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Spielberg Earns Democratic Legacy Award

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DreamWorks CEO Stacey Snider, actor Richard Dreyfuss, honoree Steven Spielberg and ADL Regional Director Amanda Susskind at the Anti-Defamation League banquet. Photo: Robert Lurie
DreamWorks CEO Stacey Snider, actor Richard Dreyfuss, honoree Steven Spielberg and ADL Regional Director Amanda Susskind at the Anti-Defamation League banquet. Photo: Robert Lurie

It was an all-star tribute when the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) feted filmmaker and DreamWorks head Steven Spielberg at its annual America’s Democratic Legacy Award Gala at the Beverly Hilton on December 9. Since 1913, the ADL has been dedicated to fighting racism, bigotry and anti-Semitism. And, as the Legacy Award winner, Spielberg joined distinguished company, including former U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan, Lyndon Johnson, John F. Kennedy, Dwight Eisenhower and Harry S. Truman, Colin Powell, Eleanor Roosevelt, Saul Bellow, Henry Kissinger and Walter Annenberg. Spielberg, a longtime resident of Pacific Palisades, was preceded at the podium by his ‘E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial’ star Drew Barrymore (who emceed the evening), actor Richard Dreyfuss (‘Jaws’), and screen legend Kirk Douglas, who turned 93 and elicited a round of ‘Happy Birthday’ from the audience of 1,100. But what really roused everybody was a soul-searing rendition of the National Anthem by the singer whose name is seemingly on everyone’s lips this season: ‘American Idol’ star Adam Lambert. L.A.’s top law enforcement chiefs attended the banquet: Sheriff Lee Baca and the new LAPD Police Chief Charlie Beck. Dressed in uniform, Beck told the Palisadian-Post that he came ‘to show my support for the ADL and make sure they understand that our department’s relationships with them in the past are intact.’   He cited ‘E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial’ as a favorite Spielberg film.   ”E.T.’ at the time was really groundbreaking,’ Beck said, adding that his children were very young upon its 1982 release and ‘they made me watch it a thousand times. Of course, ‘Schindler’s List’ was, technically, a fantastic film.’   Baca, who identified ‘The Color Purple’ as his favorite Spielberg movie, praised the ADL’s accomplishments, as well as the community from which it sprang. ‘The Jewish community is a great contributor,’ Baca said, ‘not just to its own but to all. They contribute to entertainment, legal, government and the private sector. They are dedicated to the betterment of society.’ Also in attendance was Pacific Palisades filmmaker J.J. Abrams, the man behind the 2009 blockbuster ‘Star Trek,’ and his wife, Katie McGrath. ‘I’m a big fan [of the paper]!’ was Abrams’ reaction to meeting a Post reporter. He recalled that, in 2002, the paper ‘ran a photo of me and my son, who was three, on a scooter. The people writing the Two Cents column were outraged. ‘How could you put him on there like that [without a helmet]?!’ ‘We’re just here to support Steven and what he does,’ Abrams continued. When asked to name a favorite Spielberg feature, Abrams, as if eating a potato chip, could not stop at one. ”Jaws’ was undeniable,’ Abrams, a Palisades High grad, said. ‘Basically, I would list his entire resume of films.’ Admittedly not a Trekkie growing up, Abrams turned to Spielberg and ‘Superman’ director Richard Donner for inspiration for his sunny, upbeat blockbuster, which interrupted a darker trend spawned in the aftermath of such gothic hits as ‘The Matrix’ and ‘Blade.’   ’It was definitely an education doing it,’ Abrams said. ‘I got to see why the fans are fans.’   Other notables at the gala included singer Paula Abdul, directors Walter Hill and Jeff Nathanson, Spielberg’s DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg and CEO Stacey Snider, and producers Walter Mirisch, Avi Lerner and Frank Marshall.   Spielberg’s mentor, former Universal Pictures chief Sid Sheinberg, called Spielberg ‘a great father,’ and ‘a brave man. ‘Munich’ is a film I urged him not to make. I was worried for Steven.’   Actor Douglas noted that Spielberg established the Shoah Visual Foundation, which has documented the testimony of 52,000 Holocaust survivors on video since 1994. ‘It was a race against time,’ Douglas said.   ’We are Jewish and we are proud of it,’ said Dreyfuss, who starred in Spielberg’s movies ‘Jaws’ and ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind.’ ‘We are Americans, we are artists, and we have prevailed.’   Abramam Foxman, the ADL’s national director, praised Spielberg’s ‘extraordinary generosity and genius, which remains unmatched’ and singled out the director’s contributions to the victims of the 2005 Southeast Asia tsunami. While Abrams may have been more influenced by Spielberg’s fantasy output, the ADL gala emphasized the serious Spielberg: the filmmaker and/or producer behind ‘The Color Purple,’ ‘Amistad,’ ‘Saving Private Ryan,’ ‘Munich,’ ‘Band of Brothers’ and the Holocaust drama ‘Schindler’s List.’ ‘Our history includes chapters with many stories of Jewish pride, Jewish generosity, Jewish self-defense and Jewish curiosity,’ Spielberg said. Using as an anchor the Hanukkah holiday and its back story (in which the Maccabees triumphed over the Seleucid Empire at the Temple in Jerusalem and a day’s worth of olive oil somehow fueled the Temple’s eternal flame for eight days), Spielberg pointed out the importance of life’s simple moments, especially in our world of ever-increasing technological distractions. ‘It’s the smallness of this miracle that fascinates me,’ he said. ‘Hanukkah is meant to make us think about paying attention.’ Despite our advancements, ‘all of the old evils still exist,’ Spielberg continued, referring to radical extremists around the world and to neo-Nazi groups in America and Europe. ‘They have found a frightening new home in cyberspace.’ Despite it all, Spielberg said, he still believed in people and the good they can do. ‘The ADL’s principal tenet is that bigotry must not be tolerated.’ In spite of this humanitarian honor being bestowed on the most successful filmmaker of all time, Spielberg was well aware of reality. ‘What my kids will remember is that I met Adam Lambert this evening,’ he said.

Council Honors Four Residents for Activism

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In a speech that reflected on the benefits of community service, Pacific Palisades Community Council Chair Richard G. Cohen recognized residents Barbara Kohn, Ethel Haydon, Shirley Haggstrom and Paul Glasgall last Thursday for their years of volunteerism.   ’It is due in no small part to the work of volunteers that we have preserved the wonderful small-town ambience of the Palisades,’ Cohen said during the Council’s annual holiday meeting in the dining hall at Temescal Gateway Park. ‘We should all be proud of this work and especially proud of the four honorees tonight, for they have distinguished themselves by their long-term dedication and hard work.’   Kohn, Haydon, Haggstrom and Glasgall each received this year’s Community Service Award, given since 1996 to worthy individuals who have made a continuing commitment to make the Palisades a better place.   Cohen presented the winners with glass trophies, while City Councilman Bill Rosendahl gave them certificates. Both shared kind words about each honoree.   Cohen explained that Haggstrom was chosen for her work through the Castellammare Mesa Homeowners Association, Pacific Palisades Historical Society, Temescal Canyon Association and the Community Council. She was instrumental in preserving lower Los Liones Canyon as public parkland about 10 years ago. Since then, ‘She tirelessly works to improve Los Liones, often with a shovel in hand,’ Cohen said.   Rosendahl lauded Glasgall for his recent work on traffic safety on Palisades Drive in the Highlands. Since February, Glasgall has overseen a group of volunteers who work with the West Los Angeles Traffic Division to cite speeders.   ’You have helped us a lot,’ Rosendahl said. ‘It’s a serious ongoing issue without an easy solution.’   Glasgall is a member of the Community Council, and served as chairman of the Palisades Highlands Presidents Council from 1991 until 2007.   Rosendahl praised Kohn for her recent efforts to prevent the proliferation of cell towers in public rights of way. She is advocating for the city to pass a new comprehensive ordinance that would regulate cell-tower installations in the City of Los Angeles.   ’She’s been doggedly tenacious on cell towers,’ Rosendahl said. ‘She’s out there; anytime there is a court action, she lets me know.’   Cohen commended Kohn for her work as president of Pacific Palisades Residents Association and as an active member other organizations.   In the 1970s and ’80s, Kohn also fought against oil drilling in Pacific Palisades through the organization No Oil. ‘We all owe her a debt of gratitude for that great work,’ Cohen said.   As for Haydon, Cohen described her as ‘a living part of Pacific Palisades history.’ She helped form the Pacific Palisades Historical Society and served as its first president. She is also active on the Temescal Canyon Association.   ’Ethel serves as a true example to all of us,’ Rosendahl said.

Ethel Haydon Upholds the Town’s Ideals

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Ethel Haydon would rather spend all her time outside in her Rustic Canyon hideaway.
Ethel Haydon would rather spend all her time outside in her Rustic Canyon hideaway.
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer

To be called a NIMBY is not a compliment. The term ‘Not In My Backyard’ often describes people who regard their own neighborhoods ahead of the greater good or, more to the point, don’t mind a cell tower as long as it isn’t in their line of sight. But before we denigrate NIMBYism completely, we should recall NIMBYs whom we credit for saving so much of our beloved natural heritage. Think of John Muir, who launched his campaign for Yosemite after living there for a summer. One of our own treasured NIMBYs, Ethel Haydon, has spent most of her 76 years in Pacific Palisades, which has certainly given her the bona fides to ‘help keep a community that people value and are willing to pay too much to live in,’ as she says.   Haydon, who was honored with the Pacific Palisades Community Council’s Community Service Award last Thursday, has been resolute in her battles to protect Pacific Palisades as a town where the mountains meet the sea.   From the time Haydon was three months old, she has known no other home but Pacific Palisades. Now the doyenne of Evans Road, she lives on an acre surrounded by riparian wildness, just north of Sunset. My visit with her started, naturally, outdoors, patrolling her property, which abuts Rustic Creek. While I stopped to admire the chicken coop filled with an exotic and colorful brood, Haydon related an early morning standoff she had observed between a menacing coyote and an owl. She confesses that she would spend all her time outside if she could. Haydon, nee Shanks, moved with her parents and two sisters to Pacific Palisades from Baltimore in 1933 at the height of the Depression. Her grandmother, an eccentric free spirit and smart businesswoman, lived on Chautauqua, which became home for the Shankses for the first three years before the family moved to a house on Hartzell. Ethel’s father, Walter, found work as an auto mechanic in the Standard station at Sunset and PCH and later owned Sam’s tool shop on Fourth Street in Santa Monica. The community of Pacific Palisades and the initial ideal for the town hold high ranking for Haydon, a conviction that has propelled her into battles to keep the mountains wild and the history of the town chronicled. She likes to call her activism a shock response. ‘The first thing that made me mad was when I was 5 years old,’ she recalls. ‘My dad and I went down Channel Road in Santa Monica Canyon to look at the flood damage caused by the rainstorm of 1938. I was on dad’s shoulders and so I could see the spot where we used to picnic at the beach was gone. I was devastated to see how eight feet of mud and debris had eroded away 12 feet of beachfront, destroying the beach where my dad loved to surf; he owned seven surfboards. ‘The second thing that made me mad was when the cross was removed from Peace Hill [at the mountain end of Via de la Paz, prior to homes being built] and my Palisades Elementary school friend David McGrath said, ‘That’s progress, what do you expect?’ I said, ‘but that’s Peace Hill; isn’t that what were all about? I won’t let that happen. Houses can’t be built on our mountains where I walk, where I see the wildflowers.” Haydon was not able to halt the housing development, but years later she did turn her attention to preserving the history of the town, joining Katie La Hue in the Historical Round Table, which became the Pacific Palisades Historical Society in 1972. Ethel served as charter president. The 1970s was a decade that challenged the core values of Pacific Palisades. ‘So many things needed to be done,’ says Haydon, who joined the Temescal Canyon Association (also founded in 1972), and was on the front lines fighting to protect lower Los Liones Canyon from an apartment development just above Sunset. Believing that in order to present a defense you must have a plausible argument, Haydon promoted the idea in the late 1960s that Los Liones would make an ideal location for an arboretum. ‘We went to Paul Priolo’s office (a state assemblyman from 1968-1980) and explained the uniqueness of Los Liones as a frost-free, north-south canyon. We had cleared the path for an arboretum with the director of the Los Angeles Arboretum and were proceeding with a health and welfare condemnation. ‘I remember saying to Priolo, ‘The public deserves Los Liones and you’d better give it to us!’ Even after the Arboretum pulled out of the project, saying they didn’t have any money, we then cited the fact that there was 10 feet of uncompacted soil in Los Liones, which made it unsuitable for a large apartment development.’ Los Liones was saved. In 1974, the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors officially endorsed efforts by State Parks to acquire the rustic canyon and add it to the state park system. In 1972-73, Haydon got involved in the effort to downsize the scope of the Highlands residential development, an effort that was ultimately successful, but came too late to prevent that incursion into Santa Ynez Canyon and the foothills. When Haydon commuted, by bus, to L.A. City College after high school (at University High), she studied philosophy and gained a watershed insight. ‘It was the first time I heard that there were two possible answers to the same question: yes or no,’ she says. A subtle thing, but Haydon has applied this simple paradigm over the years to the campaigns she has fought in protecting her community. Not one to lead the pack, Haydon instead calls herself the Girl Friday, and is proud of her political acumen. ‘I taught Winston Salser how to do City Hall,’ she recalls, speaking of the Palisades resident who served as the second president of TCA and was a leader in the fight to minimize the development in the Highlands. ‘I remember his first appearance before the city council,’ Haydon says. ‘He was outraged: ‘They didn’t address me as Doctor!’ I told him to ignore that and figure out who was the highest in the pecking order. In the case of Marvin Braude, he learned that his chief deputy, Claire Rogger, was an important person to know.’ Salser, founding president of Amgen, learned his lesson well. He took pictures of a virtual build-up in the Highlands, and blew them up on a big poster board, which he presented to Braude at his office. The campaign was successful, forcing the developer, Chuck Chastain, to cut down the size of the lots, provide more street access and donate open space for public use. Haydon also takes credit for getting Braude elected. In a pre-election forum,’ she recalls, ‘five lawyers got up and promised ‘I’ll do this and I’ll do that.’ Then Marvin got up. He was earnest and he was honest!’ Haydon lent her stepdaughters to volunteer in his campaign office, while she hosted teas and coffees and passed around petitions to put his name on the ballot. Just 19 when she married Brownlee (who was 36, and died in 1982), Haydon grew up fast. She became stepmother to his two children, 10 and 14 at the time, and soon had two children of her own. Brownlee’s father, Eustace, was a minister and lived with the couple from age 80 until his death at 95 (in 1975). It was a pleasurable interlude for Haydon. ‘I used him as my philosophy teacher,’ she says. ‘I would ask him how to handle this or that situation in the most ethical manner. Some people have church; I had Eustace.’ These days, Haydon enjoys the haven that surrounds her and indulges her various interests with the ‘freedom to be myself.’ She sits at the Historical Society table at the Sunday farmers’ market, and notes a change in the nature of volunteerism. ‘In the 1970s there were so many things that needed to be done. Palisadians today are involved in their kids’ things, their own work, and paying for their home.’ When contemplating the essence of effective volunteerism, Haydon goes to the root. ‘You have to care about something,’ she says simply. But, Haydon’s seemingly simplistic statement has always been reinforced by her practical strategies.

Daisy Crane, 74; Artist, Activist

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Daisy Crane, recently characterized as a ‘gold-medal winner of community involvement’ by L.A. City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, passed away peacefully on December 9, just a day after presiding at the Palisades AARP holiday luncheon. She was 74 Crane, who had lived in Pacific Palisades for many years, burst into community activism a year ago when she began serving as president of the local AARP chapter (while also continuing to produce the organization’s quarterly newsletter). She was also newsletter editor for the Pacific Palisades Historical Society. On the Palisades Community Council, she served as Area 5 alternate (the Alphabet streets neighborhood) until this year, when she became the AARP representative on the council.   On October 19, Councilman Rosendahl presented Crane with a certificate of commendation for her exemplary efforts and accomplishments, particularly for the Historical Society program she had organized on that evening, featuring the history and current organizational structure of the LAPD. Years ago, she had volunteered at the police department, where she worked on many projects, including the Hillside Strangler case at the request of Chief Daryl Gates, and the Rodney King case.   Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1935, Crane traveled extensively with her family both in the United States and internationally as a consequence of her father’s career. A renowned geographer, Dr. Clifford MacFadden was a professor and head of the geography department at UCLA. Between 1950-56, he set up and organized the University of Ceylon, and in the 1960s, he assisted in the re-organization of the university educational system in Delhi, and in the Sha Tin district of the Hong Kong New Territories.   An artist, Crane started studying art as a child, and painted for two years with George Keyt, whose work was strongly influenced by Buddhist and Hindu iconography. She exhibited her paintings at the Palisades Branch Library this past September.   A survey of her paintings hints at the chapters of Crane’s life, from her time in Ceylon to 15 years volunteering for candidates in local and state politics, racing hydro boats, and writing a book about the Chinese massacre in 1871 Los Angeles.   After she returned to the United States, Crane completed her undergraduate and graduate work at various colleges in the Los Angeles area, then taught math in Catholic grammar schools for a number of years.   She married Richard Takakjian, with whom she had a son, Andy, who is a professional artist living in Silverlake.   In the 1980s, Crane turned her attention to politics, running campaigns for State Assemblyman Bob Cline and City Council candidate Jim Keysor. Later, she worked at the LAUSD and the Huntington Beach School District.   In her retirement, Crane enjoyed a quiet life of research and writing at home. However, as she pointed out in a 2006 interview with the Palisadian-Post, ‘My work is not placid. Things and people come to me all the time. There is a lot of excitement, something stirring all the time.’   Fellow Community Council member Haldis Toppel remembers Crane as a ‘complex and many-faceted person with new personas emerging with every turn of her private and public life. Daisy was full of life and full of plans.’   Crane is survived by her son. Memorial arrangements are pending.

Erwin Ferris, 91; Veteran Pilot

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Erwin S. Ferris, a resident of Pacific Palisades since 1953 and a retired airline pilot, died on December 13. He was 91. Born on May 23, 1918, in Mason City, Iowa, Erwin began building dams and bridges with the Civil Conservation Corps following high school. He graduated from the Officer Training Corps in the U.S. Army Air Force in 1942 and was an instructor until 1945. After the war, he was a captain for Trans World Airlines from 1946 to 1978, when he retired. Erwin married Joyce Costello, a native of Chicago, on March 31, 1951, and they moved to a home in the Huntington Palisades two years later. He was active at Corpus Christi Catholic Church and American Legion Post 283, while helping Joyce raise their six children. Erwin’s hobbies and passions included flying, golf, tennis, racquetball, the Lakers and his 1968 Mustang, but family always came first. He and Joyce loved watching the town’s Fourth of July parade at the corner of Drummond and Toyopa, and then hosting a Great American Party for 40 years. In addition to Joyce, his wife of 58 years, Erwin is survived by his six children: Mary Elina Ferris, M.D. of Santa Barbara, Kathleen Thode-Ferris (husband Jerry) of Villa Park, Barbara O’Neill-Ferris (husband Steven) of Malibu, Janet (‘Mona’) Ferris of Glacier Park, Montana, Tim Ferris of Santa Monica, and Diane Weiler (husband Thornton) of Alameda; and eight grandchildren: Christopher and Andrew Thode; Blaine, Riley and Ellie O’Neill; Charlie Weiler; and Preston and Sabina Roan.   A funeral Mass celebrating Erwin’s life will be held at 11 a.m. on December 21 at Corpus Christi Church, corner of Carey and Sunset. Donations may be made to the Blind Children’s Center of Los Angeles, or St. Andrews Abbey in Valyermo, California.

Chasing Amelia … and Hollywood

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Aviator Amelia Earhart holds a directional finder before her attempt to circumnavigate the equator in 1937. Photographer Albert L. Bresnik, a Pacific Palisades resident who died in 1993, was Earhart's personal photographer from 1932 until her disappearance in 1937.
Aviator Amelia Earhart holds a directional finder before her attempt to circumnavigate the equator in 1937. Photographer Albert L. Bresnik, a Pacific Palisades resident who died in 1993, was Earhart’s personal photographer from 1932 until her disappearance in 1937.

In a 56-year career, the late Albert L. Bresnik took photographs of celebrities such as Charlie Chaplin, John Wayne and Shirley Temple, but he was most known for his iconic portraits of the famed aviator, Amelia Earhart.   ’He loved Amelia,’ his widow Gabrielle Bresnik said during a recent interview at their home on Sunset Boulevard in Pacific Palisades. ‘He called her his big sister.’   As a student at Manual Arts High School, Bresnik would visit local airports on the weekends to take photographs of the pilots with their airplanes, his son Randy Bresnik explained. He would then develop the photos and sell them to the pilots.   Randy imagines this is how Earhart’s husband, George P. Putman, met his father. Putman hired Bresnik to take photos of Earhart at public events and to help her with a book. He served as Earhart’s personal photographer from 1932 until her disappearance over the Pacific Ocean near Howland Island in 1937.   '[Earhart] liked him because he made her relaxed,’ Gabrielle said. ‘He didn’t push her around and would wait until she was ready to have her photo taken.’   For his part, Bresnik described Earhart as down-to-earth. ‘He would say that she was beautiful inside and out,’ said Gabrielle, who was married to Bresnik for five years before he died of a heart attack at age 79 in 1993. Bresnik, who grew up in Boyle Heights, lived in Pacific Palisades from 1948.   Around the same time that Bresnik was hired to take photographs of Earhart, Columbia Pictures employed him as a publicity photographer. He took photos of the studio’s actors and actresses on the set, which were then displayed on the ticket booths outside the theaters to advertise the movie, said Randy, who lives in Santa Monica. Over the years, he took photos of actors and actresses at premieres as well as their portraits. The family now has quite a collection of Bresnik’s work, including photos of Charlie Chaplin at the 1936 opening of his movie, ‘Modern Times,’ at the Mann Criterion in Santa Monica; portraits of Mary Martin, before she gained fame with the song ‘My Heart Belongs to Daddy’ in the 1940 movie ‘Love Thy Neighbor;’ and an autographed photograph of Earhart with contestants Ruth Nichols and Louise Thaden at the 1929 Powder Puff Derby, a cross-country airplane race from Santa Monica to Cleveland. Bresnik, who opened his first studio on Highland Avenue across from Hollywood High School in 1936, took the last photos of Earhart. Several months before her disappearance, he began photographing her for a book she had planned to write about her attempt to circumnavigate the equator, called ‘World Flight.’   Earhart asked Albert to accompany her and her navigator, Fred Noonan, on her Lockheed Electra 10E, so he could document her historic trip.   However, ‘she needed the weight in fuel more than she needed a photographer,’ Randy said. ‘That was lucky for me.’ His father had just married his mother, Mary, in January 1937, and they would have four children: Randy, Diane, Edwin Joseph and Harold Roger. After Mary died in 1987, he married Gabrielle the following year.   ’The day before Earhart was reported missing, the strangest thing happened,’ Gabrielle said, recalling the story Bresnik told her. A man came into Bresnik’s Hollywood studio, and as he took a look at the black- and-white photograph of Earhart hanging on the wall, he said that ‘the lightforce in the picture is gone. She’s crashed and drowned.’ Bresnik thought he might be crazy, but called Earhart’s husband, who reported that he had spoken to her and that she was fine. Bresnik later read in the newspaper that her plane was missing. ‘He went to the darkroom and started crying,’ Gabrielle said. Earhart’s husband decided to continue with her book, which he renamed ‘Last Flight.’ He wrote the book based on information he received from Earhart via telephone, letters, and from her logbook. Many of Bresnik’s farewell images were published in the book later that year.   Saddened, Bresnik ‘took all the negatives he had taken of her and wrapped them in black paper. He wrote on it, ‘To be opened in 50 years,” Gabrielle said, adding that he didn’t want to believe the news was true. He figured if Earhart had not been found in 50 years, she was truly gone.   He went on with his life, buying a couple of lots on Sunset Boulevard near his mother and moving his family from Beverly Hills to Pacific Palisades. At his home, he hosted movie nights. He had acquired hundreds of movie reels from the stars he photographed, Randy recounted. Bresnik continued his photography, relocating his studio to 29th and Wilshire in Santa Monica in 1954 and then to 14th and Wilshire. In 1967, he opened Bresnik Cameras on Swarthmore Avenue. The year before he decided to retire in 1988, 50 years had passed since Earhart had disappeared. ‘He remembered the package, and the negatives were in perfect condition,’ Gabrielle said. Bresnik began selling the photos and speaking around the country about his work with Earhart. In 1992, he and Gabrielle flew with friends on a Lockheed Electra 12A to the Experimental Aviation Association annual event in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, so he could give a speech about Earhart. On the way, they stopped in Earhart’s birthplace in Atchison, Kansas. Since Bresnik’s death, his legacy continues. Artist Anne Marie Karlsen used his photos of Earhart as inspiration for a mural, completed in 2000, at the North Hollywood Metro subway station. The mural, done on tiles and containing mirror images of Earhart and her Lockheed Electra 10E, features Bresnik’s signature. More recently, his grandson Randy Bresnik, Jr. (Randy’s son) was one of six NASA astronauts who traveled to the International Space Station last month as part of the STS-129 mission. To pay tribute to his grandfather, Randy Jr. took a photo of Bresnik and Earhart’s lucky scarf with him on the space mission. Gabrielle, who attended the launch, said she couldn’t stop thinking of Bresnik that day, noting he would have been so proud of his grandson. She added that the five years she spent with Bresnik were filled with fun and adventure. ‘I always describe him as a gentleman,’ Gabrielle said, smiling. ‘He was a person who could make everyone feel at ease.’

Coco Fix Aims to Satisfy Holiday Chocolate Cravings

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The Culver City-based Coco Fix, founded by Palisadian Kathy Barnes, offers fine chocolates with quality ingredients.
The Culver City-based Coco Fix, founded by Palisadian Kathy Barnes, offers fine chocolates with quality ingredients.

Looking at the svelte Palisadian Kathy Barnes, you’d never know that she is a chocolatier. Upping the ante, she tells the Palisadian-Post, ‘I eat chocolate every day.’ While most of us have waistlines and metabolisms that can’t afford a daily chocolate diet, consumers of Barnes’ brand of fine chocolates, Coco Fix, may have no choice. On Saturday, December 19, Barnes will have a booth at the Duncan Miller Gallery’s annual holiday boutique from noon to 9 p.m. at 10959 Venice Blvd. But Barnes notes that when people eat quality food, they’re less likely to overeat.   ’When you eat something you love, you’re satisfied,’ says Barnes, who is in the quality chocolate business. Barnes says she is pleased that ‘more and more people are into dark chocolate,’ which she finds more subtle and refined than the taste of milk chocolate. ‘When you’re working with quality chocolate, you don’t make it with sugar,’ which is what commercial store chocolates do, she says. Her formula is very simple, says Barnes: ‘American favorites with European flair.’ But it does not come cheap. A large box of 25 pieces (7-” squares) costs $50; the medium-sized box (12 pieces; 5-” squares) costs $27; and a small box (six pieces; 3-” squares) goes for $14. ‘It’s not just to put out an expensive chocolate to me,’ Barnes says. ‘It’s about the taste and the quality.’ Which demands fine ingredients. Which means more expensive. However, the morsels come in generous portions, and there is a subtlety to Coco Fix’s mix, which is not sugary or bland. Her creations are complicated: ‘They require a lot of ingredients, a lot of temperatures and a lot of time,’ says Barnes, who will add spices such as cayenne (but no saffron), Tahitian vanilla and organic sugar. Certain bon-bons must cure for a day. Coco Fix supplies her chocolates to event planners and people in the entertainment and corporate sectors. The company exports its confections via local delivery or shipping. The chocolates are also available for pick-up at its Culver City kitchen. Coco Fix’s boxes contain a mix of dark and milk chocolate, many of them with caramel and hazelnut fillings. There’s coco praline hazelnut and the toasted walnuts dipped in chocolate and cocoa powder. There’s the spiced and caramelized almond clusters covered in dark or milk chocolate. The toasted pecan caramels are Barnes’ dad’s favorites. Barnes says her most popular treats are the fleur de sel caramels, an odd marriage of dark chocolate-dripped caramel topped with French sea salt. The Peanut Butter Dreams are also taste-bud teases. Her palets come topped with cocoa nibs, dried apricot and toasted pistachios. Seasonal specialties include a dark-mocha cup topped with creamy white chocolate and crushed peppermint for the Yuletide and a truffle (with ganache centers) for Valentine’s Day. Barnes, a longtime resident of Pacific Palisades who lives in the Riviera with her faithful driving companion, a 14-year-old shih tzu named Harley, has been making chocolate professionally since 2005. And to become a chocolatier, she lived a few lives, career-wise. The daughter of a commercial artist and a homemaker, Barnes grew up in Brookfield, Illinois, just outside Chicago. She majored in fashion at the Academy of Merchandising and Design and she worked in media buying for nine years in Century City as an account director for Horizon Media. She was married to her husband, Jeffrey, a financial investor, and living in Castellammare from 1989 until 2005, when she decided to leave her career to make chocolates. ‘I had to give myself permission,’ Barnes says. ‘But I thought, It’s now or never.’ For Barnes, creating these confections comes easy. ‘I grew up baking and cooking and, for many years, it seemed like a lost art,’ she says. Barnes studied in Tain L’Hermitage, France, at the world headquarters of Valrhona, a top European chocolati’re. In 2005, she teamed up with younger sister Laura to create Little Goat chocolates. That business union did not last long after Laura relocated from Tarzana to Florence, Italy. In early 2006, Barnes launched Coco Fix with Bel-Air resident Paula Malcolm, who is married to former KTLA News general manager Vinnie Malcolm. The partnership did not stick due to Malcolm’s family obligations. By winter 2007, Barnes found a certified kitchen and went solo. ‘It was a little scary,’ Barnes says, ‘but I hired some freelance help and I did it.’ Visit www.cocofix.net; email kathy@cocofix.net or call 1-800-503-9661.

Christmas Dining

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SHANGRI-LA 1301 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica 310-394-2791 This boutique hotel recently underwent a $30-million re-design. The hotel?s restaurant is delightfully intimate and overlooks Palisades Park and the ocean. Furthermore, executive chef Dakota Weiss has planned special meals for the holidays. On Christmas Eve, there will be a three-course dinner plus an amuse-bouche. Reservations are required with the last seating at 8 p.m. The kitchen will close at 10 p.m. The price is $75 per adult and $35 for children. Brunch will be served on Christmas Day from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Reservations and walk-ins are welcome. The brunch price is $65 for adults; $35 for children. CATCH Casa del Mar, 1910 Ocean Way, Santa Monica 310-581-7714 Christmas Eve dinner will consist of an entr?e selections of free-range chicken, braised short ribs, Thai snapper, Alaskan salmon, or a porcini mushroom risotto. This three-course menu ($68) will be served from 5 to 8 p.m. ONE PICO Shutters on the Beach, One Pico Blvd., Santa Monica 310-587-1717 Dinner on Christmas Eve at this upscale restaurant is served from 5:30 to 9 p.m. for $68. COAST Shutters on the Beach Shutters? more casual restaurant will offer dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. for $38. The two-course menu offers seared big-eye tuna or Alaskan salmon with cr?me brul?e and coffee macaroons. OCEAN AND VINE Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, 1700 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica 310-458-6700 On Christmas Eve, the regular menu and seasonal favorites will be served from 5 to 9 p.m. On Christmas Day, a four-course prix-fixe menu will be offered for $70 per person. Entr?es include pan-seared Chilean sea bass, grilled filet mignon or an organic turkey leg confit with a citrus-brined, slow-roasted breast. Service will be available from noon to 5 p.m. CEZANNE Le Merigot Beach Hotel, 1740 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica 310-395-9700 Christmas dinner specials will include the free-range roast turkey ($26); braised short ribs of beef ($29) or roast duck breast ($27). Desserts, at $8.50, include a Richelieu Yule log, pumpkin tart, or a platter of chocolate truffles, mini-opera raspberry ?clair, and a pecan tartlette. FIG RESTAURANT Miramar Sheraton Hotel, 101 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica 310-576-7777 Dinner on Christmas Eve will be served from 5 to 10 p.m. with a price of $89 for adults and $44.50 for children under 12. On Christmas Day, the restaurant will serve dinner from noon to 8 p.m. In addition to a stocking full of goodies, the price will be $58 for adults and $29 for kiddies under 12. Children under the age of five eat free on both occasions. SIMON/L.A. 8555 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles 310-358-3979 Hours at Simon/L.A. on Christmas Eve are from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. while on Christmas Day dinner service will be from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Entr?e selections start with herb crusted lamb rack ($44), prime rib ($46), lobster potpie ($40), prosciutto wrapped tuna ($36), organic roasted chicken ($29), braised price rib short-ribs ($26), loup de mer ($28) and filet mignon ($42). Desserts are $11. On Saturday, December 26 and Sunday, December 27, brunch will be served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. LOCANDA DEL LAGO 231 Arizona Avenue, Santa Monica 310-451-3525 A Christmas supper, or cena di natale, will be served at Lago, which spotlights the cuisine of Bellagio on Lake Como in Northern Italy. This distinctive three- or four-course menu may be paired with special wines on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Main course choices are John Dory or lamb shank ossobuco. The three-course menu is $45 per person while the four-course version is $59 per person. The optional wine-tasting pairing is $25, not including tax or gratuity. Each dish may be ordered a la carte, as well as on the special menu. For dessert, a holiday sponge cake with marsala and a warm, orange pastry cream costs $10. On Dec. 24, Lago will be open for lunch at 11:30 a.m. The cena di natale supper is served with the full dinner menu from 4 to 10:30 p.m. On Christmas Day, both menus will be served all day from 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Reservations are suggested and valet parking is available in the evening. THE BISTRO GARDEN 12950 Ventura Blvd., Studio City 818-501-0202 On Christmas Eve, dinner will be served from 5:30 to 11:30 p.m. at this beautiful restaurant in the Valley. The three-course menu includes an entr?e selection of roasted Long Island duckling, grilled filet mignon or broiled Lake Superior whitefish. Desserts include the chocolate souffl?, a Christmas log, or berries bistro with a chocolate Florentine, all for $78 per person (not including tax and gratuity). LA CACHETTE BISTRO 1733 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica 310-434-9509 A Christmas Eve dinner will be served from 5 to 9 p.m. at Jean-Francois Meteigner?s new bistro in Santa Monica. This four-course dinner features celery root and chestnut morel soup, North Sea white fish with wild mushrooms, a fillet of venison with cabernet sauce and a dessert of a chestnut-rum Christmas log. The cost is $58 for food only. The regular menu will also be available. GLADSTONE?S On the Beach, PCH and Sunset Blvd., 310-573-0212 Hours at this historic seaside restaurant will be from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Christmas Eve featuring a half-lbs. lobster dinner or 2-lbs. king crab legs with two sides and a choice of beverage for $19.95. On Christmas Day, the restaurant opens at noon and will offer prime rib and 2-lbs. crab legs for $34.95, plus sides and a choice of beverage. Tax and an 18-percent gratuity will be added to each check. BISTRO LQ 8009 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles 323-951-1088 On Christmas Eve, the holiday dinner will start at 5 p.m. This three-course creation by Chef Laurent will offer entr?e selections of a roasted New York strip, or veal loin Wellington, or a duck breast. A mini Yule log with chestnuts and chocolates will be dessert, all for $64 per person plus tax and service. Reservations are limited.

PaliHi Basketball Tops Cleveland

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Charlie Bailey goes airborne against a Venice defender in the Dolphins' Western League opener, which ended in a 0-0 tie.
Charlie Bailey goes airborne against a Venice defender in the Dolphins’ Western League opener, which ended in a 0-0 tie.
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer

After finishing a strong fifth at the Pacific Shores Tournament in Redondo Beach to begin its season, the Palisades High boys’ basketball team was back on the court last Friday for an important nonleague game at Reseda Cleveland–a game that could have seeding implications come playoff time. The Dolphins won, 81-73, led by senior Kenneth Towner’s 20 points and 8 rebounds, 18 points and 8 rebounds from senior Donovan Johnson and 16 points from senior co-captain Garrett Nevels. The game was tied 62-62 going into the fourth quarter before Palisades pulled away to improve to 4-1. In the teams’ previous meeting two seasons ago, the Cavaliers beat the Dolphins 68-64 in the first round of the City playoffs. Palisades plays Verdugo Hills in the first round of the San Fernando Valley Invitational on Friday. The tournament runs through Wednesday. The Dolphins then travel north for the Santa Barbara Holiday Tournament, which begins the day after Christmas before hosting Dorsey in their final nonleague game January 7. Girls’ Soccer Palisades has begun Western League play the same way it did last season: with two dominating victories. Kathryn Gaskin scored all three goals in the Dolphins’ 3-0 victory over Venice last Wednesday night, then Samantha Elander scored three goals and freshman Kathyrn Bamberger added two in a 8-0 rout at Fairfax last Friday. Since dropping their first two games to West Valley League powers Granada Hills and Taft, the Dolphins (6-2, 2-0) have won six straight, outscoring their opposition 20-0. Gaskin, who led the team with 19 goals and 50 points as a sophomore last winter, has six goals and three assists (15 points) so far this season. Boys’ Soccer The Dolphins didn’t even have to score a goal to win for the fourth time in their first five games Monday, as they beat Santa Monica by forfeit. After opening Western League play with a 0-0 draw a Venice last Wednesday, Palisades edged Fairfax 2-1 on Friday thanks to goals by Shane Centkowski and Max Ledesma. The Dolphins (4-0-1, 1-0-1) host Westchester Friday at 2:30 p.m. in their last game before Winter Break. Girls’ Tennis Jessie Corneli made third-team All-City after advancing to the third round of the City Individual singles tournament with a 7-6 (6), 5-7, 1-0 (6) win over Spencer Trotta of Marshall. Despite playing one of her best matches of the season, the Dolphins’ sophomore fell, 6-2, 6-2, to senior Yuliya Maystruck of Taft.

Riding High for Palisades

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Palisades High sophomore Haley Berman and Kennedy. Photo: Holly Martin
Palisades High sophomore Haley Berman and Kennedy. Photo: Holly Martin

Over the summer several Palisades High students thought it would be neat to start an equestrian team, so they shared their idea with Russ Howard, the school’s Director of Student Activities, Athletics & Discipline. The wheels were set in motion and, on December 6 at Hansen Dam in Lake View Terrace, freshman Chiara Ciacci and sophomore Haley Berman competed in Palisades’ first official Interscholastic Equestrian League event. With the help of fellow students and riders, senior Julia Wood and freshman Brittany Clark, the girls went through the necessary steps to turn their passion into a recognized sport at Palisades, although it does not count as a class. “Anyone who rides and has access to a horse can join,” said Berman, who has been riding for three years. “It’s sort of like a club but we call ourselves a team. The season goes from October through April and consists of four shows. It’s a great way to represent your school and we’re hoping to get a few more members next year.” The competition consists of four divisions, rated as follows from easiest to hardest: Novice, Freshman, JV and Varsity. The harder the division, the higher the fences, the sharper the turns and the longer the jumps are. Protocol is for the riders’ barn to trailer the horse to the competition. Berman, who started riding at Mill Creek in Topanga Canyon but now trains with Jen Dallis of Punk Pony Riding School in Chatsworth, competes in Novice, where she took fifth place in Equitation on the Flat, 11th place (out of 57 riders) in Handy Hunter over Fences and third (out of 57) in Equitation over Fences. “Hunter competitions judge how well the horse works while Equitation judges the riders themselves,” explained Berman, who competed on a Hanoverian chestnut named Kennedy (show name ‘Power Play’). “I switched to a new horse a few months ago because I couldn’t use my horse at Mill Creek. I like the sport because this gives me a way to work with animals.” Berman, 16, admits she isn’t into more traditional sports like volleyball and basketball. Prior to joining the IEL, she had only competed in one small competition last summer. She has grown up in the Palisades, attending Marquez Elementary and then Paul Revere Middle School. Though only a ninth-grader, Ciacci has been riding for four years and competed in the JV division in her IEL debut, finishing 11th out of 30 riders in Equitation on the Flat. She trains under the tutelage of Brian Flanagan at Cloverfield Farm in Malibu on a German Warmblood bay horse named Troy. “We all kind of brought it up–it was a conjoined effort,” Ciacci said of the team. “Julia and Brittany weren’t able to do it but they were instrumental in getting it started. It took as awhile to get all the forms filled out but I’m glad we did.” Ciacci, who attended Willows School in Culver City prior to PaliHi, also competed in one prior show–Camelot in Santa Clarita–in September. The 15-year-old used to play volleyball and soccer at school, but has always enjoyed being in the saddle. “It’s a fun and challenging sport,” she said. “I’ve always loved horses and I try to ride two or three days a week. The league is co-ed but it’s mostly girls.”

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