Mark, Diana and Jean Lopez (coach) are all USA National Team Members in Taekwondo. His younger siblings, Mark and Diana, also represented the United States at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, marking the first time since 1904 that three siblings have been on the same Olympic team. Both López and siblings, Mark (men's featherweight) and Diana (women's featherweight), made sports history in April 2005 when they all claimed a world championship title at the same event (2005 World Taekwondo Championships) with their oldest brother, Jean, participating in the feat as their coach. Steven Lopez and Diana Lopez both qualified for the 2012 Olympic games in London in July of 2012 at the Olympic Training Center in Colorodo Springs, CO.

Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, Jr. (born January 31, 1951) is an American musician. He is the subject of numerous newspaper columns, a book, and a 2009 film adaptation based on the columns. A foundation bearing his name was started in 2008 with an aim to support artistically gifted people with mental illness.

Ayers began playing the double bass during middle school. He attended the Juilliard School in New York as a double bassist, but suffered a mental breakdown during his third year and was institutionalized. Ayers was one of the few black students at Juilliard at that time.

For some years he lived with his mother in Cleveland, Ohio, where he received electroconvulsive therapy for his illness to no avail. After his mother's death in 2000, he moved to Los Angeles, thinking that his father lived there. Homeless and schizophrenic, Ayers lived on the streets of Los Angeles and enjoyed playing his music for himself for the simple fact of improvement.

Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez met Ayers at Pershing Square in 2005, and discovered his background at Juilliard. Lopez wrote several columns about his relationship with Ayers, and Nathaniel's slow transition out of homelessness. Lopez's subsequent book, The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music, was based on his relationship with Ayers.

Dominique M.J. Robinson (born March 1, 1982) is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter. A professional MMA competitor since 2005, Robinson has made a name for himself fighting all over the United States, mainly on the West coast. Robinson has competed for organizations such as Tachi Palace Fights and Palace Fighting Championship. He holds notable victories over UFC veterans John Gunderson and Dave Kaplan.

Robinson started training MMA in 2003; teaching himself by watching instructional DVDs and watching fights. Robinson began fighting professionally in smalls show in Tijuana, Mexico. With no trainers or managers, he fought in these smaller shows, "for fight experience".

He fought for the Gladiator Challenge promotion, where he fought at welterweight against a teammate of Charles Bennett, Jeff Ramputi. Robinson took the fight on two days notice and won the fight via unanimous decision. Robinson again fought in the welterweight division against the Brazilian Iure Silva Leal, losing via a controversial submission. Robinson fought in Mexico a few more times to gain more experience before calling it quits in Mexico, where he went 10-1 overall, as well as a draw to former TPF champ Isaac DeJesus in Stockton,Ca