Brazilian Striker and LA Sol Teammates To Attend Blues’ Playoff Game Saturday
Soccer superstar Marta will sign autographs for fans at halftime Saturday night when the Blues host Colorado at Palisades High.
As if Pali Blues players aren’t going to be pumped up enough for their playoff opener, they will get an added kick of adrenaline on Saturday night at Stadium by the Sea when they invite international soccer star Marta and her Los Angeles Sol teammates onto the field to sign autographs at halftime. “Sol Night” also features a special offer for Sol playoff tickets and a Marta bobblehead doll. The W-League Western Conference champion Blues will host the Colorado Force, with kickoff slated for 7 p.m. The local club has yet to lose a game in its first two seasons. Knowing perhaps the best female player in the world is in attendance figures to inspire them. Still just 23 years old, Marta Vieira da Silva, known around the world simply as “Marta,” has been named FIFA Player of the Year for three straight years and led the Brazilian National Team to Olympic silver medals in 2004 and 2008. She won the Golden Ball Award as the best player and the Golden Boot award as the top scorer at the 2007 Women’s World Cup. After scoring 111 goals in 103 matches over five seasons with Umea, a club team in Sweden, Marta joined the Sol of the new Women’s Professional League. The Sol are currently in first place and, not surprisingly, Marta leads the team in scoring. “Marta has been everything we hoped she would be and then some,” Pali Blues Coach and Sol General Manager Charlie Naimo said. “She’s getting it done on the field and has been a great ambassador for the franchise, the league and the game.” In their inaugural season last year the Blues posted a perfect 14-0 record on their way to capturing the league championship. The team finished the calendar year as the No. 2-ranked women’s club in the world by Women’s World Football and an astonishing 15 players from its 2008 roster moved on to play in the WPS, the highest level of women’s soccer in North America. “Having Marta in the stadium will be fantastic,” Blues General Manager Jason Lemire said. “Our fans come to games to see stars in the making. Marta and her fellow teammates on the Sol represent the fulfillment of that dream.” The Blues (9-0-3) finished the regular season with a 4-1 home victory over the Seattle Sounders last Saturday night. The roster features many of the most talented young players in the world, including Pacific Palisades’ own Ali Riley, Amanda Lisberger and Caitlin Blosser. “I was glad to see the team respond to being a goal down with four unanswered,” Naimo said. “We’re going into the playoffs averaging 3.5 goals per game in the last four and we have all of our players available, so the feeling around here is positive. This is just a great group and I want to see them succeed. They deserve it.” Though proud of the success his teams have enjoyed so far, Naimo knows there is still plenty of soccer yet to be played and is keeping his focus squarely on the silverware: “It’s a great feeling that both of my teams are in a position to win titles but we expected it. Everyone worked extremely hard in the fall and winter and now we are enjoying the fruits of our labor. However, neither our players nor our staff are content. We are focused on championships.” Tickets to Saturday’s playoff opener are $10 for adults or $5 for children and are available online at www.bluessoccerclub.com or by phone at 310-264-4649.
Anthony Poulos throws a strike in Palisades’ 10-7 win over Cheviot Hills last Tuesday at the Coastal District Playoffs in Long Beach. Photo courtesy of Bruce Hulse
The Palisades Pony Baseball Association’s Bronco Division All-Stars faced a daunting task at last week’s Coastal District Playoffs in Long Beach: having to win four straight games versus the top 12-year-old squads from the Westside to the South Bay. The local boys nearly pulled it off. After opening the tournament with a resounding 19-7 victory over Mira Costa last Sunday, Coach Rick McGeagh’s team was beaten by Torrance 10-3 the following day and dropped to the loser’s bracket, thus facing elimination in each subsequent game. Palisades wasn’t about to go down quietly. It needed nine innings and five pitchers to defeat Cheviot Hills 10-7 last Tuesday, as Nicky Rivera had three hits, Matt McGeagh had two hits and three runs scored and Bryant Falconello had two hits and two runs batted in. Anthony Poulos, Aiden Fite and Daniel Hakman also contributed to the victory. The team was back at it 15 hours later, this time facing beach rival Santa Monica. Palisades’ offense erupted for nine runs in the top of the first inning and they proved to be more than enough for pitcher Jonathan Sington, who struck out three and walked none over five innings of a 14-1 mercy-rule victory. At the plate, Matt McGeagh had four hits and four RBI, Reece Pascoe had three hits and three RBI, Rivera had three hits and two RBI while Matt Douglas and Jack McGeagh each added two hits and two RBI. On Thursday, Palisades avenged its loss to Torrance with a shocking 21-3 win in five innings. Cade Hulse pitched his second straight complete game and helped his cause at the plate, going four-for-four with three runs and three RBI. Rivera had four hits and scored four runs, Matt McGeagh had three hits, three RBI and two runs; Douglas had two hits, three runs and two RBI, Hudson Ling had three hits, four RBI and one run, Jack McGeagh had two hits, two walks, two runs and two RBI and Tyler McMorrow drew three walks and scored three runs. The three straight victories landed Palisades in last Friday’s championship game against host East Long Beach, which jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Palisades battled back to lead 5-4 after three innings before Long Beach tied it in the top of the fourth. In the bottom of the frame Matt McGeagh hit a one-out double but was left stranded. In the sixth, the host club got a lead-off home run, added a second run with two outs and led 7-5. Palisades threatened in the bottom of the seventh but was unable to score. Though it fell one win short of reaching the Super Regionals, Palisades advanced further than any PPBA Bronco team ever has, finishing with an overall record of 15-6. “I’m very proud of our team and the kids’ tenacious performance,” Coach McGeagh said. “They all worked very hard throughout the All-Star season and it paid off. Our success was a team effort, with contributions by all players.” Mustang Still riding high after winning the District 2 Playoffs held the previous week at the Field of Dreams, Palisades’ 10-year-old All-Stars traveled to Torrance for the Sectionals and beat Norwalk, 14-3, on Saturday. Jason Starrels pitched a two-hitter with four strikeouts and went four-for-four at the plate with three runs and four RBI. Nick Hurley and Gabe Stewart each had three hits, Emmett Collins had two hits and two RBI, Dylan Damavandi had two hits and Will Winkenhower, Matt Ursin-Smith and Zach Lynch each added a hit. In Sunday’s championship game, Palisades’ offense was finally stymied by host Torrance, 10-0, but Joe Collins’ squad (11-4) still advanced to the Super Regionals, which begin today in Carlsbad. The top two teams will advance to the Zone Championships next week in Chino.
The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy’s weekly Family Fun Campfire Night, featuring nature tales, campfire songs, games and, of course, marshmallows, beginning at 7 p.m. in Temescal Gateway Park. Parking in Temescal is $7, but the campfire is free. Comedy veteran Carol Leifer discusses and signs “When You Lie About Your Age, the Terrorists Win: Reflections on Looking in the Mirror,” 7:30 p.m. at Village Books on Swarthmore.
FRIDAY, JULY 24
Theatre Palisades Youth’s musical, “Annie, Jr.,” opens at the Pierson Playhouse, 941 Temescal Canyon Rd. Performances continue: July 24 through 26, 30 and 31, and August 1 and 2, with Thursday, Friday and Saturday shows at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday shows at 2 p.m. For tickets ($12), call the box office at (310) 454-1970.
SATURDAY, JULY 25
Tom Kurai, director of the Taiko Center of Los Angeles, conducts a hands-on taiko drumming workshop for all ages and provides an introduction to Japanese culture and folk arts, 1 p.m. in the Palisades Branch library community room, 861 Alma Real Drive. Reception for Palisadian Peter Alexander’s photographs and monoprints, “Velvets and Palms,” 5 to 8 p.m. at g169, a new gallery at 169 W. Channel Rd. The exhibition remains through August. Members of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Opera, co-founded by Palisadian Linda Jackson, will perform excerpts from the upcoming 2009-10 season as well as a selection of popular operatic hits, 8 p.m. at the Palisades Methodist Church, 801 Via de la Paz. Tickets at the door: $25.
MONDAY, JULY 27
The monthly meeting of the Pacific Palisades Civic League has been cancelled.
TUESDAY, JULY 28
Story-Craft Time, “suggested” for ages 4 and up, 4 p.m. at the Palisades Branch Library, 861 Alma Real. The Temescal Canyon Association’s summer evening hiking group will travel the beautiful Los Liones Trail to take in the views from the East Topanga Fire Road. Meet in the Temescal Gateway parking lot at 6 p.m. for carpooling. No dogs! Expect to be back by 9 p.m. Information: temcanyon.org.
THURSDAY, JULY 30
East Coast writer Adrienne Kane discusses and signs “Cooking and Screaming: Finding My Own Recipe for Recovery,” 7:30 p.m. at Village Books on Swarthmore. From nosherteria.com blogger Kane comes a recipe-filled memoir about loss, recovery, and finding oneself through food and cooking.
The unlicensed driver of this 2001 Lexus lost control of his speeding car in Marquez on July 3, damaged at least two parked cars on Bollinger Drive, then spun into this 1999 Dodge Ram.
An unlicensed 15-year-old, driving a white 2001 Lexus, was speeding southbound on Ida Street in Marquez on July 3, in the middle of the day. When the Palisades youth attempted to turn left onto Bollinger Drive, he lost control of his vehicle and proceeded to crash into at least three parked cars. The Lexus, which sustained major damage, caused major damage to a 1999 Dodge Ram (photo), moderate damage to a 1999 Toyota 4-Runner, and minor damage to a 2005 Toyota Corolla and a 2008 Chevy Cobalt. The male driver and his 14-year-old passenger were unhurt. Since the driver didn’t have a provisional license, police will file charges for driving without a license, which means the driver will be unable to get a license when he is eligible. A reader who witnessed the aftermath of the crash wrote, ‘I’m sick of these kids screaming around our town and nothing ever seems to happen to make them stop. What in the world can we do to stop it?’
Starting August 3, the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power will begin the long-planned construction on the Santa Ynez Reservoir, which provides water for domestic use and firefighting in Pacific Palisades. DWP is covering the 9.2-acre open reservoir in the Highlands with hypalon (synthetic rubber) and switching disinfectants from chlorine to chloramine to meet two new rules that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has established to make drinking water safer. The two-year project will cost about $17 million, and DWP has hired Environmental Construction, Inc. in Woodland Hills as the contractor. DWP representatives initially met with Pacific Palisades residents in 2002 to begin devising a landscape master plan. The group decided on a green-and-black streaked floating cover to visually blend with the adjacent brush-colored landscape. The helipad, debris retention basin, access road and service road along the perimeter will also be surfaced with a darker color to complement the reservoir cover. At that time, DWP planned to have the construction completed by 2006; however, the project was delayed until now because EPA changed its compliance deadlines, according to Paul Rugar, DWP project manager. Construction on the inside of the reservoir will be done in two six-month phases and partly in the winter when the weather is cooler and the demand for water is reduced. Highlands residents will receive their water from Upper Stone Canyon Reservoir during those months. From August to October, crews will perform mechanical and electrical work around the reservoir’s perimeter. On October 1, DWP will begin draining 117 million gallons of water from the reservoir, which will take about a month. The contractor will then demolish the reservoir concrete inlet/outlet tower and steel walkway bridge, grind down the reservoir side slopes and bottom asphalt liner and excavate the reservoir bottom for the installation of concrete vaults for valves and large mixers. Lastly, the contractor will place new asphalt on the reservoir side slopes and bottom. All of this activity should be done by April 31, 2010, so that the reservoir can be refilled for the summer. Neighbors should expect truck traffic from November through April, DWP spokeswoman Stephanie Interiano told the Palisadian-Post on Monday. ‘While we make every effort to respect the peace and quiet of the community, truck traffic will be necessary to ensure the timely completion of this phase of the project due to the limited time that the reservoir can be out of service,’ Interiano said. ‘LADWP will work expeditiously to minimize the truck traffic in the area.’ DWP does not have an estimate of how many trucks will travel daily from Palisades Drive to Santa Ynez Road, but Interiano said the department should have one this fall. Crews will work Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. On October 1, 2010, the reservoir will be drained once again for the final phase of construction, which will resume on November 1. During that phase, the contractor will install the floating cover and the rainwater removal pumps. The reservoir’s perimeter will also be paved. On May 1, 2011, the reservoir will be refilled and then crews will finish up the landscaping, which should be completed by August. To prepare for the project, DWP has already constructed two pressure-regulating stations at Avenida de Santa Ynez and at the intersection of Romany and Almalfi in the Riviera ‘to improve system reliability in the service area and to facilitate the removal of Santa Ynez Reservoir from service for a prolonged period of time,’ Rugar told the Post last December. DWP has also constructed a new cistern at Pacific Palisades Reservoir (on upper Chautauqua) for the L.A. Fire Department’s large helicopters to use for fighting brush fires. ‘Once the floating cover is in place, these helicopters will no longer be able to dip their snorkels into the Santa Ynez Reservoir, but will instead have to use the cistern at Pacific Palisades Reservoir,’ Rugar said. ‘However, the smaller choppers will still be able to land at Santa Ynez Reservoir and use the fire hydrants to fill their tanks.’
The fifth season of Movies in the Park will begin on Saturday, August 1, with the free showing of ‘Men In Black’ on the Field of Dreams at the Palisades Recreation Center. This perfect summer romp (rated PG-13) from 1997 stars Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith as top-secret agents ‘Men in Black’ (MiB) who monitor and police alien activity on Earth. Barry Sonnenfeld directed this science fiction, comedy action film. Movies in the Park-Pacific Palisades, Inc., in association with the Palisadian-Post & Post Printing, presents old-fashioned family fun every Saturday in August. Additional films are ‘Kung Fu Panda,’ sponsored by Caf’ Vida (August 8); ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ sponsored by Marquez Knolls Property Owners Association (August 15); ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl,’ sponsored by American Legion Post 283 (August 22); and ‘Cars,’ sponsored by Castellammare Mesa Homeowners (August 29). The Chamber of Commerce is still looking for a sponsor for ‘Men In Black.’ Major sponsors this year include the Pacific Palisades Junior Women’s Club and the Galier Family. Additional organizations and individuals lending support are Botham Plumbing, Lee Calvert, Ron Dean, Art Detman, Knolls Pharmacy, Frederick Lee Family, Pacific Palisades Veterinary Hospital, Dan Urbach/ Prudential California Realty and the Chamber of Commerce. The venue opens for picnics at 6 p.m., and Boy Scouts from Troop 23 will sell candy and soda. PopStar popcorn will be available and park employees will provide free hot dogs. Due to liability issues, pets are not allowed, and there is no smoking, no alcohol and no stick chairs. The movies start around 8 p.m. A limited number of cozy Movies in the Park logo red fleece blankets will be on sale for $35. Bel-Air/ADT Patrol and teen volunteers from the Santa Monica Police Volunteer Activity League will provide security. Contact: the Chamber office at (310) 459-7963.
Elizabeth Juncosa, a retired accountant and longtime resident of Pacific Palisades (shown here transacting business at the teller’s “window”), was the second customer to visit CalNational Bank’s new branch office building at Sunset and Swarthmore on Monday. The bank has 68 branches in Southern California.
Businesses in Pacific Palisades are closing during this economic crunch, but others are expanding into vacant spaces and new enterprises are opening. Since January, Emerson-LeMay Cleaners, Piccolomo Italian Ice Cream, Chefmakers Cooking Academy, Roy Robbins Gifts & Stationery, Adana and Margano (a women’s clothing store on Sunset) have closed in the heart of town. Here’s an update on who’s going where: 1. Adana, the high-end shoes and accesories boutique at 1045 Swarthmore, quietly closed on June 28. The 800-sq.-ft. store, which opened in November 2006, was owned by Andreea Benuciu and Daniela Vasile. 2. Chefmakers’ local owner, Richard Klein, closed his retail store at 872 Via de la Paz and is currently conducting cooking camps at his former 700-sq.-ft. office space at 865 Swarthmore, next to Amazing Music. ‘We’re here at least for the summer, and hopefully beyond,’ Klein said. 3. Rumours, a teen clothing store at 1014 Swarthmore, lost its lease at the end of June, but the store is still in operation. Owners Ceci Dean and Ivy Greene hope to find a new owner for their store, which opened in September 2005 after they revamped the interior (which hadn’t been updated since the 1950s) with black-and-white floor tiles, new paint and a handicapped-accessible bathroom. 4. On the encouraging side in the business district, BOCA Man is relocating from 15260 Antioch to 1020 Swarthmore in the space that was formerly Ivy Greene for Kids, which is now at 875 Via de la Paz. Owners Mike Mangimelli and Denise Martinez, who are married and who also own the adjacent BOCA women’s clothing store on Swarthmore, are currently renovating the Ivy Greene space, adding skylights and knocking out a wall to open everything up. The new store, scheduled to open around September 1, will aesthetically nearly match BOCA, which underwent a complete renovation in 2005. 5. Kier Design, which for the past five years has been located in the courtyard at 863 Swarthmore, next to the Prince’s Table and Beech Street Cafe, will move to the space BOCA Man is vacating next to Susan Carroll’s Gift Garden Antiques. ‘We want to do more furniture, custom design and interior decorating,’ said Simeon Kier, who manages the store and is the father of owner Heidi Kier-Isaacs. ‘We feel that we’ll get more exposure on a main road (Sunset) and more window space.’ 6. Sabrina Nails, located on La Cruz Drive, will add a second salon’Bellagio Nails’at 15228 Sunset, next to Philips French Cleaners in the Margano location. The owners are waiting for final inspections and hope to open the end of July or early August. 7. Meanwhile, Rosie & Nails at 829 Via de la Paz is expanding to a second location at 15333 Sunset, in the space previously occupied by Emerson Cleaners (between Via and Swarthmore), with plans to open the end of August. 8. CalNational Bank, which was renting a large space in the 984 Monument building until its new branch office was completed on the corner of Swarthmore and Sunset, has moved out and prospective tenants have been studying the space. 9. Next door, a sushi bar will be opening in the space previously occupied by Piccomolo. Sushi details have not yet been revealed. 10. The one new business opening in the Village this year (in June) has been Denni Geed’s London Colour Studio, a hair salon on Sunset across from Ralphs. There are currently four vacancies on the 1000 block of Swarthmore, all of them belonging to Palisades Partners, a multi-family trust that owns 19 storefronts on the street. The Partners also own two empty stores on Sunset: the former Nest Egg (which closed in January 2008) and The Office Supplier, which closed in March 2006 but relocated to a much smaller location 860 Via de la Paz.
Longtime Pacific Palisades resident Chester Dean Hull passed away on July 7 at the age of 81, after a long illness. His characteristic dignity, wry sense of humor, and dedication to his family, friends and colleagues were evident even during months of declining health. Chester was born in rural Delta, Colorado on December 27, 1927. His family endured economic collapse during the Depression and sought a better life in Southern California. After attending Whittier College and distinguishing himself in the Army from 1946-1949, Chester completed his B.A. at UCLA in 1952 and his Ph.D. in 1956. After teaching at Long Beach State, Chester returned to UCLA and worked as a professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the Neuropsychiatric Institute until his retirement in 1992. He was a resident of the Palisades since 1967. At Long Beach State and UCLA, Chester was engaged in teaching and mentoring students and in research. His students all have fond memories of Chester, puffing on his pipe and providing advice and guidance. His research was aimed at understanding how a particular part of the brain, the basal ganglia, functioned. This is an area that, when abnormal, causes disorders like Parkinson’s disease. Chester partnered with Nathaniel Buchwald as pioneers in providing an understanding of how brain cells in the basal ganglia communicated with each other. Chester played basketball at Whittier College and was a devoted UCLA sports fan who, on occasion, abandoned his usual unflappability to yell at the refs. In his retirement he tutored, traveled, studied Spanish and developed many close and enduring relationships. Chester believed strongly in the transforming power of public education. He was predeceased in 1995 by his loving wife of 44 years, Helen. Survivors include his son Bryan Hull of Pacific Palisades; daughter Rachel Kellerman (husband Tom) of Palo Alto; grandchildren Ben and Lisa Kellerman; and brothers Keith and Cloyde Hull. Donations in his honor can be sent to the Chester D. Hull Memorial Fund to support the Bruin Scholars Initiative for undergraduate scholarship. All gifts should be made payable to The UCLA Fund, 10920 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1400, Los Angeles, CA 90024 (Attention Janet Burnett).
Telford W. Oswald, a 58-year resident of Pacific Palisades, died at his home on July 5 at the age of 91, following a long illness. Before becoming an aeronautical engineer and research scientist, Telford graduated from Harvard School and Stanford University, then earned a master’s degree from Harvard University and a Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology. He married Elinor Scott Oswald in her hometown of Pelham, New York, on April 24, 1943. He served in the U.S. Army Ordnance Department in World War II and in the Korean War, leaving active service as a lieutenant colonel. He and Elinor then moved to Pacific Palisades. Oswald chose the Palisades because one of his professors at Harvard University, Dr. William Bollay, had founded the Aerophysics Corporation in an office here and asked Telford to join his new firm. Later, Telford worked for the Aerospace Group of Hughes Aircraft Company, which participated in the Pioneer Venus Project. In 1980 as a member of the Pioneer Venus Spacecraft Team, he received NASA’s Public Service Achievement Award. In 1986, Telford retired as chief scientist of the Aerophysics and Preliminary Design Laboratory of the Missile Systems Division of Hughes Aircraft in Canoga Park. His hobby was woodworking, and the family enjoyed waterskiing. Telford also purchased property on Lake Nacimiento, near Paso Robles, where he designed and built a home that sleeps 12, has a modern kitchen, and a deck with a glorious view. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Elinor; three daughters, realtor Merrill Biancosino of Pennington, New Jersey, fine art photographer Jan Oswald of Denver, and fluvialgeomorphologist Liz Oswald of the American Forest Service, who lives in Lander, Wyoming; son T. Scott Oswald, an enterprise architect for Seattle City Lights; five grandchildren, Robin Soriano Estrada, Zachary Scott Price, Rebecca Byrne Price, Rowe Holton Oswald, Cyrus Grey Oswald; two great-grandchildren, Eli Reuben Price and Kyle Soriano Estrada; and his sister, Ruth Schneider. As a former member of the vestry of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Pacific Palisades, Telford was remembered with a celebration of his life at St. Matthew’s in early July. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to the Parish of St. Matthew’s, P.O. Box 37, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272.
Stolper, who retired in June after 27 years of teaching, visits with his eighth-grade students at Paul Revere. Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
Until he retired in June, Palisadian Darryl Stolper taught eighth-grade history at Paul Revere Middle School, but not many students nor their parents realized that in Stolper’s ‘other life’ this soft-spoken man taught actress Sally Field to surf, starred in commercials, hunted and sold rattlesnakes, and amassed a collection of classic 45 records and ‘Old West’ artifacts. Stolper’s family moved from the Los Feliz area to Pacific Palisades in 1950, and the beach quickly became a way of life for the youth, who began surfing at State Beach in Santa Monica Canyon. He graduated from Paul Revere Junior High School in 1956, (the year it opened), along with future actor Ryan O’Neal. He then attended University High because Palisades High hadn’t yet been built’it was still All Hollows Farm, where Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher lived. After high school, Stolper spent countless hours surfing, and attending Santa Monica College. ‘I took every class that looked interesting,’ he says, adding the price was right: just $2.50 a semester. In order to earn money, he ventured into local mountains and desserts to catch rattlesnakes for zoos. ‘I would catch the snakes with a hook and drop them in a flour sack,’ Stolper says. He also sold snakes to Hermosa Reptile for $5 and $10, until 1962, when a rattler bit him on the left forearm. As the L.A. Times later reported (‘Fang Victim Frees Rattler He Caught,’ September 19, 1963): ‘Stolper last summer suffered the worst rattlesnake bite which anybody is known to have survived. At UCLA Medical Center Stolper was given 35 blood transfusions, 26 plasma transfusions and 29 vials of anti-venom to keep him alive.’ Returning to Santa Monica College, Stolper received a call from the school reminding him it was a two-year school (he had accumulated 134 hours units) and it was time to move on. After earning a degree in physical anthropology from Cal State Northridge, he was accepted to a doctorate program in Durham, England in that field. When he and his wife, Lynda, arrived, she got sick almost immediately from the air’black with coal dust’and Stolper dropped out of the program. For the next five months the couple traveled around Europe. Coming back to California in 1968, Stolper got a job as a record salesman. ‘Best job I have ever had,’ he said because it started his lifelong love of rhythm-and-blues music. ‘I went around the city in hard-to-sell areas.’ He also began a vinyl record collection that has grown to about 15,000, mostly 45’s and includes blues, rockabilly, R & B and early country’some are vintage Hank Williams. Wearing a T-shirt with the words ‘I buy old records,’ Stolper still spends weekends at garage sales looking for the rare ones he doesn’t have. For a day, he was the program director for the Johnny Otis weekly FM radio show. Stolper played the blues record ‘Shave’em Dry,’ sung by Lucille Bogan. ‘It was recorded in the 1930s and she was probably quite drunk; the song had a lot of four-letter words in it,’ Stolper recalls, adding that FM didn’t have language restrictions at that time. Unfortunately, that was the first night the Otis show was piped into Bullock’s and Robinson’s men’s shops. The radio station callboard lit up, with every caller wanting to know where they could buy the record. The station manager, who didn’t share that interest, fired Stolper on the spot. Stolper started writing liner notes for albums by B.B. King, Gus Jenkins, Jericho Alley and Jimmy Reed. He also tracked down old blues singers and wrote articles about them. He likes the blues because there are so many double entendres in these songs, and favors rhythm-and-blues songs because they tell a story. ‘We all listened to R & B and black music, in the 50s,’ Stolper says. ‘I can listen to a song and know when I heard it and why it was important.’ In 1964, Stolper was hired to teach Sally Field how to surf for the television sitcom ‘Gidget,’ after an acquaintance and legendary surfer, Mickey Dora, gave ABC executives Stolper’s name. A TV Guide article later contained the following vignette: ‘When the Screen Gems people signed Sally Field for a new series about the surf set, ‘Gidget,’ they were in for a bit of a surprise: Sally couldn’t surf! To remedy this somewhat serious shortcoming, they assigned surfing expert Darryl Stolper to teach her, and luckily, she proved an apt pupil. ‘Her coordination is amazing,’ Stolper says. ‘She was standing up by her second lesson.” With his classic surfer look, Stolper segued into commercials, landing the lead in 7-Up, Canadian Dry and beer commercials. With the advent of the ‘Godfather’ movies in the early 1970s, the blond, blue-eyed Southern California look was replaced with more ethnic-type actors. ‘I went from three or four auditions a week to three or four a month,’ Stolper says. ‘And I wasn’t getting those jobs either.’ When Stolper wasn’t in college classrooms, he spent days surfing on State Beach, which was also a hangout spot for people from Hollywood. ‘We’d hear about the parties and we started to go to them,’ Stolper says, admitting that half of the fun of the parties was figuring out how to get in. At one Santa Monica party he crashed in 1964, he met the Beatles, and at a subsequent Hollywood party he nabbed three of their autographs. In a recent issue of Record Collector News, Stolper wrote about a 1960s party at the house of Cass Elliot of The Mamas and the Papas: ‘Cass was living in a tiny house in West Hollywood. The first thing I noticed was that every wall was covered with S&H Green Stamps. I found myself speaking with a heavyset lady in a muumuu. She asked my name and who I knew at the party. I needed a quick response, ‘I know everybody, but I don’t know you.’ ‘I’m Cass and this is my house. Enjoy yourself!’ ‘About 11 p.m., the Los Angeles County Sheriffs pulled up outside and began writing parking violations, some for crimes that may not have been crimes. (‘You have too much air in your tires,’ or ‘The tread has worn off the sides of your tires’).’ For the next 10 years, Stolper surfed, picked up a few commercials and worked as an optician fitting glasses for his father, Al, an optometrist. He and Lynda also bought a house in the Alphabet Streets in 1971. Finally using the credential he earned from Northridge in 1965, Stolper began teaching history at Webster Middle School in 1978. He transferred to Audubon, then Revere in 1981. After he retired in June, Stolper told the Palisadian-Post: ‘I’ve seen some changes’some are for the better, others not,’ he said, noting that schools used to do a better job of tracking students. ‘We’re not all the same, not everybody is college material, nor do they have to be,’ Stolper says, adding that ending tracking was not advantageous to students. ‘We’re not like a stagecoach, where the fastest you can go is as fast as the slowest horse.’ He also thinks that standardized testing is a waste of time. ‘Teachers teach to the test’which they get in advance,’ he says. ‘The mark of a good teacher is love of the topic. I was constantly reading to find things to make my class interesting.’ Stolper required his eighth grade students to read outside books that corresponded with different periods of U.S. history, such as ‘The Octopus’ by Frank Norris, ‘The Red Badge of Courage’ by Stephen Crane and ‘Roughing It’ by Mark Twain. ‘No one wants to carry on the tradition of reading history,’ he laments. ‘What am I going to do with 25 copies of ‘Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee?” He taught his sons, Kevin (now an instructor at UCLA in clothing design) and Sean (an attorney at Sony Music) in eighth grade. ‘They worked harder than everyone.’ His daughter Tammi, whom he did not have as a student, works with his wife in her patient recall business’calling doctors’ and dentists’ patients to remind them they are due for an appointment. Now that he’s retired, Stolper hopes to use his vast knowledge of blues and R & B to work in the movie industry, helping to place the right music in the right scenes. He worked with G. Marq Roswell on the 2007 film ‘The Great Debaters,’ set in the 1930s, to ensure that the music was era-appropriate. Even as he starts another chapter in his life, Stolper says, ‘I tell myself I won’t miss teaching, but I will.’
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