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Hooray for ‘Hollywood’

The Latest Arcadia Book Chronicles the Entertainment Capital’s Heyday

Actor John Barrymore, known for his great profile, gets it set in stone for posterity by Grauman's Chinese Theater owner Sid Grauman in 1946. Archival photo courtesy of Marc Wanamaker
Actor John Barrymore, known for his great profile, gets it set in stone for posterity by Grauman’s Chinese Theater owner Sid Grauman in 1946. Archival photo courtesy of Marc Wanamaker

Arcadia Publishing first approached California historian Marc Wanamaker as a supplier of images in the early 2000s.   ’By 2004, I was supplying a lot of pictures for many different books,’ Wanamaker tells the Palisadian-Post. ‘When they finally approached me for photos for a postcard book on movie studios, that was the last straw! So I talked to the editor and he said, ‘Why don’t you do some books with us on the subjects you want?” Four books later, ‘Hollywood 1940”2008’ (Arcadia Publishing), a compilation of vintage images and informative captions, courtesy of Wanamaker, captures every aspect of the world’s entertainment capital, from the glamorous to the mundane, from the residential to the presidential. Hollywood, of course, has evolved over the seven decades covered in Wanamaker’s book, which, for the most part, is a story told via its architecture. ‘I do not have a lot of people in my book,’ Wanamaker says. ‘It’s more about historical sites. The only place we really have people is in the restaurants and theaters.’ In ‘Hollywood,’ you’ll find all of the usual suspects”Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, the Brown Derby restaurant”but much more interesting to Wanamaker are images of the less obvious locations ‘which have never been printed, published or seen before.’ Those rarities include Castillo del Lago (circa 1960), which, in recent years, Madonna moved into but quickly abandoned under the claim that it was haunted; the French Village (photographed in 1939), a themed apartment building which used to exist on Highland Avenue; and the long-standing Universal News Agency newsstand (1947) at Las Palmas, which was shuttered just before ‘Hollywood’ reached the book stores last month. ‘There’s a lot of discovery in this book,’ Wanamaker says. ‘I was always finding something new.’ Arcadia Publishing’s ‘Images of America’ series occupies a unique niche in the historical-book market. Established in 1993, the South Carolina-based company today boasts a catalog of more than 5,000 titles with hundreds of new releases every year. Arcadia chronicles local history across all 50 states. For California, Arcadia has produced books as diverse as the people who populate our state: ‘Filipinos in Los Angeles,’ ‘Italians in Los Angeles,’ ‘Mexican Americans in Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach,’ ‘Early Amusement Parks of Orange County,’ ‘West Adams,’ ‘Pico Rivera’ and ‘The Port of Los Angeles.’ Other themes have focused on Chinatown, Angels Flight, Pacific Electric Red Cars, Dodger Stadium and the movie studios. Last year saw the release of ‘Brentwood’ (see ‘Brentwood: Then and Now,’ April 16, 2008, in our archives) and this summer will welcome a big surprise. But first, there’s Arcadia’s latest, in which Wanamaker brings back the glamour and sparkle of the entertainment capital of the world, from its heyday to present day. Despite the suggestion of the book’s title, Wanamaker has shunned presenting his material chronologically. Instead, he offers 10 diverse chapters, including ‘Parks and Recreations,’ ‘Film Studios,’ ‘Residences,’ ‘Hotels and Motels,’ ‘Restaurants and Nightclubs,’ ‘Radio and Television.’ Key landmarks turn up”Schwab’s Pharmacy (circa 1949), the Roosevelt Hotel (circa 1950), and Sunset and Vine, as does the 1941 premiere of ‘Citizen Kane’ at the original El Capitan Theater. Tiki freaks can enjoy the 1941 shot of Don the Beachcomber (home of such cocktails as Don’s Zombies and the Shark Tooth), while other images capture such local institutions as KTLA Studios over the decades. Elegant, old-Hollywood apartment towers, such as the El Royale on North Rossmore Avenue (once home to George Raft) and the Spanish Colonial-style Lido on Yucca Street (both pictured in 1944), underscore some of the distinctive architecture lingering in Hollywood today. Wanamaker, author of two Arcadia volumes on Beverly Hills and a pre-1940 Hollywood edition, has been archiving local history since 1971 and is based at Raleigh Studios, across from Paramount Pictures on Melrose Avenue, in the heart of Hollywood. ‘Bison Archives is a professional research library in Southern California and a specialty on the entertainment industry,’ he says of the niche company he founded. In ‘Hollywood,’ there’s a 1966 photo of the Whiskey-a-Go-Go on the Strip that dates back to when The Doors were the club’s house band. ‘I took that photo,’ Wanamaker reveals, fessing up to a previous career as a musician. ‘I was the road manager for Canned Heat. We did several concerts with the Doors. I got to know all three Doors. All except Jim Morrison. No one got to know Jim Morrison. He was too out there. He did not relate to people.’ Wanamaker says he befriended Ringo Starr and George Harrison. Evidently, not only does Hollywood’s topography change over the decades, but so do the careers of the people who study it. Wanamaker’s book ends on an interesting (and bittersweet) note with the chapter ‘Hollywood Redevelopment,’ stuffed with mid-1990s to 2000s shots of locations preserved, revamped and/or reopened, such as the Hollywood Boulevard at Edgemont (damaged by the 1994 Northridge earthquake) and the Avalon, which ABC originally bought for ‘The Jerry Lewis Show,’ starring the comedy legend who served as Pacific Palisades’ second honorary mayor in 1953. Robert Nudelman, Wanamaker’s ‘Early Hollywood’ co-author, was supposed to shoot recent photos for this chapter. He died as work on ‘Hollywood’ began, so Wanamaker hit the streets with his digital camera. Sure, places such as the Ambassador Hotel and the Mocambo will never again grace Los Angeles with their class and glamour. But at least Wanamaker has preserved their memories on paper for us. He’ll next deliver Arcadia’s books on Westwood (late 2009) and the San Fernando Valley (2010). Marc Wanamaker will sign copies of ‘Hollywood 1940-2008’ and conduct a slideshow presentation on Tuesday, June 9, 7 p.m., at Larry Edmunds Bookshop, 6644 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Contact: 323-463-3273. Visit Wanamaker’s Web site: www.bisonarchives.com

L.A. Met Debuts with Puccini’s ‘La Boheme’

Diana Briscoe (left), Gabriel Manro and Linda Jackson rehearsed Monday evening for their upcoming performance of “La Boheme” in Tauxe Hall at the Methodist Church in Pacific Palisades.

Little money, lots of imagination. This describes soprano recording artist Linda Jackson, who is launching the first production of the newly formed Los Angeles Metropolitan Opera ‘La Boh’me’ right here in her own community. The fully costumed opera will be presented on Friday, May 29 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 31, 3 p.m., in Tauxe Hall at the United Methodist Church, 801 Via de la Paz. Palisades resident Jackson, who sings the title role of Mimi, the consumptive flower girl in love with Rodolfo (tenor Gabriel Reoyo-Pazos), is eagerly awaiting the opening night of a dream come true. Moving seamlessly from popular music and gospel to classical and opera, Jackson has been mastering the grand opera repertoire. Over the last several years, she sang the principal roles of Donna Anna in ‘Don Giovanni’ the Countess in ‘Le Nozze di Figaro,’ Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus and the title role in Carmen. ‘When I told my stepmother Joy Jackson, a community leader in her own right in Atlanta, Georgia, about my plans to start an opera company,’ Jackson recalls, ‘she said, ‘Where is your theater? You need to find where, then the community will help you.’ She was right.’ Jackson dropped preconceived ideas of how it should be done”like forming a board of directors, searching for a performing space somewhere in the city”and trusted. With her shoestring budget but lots of talented friends and solid community support, she set a date. It was also fortunate that the Methodist church, where she teaches the children’s choir, had just remodeled Tauxe Hall, adding a five-ft. thrust apron to the raised stage, upgraded lighting, and a state-of-the-art sound system. The choice of the opera was easy. ‘I polled my students at the Santa Monica Emeritus College Opera Appreciation class, and they all wanted ‘La Boh’me,” says Jackson, who sees her job with the new company as providing an introduction to opera that is more accessible to beginning audiences. ‘We hope that we are providing a stepping stone”an in-between place”that leads to more appreciation and further study.’ Casting, too, fell into Jackson’s lap, in a manner of speaking. Tenor Reoyo-Pazos, who has appeared extensively in opera and oratorio in California, Florida and Spain, was eager to participate in Jackson’s project. ‘He said, ‘Linda, whatever opera you choose, I already have the cast,” Jackson recalls. As stage manager and set designer, Kirk Smith, who has a solid background as a soloist and as a director, thoroughly researched the libretto and decided to set the action in the early 1960s. ‘The action will still be in Paris,’ Smith explains, but updated to 1963. The flamboyancy of that period lends itself theatrically. Eschewing the wan, good-girl image of Mimi, Smith sees her in the Jean Shrimpton/Elizabeth Taylor mode, with the cinched waists, and slip dresses. The men”including the poet Rodolfo, the painter Marcello, and the philosopher Colline’bohemians all, will sport facial hair, mustaches and Van Dykes. Marcello will be a pop artist, Smith explains. Musetta, simply described as a singer at the Caf’ Mumus, will be dressed in a hot-pink outfit. Smith intends to use the stage as the bohemians’ garret. He has also blocked action in the audience space, allowing for the actors to climb up the stairs to the garret. Puccini’s opera in four acts essentially focuses on the love between Mimi and Rodolfo. They fall for each other, but complications arise, leading to Rodolfo leaving her because of her flirtatious behavior. As the consumptive Mimi declines in health, Rodolfo feels guilty and reunites with her for a brief moment before she dies. The opera will be sung in Italian with English super-titles, and it will be recorded by a Palisadian, audio designer Mark Schaffer. The company was co-founded by Ella Lee, who has been cited in Kurt Pahlan’s book, ‘Great Singers from the Seventeenth Century to the Present Day,’ as one of the world-class singers from the United States to gain prominence in European opera. Known as a dramatic soprano, she has sung the role of Aida more than 500 times. She has sung in hundreds of performances of Tosca, Ill Trovatore, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. ‘She is our artistic director and invaluable to me,’ Jackson says, who reported that Lee, who is Jackson’s voice coach, ‘passed my Mimi with an A,’ adding that her voice was just right for the role. ‘Many times, younger girls are chosen over voice,’ Jackson explains. ‘Mimi is the soprano’s dream role, but you need a hefty voice, and at times, I am going to let the dramatic voice soar.’ Jackson also appreciates Lee’s experience with opera companies, particularly Opera Pasadena, of which she is the founder and artistic director. ‘She knows cases of how it has been done before, having received advice and courage from her mentor Friedeland Wagner, whose grandfather was Richard Wagner,’ she says.   ’La Boh’me,’ with music director Galina Barskaya, also features Gabriel Manro as Marcello, Diana Briscoe as Musetta, David Hodgson as Shaunard, Herve Blanquart as Colline and Stanley Hunter singing the parts of Benoit and Alcindoro. For tickets ($20, general admission; $10, seniors), visit losangelesmet.com or call 310-459-9127. Doors for will-call open at 7:30 p.m. and 2:20 p.m.

Young Angels Helps Rescue Impoverished School

Image by Charles Bibbs
Image by Charles Bibbs

  For those looking for a multicultural event good for the whole family, Young Angels’ production of Rhythm & Moves is set for Saturday, May 23 at 2 p.m. at St. Eugene School, 9521 S. Hass Avenue.   Congolese band, Balobi Bandeko, tap legend Mark Goodman and Frit & Frat hip hop will provide the rhythm, served up with food from Veronica’s Fufuland and Flossie’s Southern Cuisine.   St. Eugene School in Inglewood saw the ABC’s on the wall as one student after another was told by their families that there was not enough money to pay even a reduced tuition next year. The largely Nigerian congregation wanted to help the kids and share their cultural heritage. Young Angels of America, a Palisades-based group of high school kids, helped turn the dream into a reality.   Young Angels of America is a community service organization that teaches affluent kids about event production and philanthropy. The group of teenagers decided to sponsor the event and approached African radio guru, Nnamdi Moweta of KPFK. They asked him to come to the rescue, and he did. For tickets ($20 online; $25 at the door, students, $15), visit steugeneschool.org.

Sugar Ray’s Latest Fight

Boxer Is Honored with Angel Award by Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

Arsenio Hall, Johnny Gill and Eddie Murphy strike boxing poses with Sugar Ray Leonard just before presenting his award at the JDRF Gala Tribute on May 7 at the Beverly Hilton.
Arsenio Hall, Johnny Gill and Eddie Murphy strike boxing poses with Sugar Ray Leonard just before presenting his award at the JDRF Gala Tribute on May 7 at the Beverly Hilton.
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer

Sugar Ray Leonard made a career of beating the odds. Now, he’s on a mission to win a fight far more important than any he had as a Hall of Fame boxer. It is a fight against diabetes–a disease that has afflicted millions of Americans, including his own father. Leonard, who lives near Riviera Country Club, has for many years served as the international chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s “Walk for a Cure” and on May 7 he was presented with the Angel Award during a Gala Tribute called “Finding a Cure: A Love Story” last Thursday at the Beverly Hilton. “I was a pretty tough fighter, but these kids are the true fighters, every day,” Leonard said in his acceptance speech. “Yes, I’m making another comeback, but not in the ring. This is a fight to knock out juvenile diabetes. And this is one fight we can all win.” Leonard’s 12-year-old daughter Camille, a sixth-grader at St. Matthew’s, introduced him to the gathering of donors, doctors and dinner guests. “A lot of people call Sugar Ray Leonard ‘champ.’ I just call him Papa,” she said. “He is an inspiration to me and I am proud that he is getting honored here tonight.” Then, comedian Arsenio Hall, singer Johnny Gill and actor Eddie Murphy took the stage to present Leonard with his award–one he is just as proud of as any he won as one of the world’s most adored and recognizable athletes. “It said that it takes dedication, intensity and grace to be a champion,” Hall said. “Well, Ray applies those same attributes to this foundation.” Leonard, who retired for good in 1997, won an Olympic gold medal in 1976 and went on to win world titles in five different weight classes. He was named “Fighter of the Decade” for the 1980s. Several other Palisadians were there, including longtime Palisades High football supporter Joe Spector and 16-year Highlands resident Jeff Wald, a boxing promoter and producer of “The Contender,” the reality television series which Leonard hosts. Also attending were John McNamee and his wife and Jody, who have a family member afflicted with the disease and expressed gratitude for Francine R. Kaufman, M.D., who was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award. McNamee coaches his two sons’ Palisades Pony Baseball Association’s Mustang Yankees team and is a big supporter of JDRF. Singer Kenny Loggins performed four songs to cap off the benefit, which raised $865,000 for diabetes research. Leonard signed a pair of boxing gloves and volunteered to play a round of golf at Riviera with a lucky winner at the evening’s live auction.

“Papa” Ready for Preakness

Bo Hirsch's thoroughbred Papa Clem will run in the Preakness Stakes this Saturday at Pimlico.
Bo Hirsch’s thoroughbred Papa Clem will run in the Preakness Stakes this Saturday at Pimlico.

After a strong fourth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby, Papa Clem will run in this Saturday’s Preakness Stakes, the horse’s owner Bo Hirsch confirmed Monday. Hirsch, who grew up in Pacific Palisades and still lives here, made the decision after watching the three-year-old bay colt battle to the wire in the “Run for the Roses,” finishing out of the money by merely a head. “He’s a very honest horse,” Hirsch said while packing for Tuesday afternoon’s flight to Maryland. “He got bumped around a bit in the Derby, otherwise he might have finished second. The weekend forecast is cloudy and clear so I’m hoping for a fast track so we all have a fair shot.” The field is expected to be one of the strongest at Pimlico in years and, barring scratches, will include the top four Kentucky Derby finishers, pre-Derby favorite Friesan Fire, seventh-place horse Join in the Dance and filly sensation Rachel Alexandra, fresh off her resounding victory in the Kentucky Oaks. “This race should favor some speed and it’s a dirt track (one and 3/16 miles), similiar to the Derby,” Hirsch said. “I’ll be disappointed if we don’t light up the board.” Post positions were drawn Wednesday and Papa Clem will start from Gate #7–the same place he started from in Kentucky. He started at 12-1 odds. The $1-million Preakness is the second jewel in horse racing’s Triple Crown. Start time is tentatively scheduled for 3:05 p.m. on NBC.

Pali Tennis Dethrones Taft

A Year After Half-Point Loss Dolphins Leave No Doubt in Semifinals Victory

Justin Atlan and the Dolphins aced their semifinal test against Taft on Tuesday, ending the fourth-seeded Toreadors' reign as section champions.
Justin Atlan and the Dolphins aced their semifinal test against Taft on Tuesday, ending the fourth-seeded Toreadors’ reign as section champions.

Palisades High’s boys’ tennis team had good reason to be confident heading into Tuesday’s City semifinal showdown against defending champion Taft. After all, the Dolphins had routed Taft at the Fresno Tournament back in March. However, in that match the Toreadors were without City Individual singles champion Josh Tchan, so Palisades was eager to prove its superiority even with Taft’s top player in the lineup. The top-seeded Dolphins did that and then some, crushing the Toreadors 25 to 4 1/2, ending Taft’s two-year reign and exorcising the demons of last year’s half-point loss in the finals. “It wasn’t in the finals but at least we got to play them again and the score speaks for itself,” said Palisades’ senior captain Jeremy Shore, who teamed with Brandon Clark to sweep at #1 doubles. “We’re better than we were last year and we’ve had them on our radar all season.” Taft Coach Tom Wright strangely opted to move Tchan down to doubles, hoping he and partner Sergio Valenzuela could pick up 4 1/2 points by winning their three sets, 1/2 more than the four points Tchan would have earned by sweeping four singles sets. However, the strategy backfired when Shore and Clark beat the Taft tandem, 7-6 (7-4 in the tiebreaker). “I’m not sure why he did that,” Palisades Coach Bud Kling said of his counterpart’s decision to play Tchan in doubles. “It was odd because Josh hasn’t played doubles all season. I’m not sure the potential reward was worth the risk.” Even had the ploy worked it would not have been nearly enough to save the Toreadors, who did not earn a point in 16 single sets and won only three of nine doubles sets. Justin Atlan swept, 6-2, 6-0, 6-0, 6-0, at #1 singles, Oliver Thornton swept, 6-1, 6-0, 6-0, 6-0, at #2 singles, Max Licona swept, 6-1, 6-2, 6-0, 6-2, at #3 singles and Kyung Choi swept, 6-0, 6-0, 6-2, 6-0, at #4 singles for Palisades, which advanced to Thursday’s final against third-seeded Granada Hills at Balboa Tennis Center in Encino.

PaliHi Students Meet A Former Child Soldier

Bukeni Waruzi, executive director of Ajedi-Ka (a nonprofit organization that demobilizes child soldiers) talks to Palisades Charter High School students about his work and explains how they can help. Photo: Maya Myers
Bukeni Waruzi, executive director of Ajedi-Ka (a nonprofit organization that demobilizes child soldiers) talks to Palisades Charter High School students about his work and explains how they can help. Photo: Maya Myers

Gazing out at nearly 500 Palisades Charter High School students, Madeleine spoke shyly and in nearly perfect English. Her first words: ‘I am a former child soldier.’ Madeleine, whose last name was not released for security purposes, shared her experiences as a child soldier in the Democratic Republic of Congo when she spoke in Mercer Hall on April 28 as part of a tour organized by the Human Rights Watch Student Task Force. The Los Angeles-based HRWSTF, launched in 1999, brings high school students together to advocate for children’s rights around the world. Madeleine, now 18, spent three years in a Mai-Mai militia group, which recruited her at the age of 11. She was released from the militia thanks to Bukeni Waruzi, the executive director of Ajedi-Ka, a nonprofit organization that demobilizes, rehabilitates and reintegrates child soldiers into society. Waruzi, who also spoke at the assembly, brought Madeleine to a transition center before she rejoined her parents. He later asked her to speak out internationally about her experiences as a child soldier, though doing so made it too dangerous for her to return home. She now attends school in New York City, where she is a junior and has plans to study international justice in college. Hani Tajsar, a PaliHi junior and president of the school’s chapter of HRWSTF, met Madeleine in New York City in February as part of the Red Hand Campaign, which sought to encourage world leaders to take action against the use of child soldiers. Youth from around the world met with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and presented a book containing 250,000 red hands representing individual protesters. PaliHi collected about 2,600 of those hands. Tajsar, 16, said he was glad Madeleine could visit the school so that his peers could also hear her story. She spent one week in Los Angeles, visiting schools such as Crossroads, Santa Monica High, Valencia High and Marlborough. ‘This news doesn’t get that much media attention,’ Tajsar said. ‘It’s good to make the students aware of the issues around the world.’ Waruzi showed the students part of his 2005 documentary ‘A Duty to Protect,’ which he directed and produced in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He decided to make the documentary because he wanted to raise awareness through the child soldiers’ powerful stories. ‘I could have written a book about it, but I wanted to have the rough voices of the kids,’ Waruzi said. The documentary follows 15-year-old Mafille, who spent 1′ years in an armed group, and 16-year-old January, who has been in a militia group for six years and has earned the rank of sergeant first class. While Mafille was raped and does not want to return to the militia group, January describes a different experience in which she feels a sense of pride for her service. Madeleine used to be friends with January, so she had difficulty watching the documentary during the school tours. More than 20,000 children have been recruited to armed groups in the Congo, and Waruzi has demobilized more than 300 of them. The militia groups promote violence and substance abuse. They set up camp far from town centers, which makes it difficult for children to leave. In addition, the children have to sleep outside and do not have access to medical care. Waruzi brings the kids to a transition center before they are reintegrated back into society, often returning to their families. Many of these former child soldiers do not have the resources to return to school, Waruzi said. In the Congo, parents have to pay for their child’s education from kindergarten through university. One year of primary school costs about $150 a year, including fees, books and tuition. To help, PaliHi’s HRWSTF is hosting a spare-change fundraiser for Ajedi-Ka and another nonprofit organization in Colombia that demobilizes child soldiers. ‘Even with our spare change, we can make a difference,’ said PaliHi art teacher Angelica Pereyra, who helped found the school’s HRWSTF chapter 10 years ago. She and Spanish teacher Sandra Martin oversee the club. Pereyra hopes PaliHi is able to raise enough money to support the education of at least two former child soldiers. Madeleine also encouraged the students to write letters to their senators and representatives advocating change. ‘This country is very powerful,’ she said. ‘The youth are very powerful.’ Junior Joshua Pandy gave Madeleine a poem he wrote called ‘Fight for Your Life’ to thank her for visiting. A video of the assembly will be available on the HRWSTF Web site www.hrwstf.org along with a copy of Pandy’s poem.

Fire Service Day Draws Large Crowds

Matthew Kadenacy likes the feel of manning a fire truck at Fire Service Recognition Day last Saturday at Fire Station 69. More than 1,000 visitors enjoyed free hot dogs and watched demonstrations that included firefighter Marc Samana jumping from an aerial ladder into air bag. In addition, Rich Wilken was recognized as the town’s new honorary fire chief.

Wellness Community Honors Elyse and David Walker

David and Elyse Walker at the Wellness Community banquet. Photo: Vince Bucci
David and Elyse Walker at the Wellness Community banquet. Photo: Vince Bucci

Since opening in 1912, the Beverly Hills Hotel has remained the crown jewel of glamour and class among the city’s hospitality establishments. After all, notable guests have included everyone from Howard Hughes, Rudolph Valentino, Greta Garbo and Mary Pickford, to John and Jacqueline Kennedy, The Beatles and Brad and Angelina Jolie Pitt. Add another power couple to the list: David and Elyse Walker. Pacific Palisades-based clothing retailer Elyse Walker, with her eponymous flagship store on Antioch, and her 2008 sequel, the adjoining Elyse Walker Men, has all but put the Palisades on the fashion world map. Last Thursday, she and her husband, David, a real estate investor, were honored at the Beverly Hills Hotel by The Wellness Community’West Los Angeles (TWC-WLA), an organization dedicated to providing support, education and hope to people affected by cancer. The tribute took place at the nonprofit’s 11th Annual Tribute to the Human Spirit Awards gala. Elyse and David were honored for their continued support and fundraising for research, treatment and cures for breast cancer, and they follow a distinguished roster of honorees: ‘Spider-Man’ movie producer Laura Ziskin, actors Alec Baldwin (’30 Rock’) and Eric McCormack (‘Will & Grace’), actress Katherine Heigl (‘Grey’s Anatomy’), and former Palisades honorary mayor Steve Guttenberg (‘Cocoon’). Elyse Walker’s Pink Parties have, in four years, raised $3.7 million toward breast-cancer research at Cedars-Sinai Women’s Cancer Research Institute, where David Walker serves on the board of governors. Saluted at the affair, alongside the Walkers: long-time TWC-WLA supporters Hella and Chuck Hershson; and Nigel Lythgoe, co-creator and executive producer of ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ and executive producer of seven seasons of ‘American Idol,’ as well as the award-winning charity-fest television special ‘Idol Gives Back.’ ‘Each of our honorees are extraordinary role models and dedicated supporters,’ said Ellen Silver, executive director of TWC-WLA. ‘The impact of their contributions is immeasurable.’ Actress Marilu Henner emceed the gala. ‘What I love about the Wellness Community,’ the ‘Taxi’ actress told the Palisadian-Post, ‘is that they don’t just focus on a cure, but on the total picture.’ Elyse Walker began throwing her annual Pink Party, a high-profile mix of celebrity and fashion, in memory of her mother, Barbara Yvonne Feder, who lost her struggle with ovarian cancer in 1989 at the tender age of 42. Prior to the banquet, Elyse explained to the Post how she was moved to organize her event after hearing a talk by Maria Shriver. ‘It was the most beautiful, most motivating speech I ever heard,’ she said. Last year, actress Jennifer Garner, currently starring in the romantic comedy ‘Ghosts of Girlfriends Past’ (and, as of mere weeks, a Pacific Palisades resident) top-lined the Pink Party. This year’s fundraiser is scheduled for September 12. David Walker, president and co-founder of the JRK Birchmont Investment Fund, told the Post that he felt ‘honored to be a part of this event and all of the goodness that the Wellness Community does.’ Originally from Queens, New York, the Tulane University graduate moved to Los Angeles in 1996. He and Elyse, who met at a New York bar, love living in Pacific Palisades, where they reside with sons Ryan, 17, and Kevin, 15. ‘It’s the best place on Earth,’ David said. Ryan Walker, who DJs at Bergamot Station and other Westside locations as one half of Tree Frog, with his buddy Scott Cohen, said that his parents’ honor was ‘very cool,’ and that his mother ‘knows how to balance things.’ From the dais, Henner, an author of eight books about life and fitness, proved a game and enthusiastic hostess. She also noted that after two failed marriages, she had wed Michael Brown, ‘my college roommate’s boyfriend.’ He’s a two-time cancer survivor (bladder and lung), and a keeper, she said, observing that ‘Marriage is like cooking waffles. You throw the first ones out!’ Onstage, David Walker paid tribute to his wife who was standing next to him. ‘I do not have to look very far for my inspiration,’ David said, as he gazed into his wife’s eyes, ‘for all I have to do is look at Elyse.’ Joking that he was merely Elyse’s ‘trophy husband,’ David praised his wife as ‘a fundraising juggernaut,’ the way she masterminds her Pink Party events. ‘There is no more deserving person than my wife.’ Elyse, in an emotional speech, paid loving tribute to her mother and added how appropriate it was that this event fell on the week of Mother’s Day, as ‘The Pink Party is me honoring my mother.’ Elyse was about to leave the podium when a thought crossed her mind. She pivoted back, grabbed the microphone, and, directing her comment at the emcee, she quipped, ‘Marilu, I’m going to keep my first round of waffles!’ For information on the Wellness Community, visit www.twc-wla.org.

Revere’s Music Department Wins Petrick Educator Award

Music teachers at Paul Revere Charter Middle School, (left to right) Vanessa (Ling) Dokko, Yosuke Miyoshi and Lara Jacques are the recipients of a Lori Petrick Excellence in Education Award.
Music teachers at Paul Revere Charter Middle School, (left to right) Vanessa (Ling) Dokko, Yosuke Miyoshi and Lara Jacques are the recipients of a Lori Petrick Excellence in Education Award.
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer

The three members of Paul Revere Middle School’s Music Department’Lara Jacques, Vanessa (Ling) Dokko and Yosuke Miyoshi’have received a 2008-2009 Lori Petrick Excellence in Education Award. The award, which includes a $2,000 stipend, is given annually by the Palisades Charter Schools Foundation to educators within the Palisades Charter Complex. The four other 2009 winners will be profiled in upcoming issues. Judges selected the three music teachers because ‘of their inspiring interaction with, and the large number of students [600] they reach.’ When this reporter visited a recent joint planning period, it soon became obvious why music classes are popular at Revere: the teachers’ enthusiasm and esprit de corps were infectious. Between the three, they teach 18 performing groups (four of which meet during lunch). Band students, taught by Miyoshi, can participate in drum line, beginning winds, jazz band, and intro, senior or advanced band. Jacques instructs beginning strings, orchestra (including intro, senior and advanced). She also teaches symphony and chamber orchestras. Vocalists and choirs are Dokko’s expertise and include sixth-grade and mixed choir, show and concert choirs, Revere Singers and Madrigals. The three are not 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. teachers. Dokko and Miyoshi stayed after school and evenings to make live music possible for last weekend’s spring musical ‘Bugsy Malone.’ In late March, they joined with Jacques to take 150 students to the Heritage Festival in the San Francisco Bay area. At the festival, the band and choir won a silver award and the orchestra received a gold. ‘We all did really well, especially for a first time,’ said Jacques, who also accompanied the students on a tour of the UC Berkeley campus. In order to make the trip possible, the teachers helped organize donation drives, bake sales, and holiday wreaths for sale. During a Holiday Stroll in the business district last December, student groups played music and sang for tips. Miyoshi also assisted Palisades High band teacher Arwen Hernandez in last year’s Pacific Palisades Fourth of July parade. Jacques, who has a 12-year-old daughter in Revere’s vocal program, started teaching at the school in 1994. ‘I was an Army brat and lived all over the United States and Europe,’ said Jacques, who graduated from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in clarinet performance and a master’s degree in education. Currently, she’s working on a second master’s, with an emphasis in conducting, by taking a three-summer program at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. Jacques began teaching orchestra in 1998 and has applied to take the Revere orchestra to the National Orchestra Festival in Santa Clara in early June. Dokko grew up in West Covina and graduated from UCLA in 2003 with a B.A. in music education. She was student teaching at Revere when the choir teacher, Jan Smith, retired. Dokko applied for the job and was hired. Originally she had planned to teach elementary and preschool and wasn’t quite sure about middle school. ‘I was scared at first, but I got to know the kids really well and the staff was supportive,’ said Dokko, who married in June. At UCLA, Dokko and Miyoshi lived three doors from each other in a dorm. Miyoshi, who plays trombone, was in the UCLA marching and pep band. ‘I went to Alabama for football games and Michigan, North Carolina and Minnesota for basketball games,’ he said. ‘We also got to record music for two movie sound tracks.’ Miyoski graduated in 2004 with a B.A. in music trombone performance and a teaching credential and started his career at Santana High School in Santee. He taught a year before coming to Revere. ‘I was unsure about middle school,’ he said. ‘Now I enjoy it more than high school.’ Teaching in a public school can have its disadvantages, like having to rely on a 50-year-old timpani that is beyond repair and a 30-year-old piano that needs to be replaced, but somehow the teachers continue to be upbeat. When asked what they’d like to see changed, Jacques instantly responded, ‘I’d like more double basses; mine are kind of ratty.’ Miyoshi added, ‘We’d all like to see Vanessa [Dokko] have a new piano.’ Revere students range from eager beginners to those who have taken private lessons since they were five. As diverse as the teachers’ personalities are, a common thread unites them. ‘We’re all musicians,’ Jacques said. ‘We have a passion for the same things.’ Dokko said, ‘We’re all flexible. Musicians have the same mentality and are able to work together without an ego.’ Miyoshi added, ‘We all do the same job and all have the same goals.’ They are also generous with their praise, crediting the strength of the award-winning program not only to the current administration’s support, but to the 50-year music tradition at Revere.