By Shuhei Matsuo John Stein has had many successes in his advertising career, but he now can add an accomplishment just as impressive to his resume. He is now officially an author. Driven by his passion for motorcycles, the 15-year Pacific Palisades resident published his first book, “World’s Fastest Motorcycle: The Day The Bonneville Salt Stood Still,” on August 31, thus fulfilling one of his lifelong goals. Stein will discuss his book and autograph copies for guests at Village Books on Swarthmore Avenue next Wednesday, October 24, at 7:30 p.m. Stein’s talents as a creative thinker and writer have always served him well in his advertising career. In 1988, he founded Stein Robaire Helm, which was named the West’s fastest growing agency in three years. In 1995, he founded Band of Gypsies, a creative consulting firm that has developed campaigns for a number of famous companies such as K-Swiss, Baja Fresh, HealthNet and UPN. He now serves the firm as the president. While Stein has worked on just about every kind of product imaginable, cars and motorcycles are where his passion lies. Over the years, he has created advertisements for Nissan, Volkswagen, Peugeot, Isuzu, Suzuki, Daewoo and Porsche as well as Honda, Yamaha, and Indian Motorcycles. So one day, he decided to write a book about his life’s passion. “I’ve always done advertising as a profession and I’ve always been with motorcycles as a hobby,” Stein says. “Ever since I was 12 or 13, I’ve been fascinated by them.” In “World’s Fastest Motorcycle,” Stein journeys the Bonneville Salt Flats to chronicle the history of motorcycle land speed racing and the monumental 2006 BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials, where three of the sport’s leaders campaigned for world record honors. Stein uses his advertising creativity in the book, which includes over 200 photographs and gives readers an opportunity to experience the triumphs and failures of landspeed racing alongside the fastest men in the world. Stein began writing his book about two years ago and despite the amount of information he had to cover, he says finishing it was “not that hard.” “I knew there would be information in old magazines or books,” he says. “I knew because people are so passionate about it, it wouldn’t be difficult to get them to talk. It’s not like they are hiding anything, but they are only too happy to talk about it.” Sure, interviewing those motorcyclists may have been easy, but that is only one part of publishing a book. What about the writing part? “To me it was like doing a college term paper,” Stein admits. “But just 50 times more because of the amount of the tale.” Still, Stein claims the whole process wasn’t hard to do because he knew he had a good idea. “It was just a function of hours and determination,” he says. However, Stein faced the most difficult time during the process when he lost months’ worth of work on his computer. He abandoned the project for about a month but decided to get back into it once he realized there was nothing he could do to get the lost work back. Finally, after two years of writing, Stein has a sense of satisfaction from publishing his first book and says the experience taught him an important life lesson. “Maybe it sounds like a cliche, but if you set your sights on doing something and just keep at it, the chances are very good that you’ll do it,” he says. “If you have an idea, go for it.” His wife Marilyn, is an L.A. native, plays volleyball four times a week and also teaches special education at a local school. He has a son, Nick, 26, who is learning to be a film editor and a daughter, Liz, 23, who works in advertising sales at MTV. In some ways, Stein says, writing a book is similar to racing a motorcycle in that both require the utmost discipline and determination. “These are larger-than-life guys that are kind of like in the Wild West,” he says. “You know, like an Olympian, ‘I want to be the fastest man in the world, not second or third,’ and they do it. That’s really great.” Although he has 25 motorcycles at his house, including a 50cc Grand Prix roadracer, Stein says he doesn’t ride them very often for safety reasons. Yet he has always been fascinated by them, and they are one of the reasons he moved to Southern California 20 years ago. “If you are into theater, you go to New York,” says Stein, a native of St. Louis. “But if you are into cars and motorcycles, some of the most talented, knowledgeable people are around here [in Southern California].” A stereotypical image of Southern California, especially areas like Pacific Palisades, might be someone driving a fancy car along the beach. And it is true that many people in the Palisades do drive fancy cars, but they know about their cars, Stein says. “In the Palisades you see a lot of beautiful cars, but there are also several people who are what I call ‘gear heads,’ meaning that for them it’s not just about driving a fancy car, it’s about actually knowing how to take it apart,” Stein explains. “There is an interesting collection of people around here who really do know about their cars. They can’t just write a check, but they know how to take it apart. So I found this interesting and surprising.” A “gear head” from Pacific Palisades has got his thoughts together and published a book on motorcycles. What’s his next goal? “When I went to Bonneville [in the beginning of September], I had one gentleman approach me about maybe doing some television, related to the same subject,” Stein says. “And I had other interesting books related to this, maybe biographies of some of these people, as opposed to this more general book about this subject.” Published by Parker House Publishing, World’s Fastest Motorcycle is available at Village Books, 1049 Swarthmore. (Editor’s note: Shuhei Matsuo is a senior journalism major at Pepperdine and sports editor of the student newspaper, The Graphic).

Dolphins Beat Hami in League Opener, Halt a Four-Game Road Losing Streak

It was only one game, but for a Palisades squad that had lost four in a row, Friday afternoon’s 21-14 victory over Hamilton might just as well have been the Super Bowl. Not only did it give the team some much-needed confidence, it also vaulted the Dolphins into a share of first place in the Western League. “I’m pleased as punch but we have a long way to go,” PaliHi Head Coach Kelly Loftus told his players in the team huddle after the game. “We have a long way to go and a statement to make.” Palisades had the worst record of any of the league’s six teams going into Friday’s opener. Now the Dolphins find themselves not at the bottom, but the top–and they intend to stay there. “Our new motto is ‘Keep it rolling,'”‘ Loftus said. “It starts at practice Monday through Thursday and hopefully carries over to Friday night.” Up next for the Dolphins is Fairfax (4-2), which also opened league play with a win. The junior varsity game kicks off at 4 p.m., followed by the varsity at 7 p.m. Just like it had at Reseda the week before, Palisades marched downfield for a touchdown on its opening drive Friday, setting the tone for a hard-hitting, physical game that was dominated by the defenses. “Getting that first score was huge because it showed we could play with them,” Loftus said. “Our offense got us the lead in the first half and our defense kept us in the lead in the second half. Even though we lost last week I thought we started playing better and that effort carried over to today.” Leading 21-7 at halftime, the Dolphins (2-4) forced a three-and-out on Hamilton’s first possession of the third quarter, but Pali’s offense was unable to capitalize. The Yankees’ defense also buckled down and when Joe Berman’s punt was blocked and recovered by Hamilton at Pali’s 24-yard-line early in the fourth quarter, the Dolphins’ lead looked in jeopardy. Their defense stiffened, however, and Hamilton turned the ball over on downs. “That was a huge turning point in the game,” Loftus said afterwards. “If they score there they get the momentum and anything can happen.” Hamilton (3-3) pulled to within a touchdown on a desperation 29-yard touchdown pass with 35 seconds left, but Palisades recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock.

Although she may not possess the “Midas Touch,” Palisadian Haley Jorgensborg certainly knows how to get the best out of her players. And in a team sport such as volleyball, that trait is worth its weight in gold. Since Jorgensborg took over as head coach of the Corpus Christi girls squad last year, the Condors have seemingly forgotten what it’s like to lose. The latest example came Saturday at the Rider Cup tournament, where Corpus won every game en route to the championship at Paul Revere Middle School. The Condors were clicking on all cylinders from the moment the first ball was struck, even winning one game 11-0 on the ace serving of Courtney Levan. She also served an ace on championship point. In an interesting twist, the Corpus varsity had to play the Corpus JV in the semifinals. With a roster full of local players, the Condors have been on a roll since winning the American Martyrs Mustangs tournament September 15 in Manhattan Beach. Jorgensborg, herself a Corpus grad who went on to play volleyball at Marymount High and UCLA, has molded a talented group of girls into a cohesive unit on the floor. The Condors consist of eighth-graders Levan, Christine Irvin, Lanti Moye-McClaren, Meghan Middleton, Erica Wahlgren, Lauren Waters, Sophie Zaloom, Izzy Desantis and Lucy Tilton and seventh-graders Katie Kaufman, Annie McCroskey and Ariel Wilbur.

Even without All-City hitter Alex Lunder in its lineup, the Palisades High girls volleyball team was a contender for the City Section title. Now that Lunder is back on the floor the Dolphins may just be the team to beat. Palisades certainly played that way on Monday, needing just over 35 minutes to dispatch visiting University, 25-6, 25-11, 25-9. Lunder pounded eight kills and showed little rust in her second full match back from a sprained ankle injury that had sidelined her for a month. That bodes well for the Dolphins heading into today’s showdown at first-place Venice which will likely determine the Western League champion. “I think we’re playing really well,” Lunder said. “We beat Venice in their tournament [September 22] but I’m not sure how much that will count. The deciding factor is to beat them now.” Venice beat Palisades in five games on October 1 in the first of two league meetings. The Gondos also have home-court advantage for today’s contest. “We have to beat them more decisively than they beat us,” Lunder said. “They beat us by two points in the fifth game so hopefully we can take them in four [games] this time.” Venice coach Allen Hunt knows what to expect from Palisades and doesn’t plan to change his lineup or do anything different. “No, we play our game no matter what,” Hunt said. “Sometimes it’s good enough, sometimes it’s not. When we take care of our side of the court we’re fine.” Outside hitter Laura Goldsmith had nine kills and Teal Johnson had four blocks for the Dolphins, who raced to early leads in each game against the Wildcats and rotated players in and out constantly to keep everyone sharp. Palisades hosted Santa Monica in an intersectional match on Wednesday (result unavailable at press time) to make up a match that was postponed in September. As well as the Dolphins’ varsity is playing, the junior varsity looks even more unstoppable. Pali’s JV squad is undefeated this season and won the Sylmar Tournament last weekend in dominating fashion. The Dolphins beat Lancaster, Granada Hills and Eagle Rock in pool play (winning seven of eight games in the process), then beat L.A. Baptist in the quarterfinals and Gabrielino in the semifinals before routing host Sylmar in the finals.

Palisades Tennis Center juniors continue to dominate in tournament competition throughout Southern California this season. Palisades Elementary student Harry Cohen won the 10-and-under division of the 11th annual Beverly Hills Tennis Classic last weekend at the Beverly Hills Tennis Center. Cohen did not drop a set in four matches, defeating Brandon Yeshoua of Tarzana, 6-1, 6-1, in the first round; Nathan Benyowitz of Los Angeles, 7-6, 6-3, in the quarterfinals; top-seeded Samuel Feit of Los Angeles, 6-4, 6-2, in the semifinals; and Cirus Bry of Santa Monica, 6-3, 6-1, in the finals. In the Rancho Cienega Tournament, PTC juniors Derek Vincent, Cole Pilar and Zavin Davidian swept the top three spots in the Boys 8s division, with Vincent the champion, Pilar a finalist and Davidian winning the third-place match. “It’s amazing how hard the kids at the PTC are working,” said PTC Pro Chris Harradine. “At every tournament, you now see Palisades Tennis Center shirts everywhere. The PTC is clearly one of the nation’s best hubs for tennis.” Playing in the 12s division, PTC player Brandon Michaels reached the finals of the K-Swiss Masters Tournament. Along the way, he beat Henry Gordon and Chase Lipscomb of Irvine before losing to Southern California’s No. 2-ranked player, Maxwell Cancilla, 6-2, 6-2. Another PTC player, Josh Rosen, is now No. 1 in the Section in the Boys 10s division.