May 8, 2020

Gary Trudeau has been running old strips from the '90s, but they still crack me up.  This one reminds me of my pal Tom LaShell, who says, "I got a good education at San Diego State.  It could have been gooder."

A series of stunning color photos of JFK's visit to San Diego State in 1963 popped up on Facebook this week.  I've transferred the images to my website.  Click HERE to check them out.   Feel free to fill in names and locations.  Some Colts may see their SDSC Faculty parents in the photos.  I'm in the photo of the west side of Aztec Bowl with 8000 of my closest friends.

I'm normally indifferent to travel photos, but this week's New York Times piece about Madagascar knocked my socks off.  Click HERE if you'd like to check it out.

Dorian MacDougall is a 1970 Helix High grad, who had many Colts as childhood friends: Craig and Neil Johnston, Don and John MacArthur, and Harvi, Scott and Cheri Malone to name a few.  He's written a fascinating and fun tale of Southern California history in his book California Pop.  He's got Paul Harvey The Rest of the Story takes on everything from Architecture to Surfing.  You can order the book on Amazon.  I got a kick out of his drag race at 54th and Trojan.  He lost the race AND got a speeding ticket.  The winner disappeared into the mist.

Here's another pictographic map from Cap'n Dick Cloward.  It's a 1935 Recreational Map of San Diego.  Click HERE for a big map.

No Pacer this week.  Instead I'm sharing the ASB Sample Ballot from 60 years ago -- May 3, 1960.  Click HERE to see an enlarged version.

Eve Gumpel '73

October 1, 1955 - May 5, 2020

Tom Arsulich '77

October 18, 1959 - April 5, 2020

May 1, 2020

Happy May Day!!  Did we ever frolic around the May Pole like the college students below at the the old Normal School on Park Blvd where Alice Birney is today?  Actually, I guess it was on Normal Street, which -- unlike the Normal School -- is still there.  Yes, I DID know that the Normal School moved east and became San Diego State College.

This reminds me of Betty Alexander, my typing teacher at either Horace Mann or Crawford or possibly Summer School at Hoover.  She was also the Girls' Vice Principal at Hale Junior High my first year as a teacher.  I restarted the student newspaper there and, after a lot of work with the kids, got out the first issue and put one in every faculty member's mailbox.  The next day Betty had returned HER copy, with each and every error marked in red.  Sadly, I've been doing the same thing to others these many years.  You can take the teacher out of the classroom . . .

Ken Kramer is back with new episodes of About San Diego.  Last night's show had a nice visit with Gary Mitrovich '76 in the neighborhood where his grandfather Hamlet ran a turkey farm.  It was located at 53rd and Meade, long before Horace Mann or Crawford would have been downwind.  Ginny Sanderson Dahlen '60 shared a nice photo of the tie her father picked up at the 1935 Exposition in Balboa Park.  Jeannie Berger Passenheim '60 was one of the folks whose sunset photo was shared.

The show repeats on Sunday at 4 PM and Monday -- on KPBS2 -- at 8 PM

An interesting article in the New York Times about the challenges facing those who interpret for the deaf during the daily television updates on the COVID-19 pandemic.  Click HERE to check it out.

It's been awhile, but a stunning old photo recently popped up on Facebook.  It's a gorgeous shot of Mission Valley taken by the great Lee Passmore, and submitted by his great-grandson,  I believe it was taken from where the Presidio now stands, probably during the great flood of 1916.  Click HERE to see an enlargement.

What were YOU doing on February 6, 1983?  Channel 8 was at the Campus Drive-In on the theater's last night.  Click HERE to watch the video.

Remember a couple of weeks ago I mentioned the packet of Colt Memorabilia I received in the mail from Jo Burchill Skibby '59?  It included the first three copies of the Pacer, two of which I already had.  Click HERE to read Volume I, No. 3, from November 26, 1957.

Roy Boughton ’59 was born in San Diego on June 7, 1941.  He married his high school sweetheart Holly Wensinger on June 25, 1960, the day after she graduated from Crawford.  He died of heart failure on March 31, 2020 in Mesa, Arizona where they moved in 1993.  His love of Arizona grew out of a visit to Jerome in the early ‘60s and blossomed when he moved to Mesa.  Roy retired as the Executive Director of the Page Chamber of Commerce and the John Wesley Powell Museum to travel across America, exploring every back street and dirt road along to way. Roy never met a stranger and was loved by everyone who knew him for his quick wit and generous heart.

Jerome Zottolo ’62 was born and lived in San Diego, the second child of Vito and Virginia Zottolo. He passed away April 15, 2020.  He learned the value of hard work as a teen during the summer months by accompanying his father on his tuna boat at a time when San Diego was named the fishing capital of the world.  Pleasant memories are of him taking his younger siblings to weekly family beach picnics and other city events.  After graduating from Crawford and serving in the National Guard, he settled into the occupation of a truck driver with GI Trucking for about 45 years.   He is survived by, among others, his siblings Marco, Maryann, and Frank.

April 24, 2020

Did you get your Stimulus Check yet?  All of my friends did, but not me.  Luckily, Google pointed me to the official IRS site, which asked me three questions:  Social Security Number, Date of Birth, and Street Address.  It only took me three tries to Ace this test.  My check is supposed to be direct deposited today.  Click HERE if you still haven't gotten yours and want to know when it might arrive.

Did you ever hang out at Chollas Lake?  This photo was on the front page of Wednesday's Union-Tribune in a story about some of the local parks reopening.  I was intrigued at the Canada goose taking flight at the center of the shot.

Dick Cloward '60 has sent me some samples from his map collection, which I hope to share.  I'm starting with one called Ashore in San Diego.  It was given to recruits at the Naval Training Center on the occasion of their first liberty.  This one was sent home by Victor Green on September 3, 1945.  Click HERE to see it enlarged and to read all about it.

Here are a couple of items from the Memories Page.

Here's a page from an Oscar's menu someone absconded with around 1963.  Click HERE if you'd like to peruse the entire menu.  

A snapshot of Campus Lab School chums at Bob Richardson's 11th birthday in 1954.  One went on to Hoover and two to Helix.  Click HERE for a larger view of this motley crew -- with names.

It's two weeks late, but here's the Pacer for April 8, 1965 -- 55 years ago.  Click HERE to read all six pages.

Regina Carey ’69, a native of San Diego and longtime San Rafael resident, passed away on March 22, 2020. A graduate of the University of California, San Diego, Regina was active in national and local Democratic Party politics. She was a Marin County Delegate to the Democratic National Convention of 2008 and an alternate delegate to the 2012 Democratic Convention. She was deeply invested and engaged in the struggles for the rights of under-represented people and the beautiful dignity of International indigenous people. Regina was a loving and devoted friend to many.

Beverly Martin Washington ’74 passed away on March 23, 2020

April 17, 2020

I assume you know that scientists can learn about climate history by studying tree rings.  Harry Bliss shares "The Rings of my Regret"

Remember when downtown was where you went to get replacement parts for the family sedan?  I posted a couple of Howard Rozelle aerials on Facebook, and Tom Giaquinto responded with two really neat street shots from the San Diego Police Museum.  Click HERE to see all four photos.

I'm not sure if it's the Spring Fashion Issue, but the April 16, 1970 Pacer does have 6-pages.  Click HERE to check it out.  Turns out, according to the paper, Crawford got its first Coke machines 50 years ago this month.

It's been a LONG time since I've shared the 1960 del Potrillo literary magazine sent in by Richard Cloward. (Potrillo is Spanish for -- drumroll, please -- Colt)  Click HERE to peruse each page.  Make sure you read the backstory on the cover photograph and the involvement of Bob Richardson and Mike Roberts, whose photos were reversed in the publication.   Bob is a frequent contributor to the Fry Day missives and Mike is a San Diego attorney.

Jo Burchill Skibby '59 sent me a packet of Colt memorabilia.  Ironically there were three clippings about the untimely passing of Glenn Carraway, Jr. '59 60 years ago this week.  Click HERE if you'd like to see them

April 10, 2020

The Stephen Bishop on-line concert has been cancelled.  I'll keep you posted if I learn anything.

Speaking of learning things:  I learned last week that the word quarantine comes from the Italian quaranta giorni -- the 40 days ships in Venice were required to sit at anchor during the 14th century plague.

Also, I learned that on April 2, 1958 San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen coined the term beatnik.  It was apparently a conflation of the Beat Generation and the recently-launched Sputnik.  

Here's another T-Shirt from Paula Kincaid.  It might be the last.  I'm not sure

I LOVE the rich tones of early Kodachrome film.  This shot of a Rosie the Aircraft Engine Assembler at North American illustrated a recent New York Times article on how WWII brought us out of the Great Depression.

Let's don't talk about who dropped the ball, but the photos of the Class of '64's August 24th reunion, sent to me by Charlene Krebsbach Clark, have finally been posted.  Click HERE to check them out.

Debbie Nichols Poulos '63 has asked me to tell you about her latest book.  You can read more about it, and order a copy, on Amazon.

Somewhere in the bowels of the New York Times they've got a 7th Grader writing headlines.  Click HERE if you'd actually like to read the article.

Remember when I-15 across Mission Valley was still called Ward Road.  Here's a Facebook photo that appears to date to about 1940.  Click HERE to see it enlarged and also read a 1908 article about a new Rural Free Delivery mail route that included Ward Road.

Our little sister Lori Klein Sand ’67 lost her 29-year battle with breast cancer on March 2nd.  It returned nine years ago after being in remission for seventeen years. She was a stewardess for PSA after graduation, and was an Andy Girl hostess for the San Diego Andy Williams Open in about 1969.  She was also in the first group of Chargettes, as they were  called in the early years.  She and her former husband Bill operated Sand Manufacturing for many years. She worked as a dresser at the Old Globe and volunteered at the American Cancer Society Discovery Shop in Point Loma the last few years.  She had two daughters, five grandchildren and many dear friends.  She will be greatly missed -- Sarina Klein Nordmarken ’63 and Ron Klein ’66

April 3, 2020

The New York Times had a wonderful article this week entitled What Social Distancing Looked Like in 1666.  There are amazing similarities between now and the London Bubonic Plague.  Click HERE to check it out.

Here's this week's T-Shirt from Paula Kincaid

You might not have noticed the shirt worn by Larry Wickstrom (back left) in the Class of '60 reunion planning picture a couple of weeks back.  It's from High Seas Trading Company in Laguna Hills.  Larry turned me on to them a few years ago and I've been ordering from them ever since.  This past Monday they sent me an email announcing that they were now offering face masks in colorful Aloha patterns.

Tom Cassie sends ANOTHER Guaranty Chevrolet Little League photo.  This one is from 1955 -- a year earlier than last week's.  His brother Jim, in the front row wearing stripes, looks more like a team mascot.  Click HERE to see the photo enlarged with names.

My favorite publication of all time is 60 years old.  Click HERE to read the FABULOUS 1960 April Fool's Edition of the Pacer.

Debi Cox Landry '72 shares two photos of the Pacerettes, Crawford's Award-Winning Drill team  Maybe someone has names.  Click HERE to take a look at the shots.

Here's a shot from the Vintage San Diego Facebook page looking up Broadway around 1948.  The streetcars may be before your time, but you may recognize some of the other buildings in the distance.  Click HERE for an enlargement.