Nov 30 - Trailer park crisis explodes***

Thursday, November 30, 1972 - Page 335
LOCATION: Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Anaheim

Newport Beach's Balboa Bay Club in the 1960s (Orange County Archives)

(3:00 PM 12/9/1972)
Left for work at 7:00. Worked on rooms 227, 228, 229, 230, & 231, but didn't really do too much. Just procrastinated. Was a warm sunny day. Left at 5:00, but as usual the RTD didn't get there till 5:30. The ants are still plaguing us and when I got home mom had removed all the food from the shelves to spray them dead. Watched T.V. and took a bath. Mom bought Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner. I got to sleep by 12:00 -- In the continuing saga of the Trailer Park crisis, I've again included an excerpt (that's a former cerpt) from the Daily Plot. Again it mentions Eye Sore Park as the most noteworthy among the parks mentioned. Terrific.

Here's the important part:

Orange Coast Edition  DAILY PILOT

Orange County, California -- Thursday, November 30, 1972 -- Ten Cents

Trailer Owners Up in Arms Against Council

by L. PETER KRIEG

Of the Daily Pilot Staff

Newport Beach officialdom today was universally criticized for its crackdown on trailer parks by the people who own them, manage them and live in them.
Hit by orders Tuesday to meet preliminary requirements or face court action in five days, most park owners went running to their attorneys. Most park managers complained that the crackdown is too hard, and is coming too fast. One trailer park resident said he's organizing trailer owners for a showdown battle with city councilmen Monday night.

"We've tried to cooperate," said H. E. Conaway, manager of Bay Shore Park [that's us!], 112 West Coast Highway. "We've tried to get our registers up to date but about 10 of our trailer owners haven't returned the forms we sent them. What can I do?"

"We're talking about 400 to 500 families who may be forced out of their homes," said Lawrence Belt, a resident in Bay Shore Park [one of our neighbors, God bless 'im], which is owned by Marshall Duffield, on land leased from the Irvine Company.
"They're threatening to take the license away and give us 30 days to vacate," Belt said, "and that's unfair."

He said he's organizing trailer owners throughout the city to go to the council meeting Monday night with some demands of their own. "I want them to inspect the Reuben E. Lee, the Balboa Bay Club and the Arches (Restaurant) and bring them up to code," Belt said.

The Reuben E. Lee, less than a mile from my trailer park
(See DAILY PILOT "Riverboat memories" July 2007)

The historic Arches Restaurant at 3334 W Coast Highway. I have often mentioned this as the place where I was dropped off by the bus after work (I also referred to it as the Centinella Bank parking lot) and I occasionally walked home from there, a distance of a mile-and-a-half. It was refurbished & reopened in May 2008, and is now called "A" Restaurant (info)

In the interests of a balanced perspective:

No Job for Pushover

Building Inspector Puts Up With 'Guff'

There are some people who have a lot of terrible things to say about Wally Cloud.

Cloud says he's had his life threatened "and a lot of other uncomplimentary things said to me," but the 46-year-old Newport Beach building inspector shrugs it all off as part of the job.
The heat has been on during the past few weeks. Cloud was given the assignment to carry out the city council-ordered crackdown on Newport Beach trailer parks.

"Once somebody suggested I might be buried in his park," Cloud said. "But that's okay. When I'm dead it won't really matter where they put me."...

Through all this, Cloud has been the subject of ribbing on the part of his fellow workers.

"We're taking out a $100,000 life insurance policy on him with us as the beneficiaries," said one. "Yeah, but he makes his wife go out and start the car every morning," said another.

"No, she won't do it anymore, so I'm going to have to find someone else," Cloud retorted, still making light of the threats.

TOMORROW: Stopped by cop for jaywalking

Nov 29 - Newspaper: Trailer park violations**

Wednesday, November 29, 1972 - Page 334

LOCATION: Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Anaheim

UPDATE FROM 11/29/2013: Well how about that? For the first time, I calculated my earnings at the Ivanhoe from this pay slip, and it turns out I was making $1.75 per hour. Between Feb 1968 & March 1974, California minimum wage was $1.65 (info)

(2:30 PM 12/9/1972)

Left for work at 7:00 A.M. Twas a beauteous day, very windy, hence clear. Finished rooms 124, 125, & 126, then started 127, 128, & 129. Did as little as possible but Mike thought I was busy. Quit work at five and got home by 7:00 P.M. Watched T.V. alot. Now, Eye Sore Park has been getting publicity along with some other trailer parks in O.C. To fill you in, here's the newspaper clipping about the situation.

If you can't read the article, here is the important part:
Orange Coast Edition  DAILY PILOT
Orange County, California -- Tuesday, November 28, 1972 -- Ten Cents

NEWPORT WARNING -- 6 Trailer Parks Get 5-day Notice
by L. PETER KRIEG

Of the Daily Pilot Staff

Six Newport Beach trailer parks that city officials say have made no attempt to meet health and safety codes today were given five days to meet all state standards or tell it to the judge.

"We have posted six trailer courts with notices declaring them to be public nuisances," said Building Supervisor Robert Fowler. "If they don't make all repairs within five days, we will start filing legal action."

The six parks are Lee Haven Trailer Park, 2940 W. Coast Highway; Deluxe Trailer Park, 2912 W. Coast Highway; [Here's mine:] Bay Shore Trailer Park, 112 W. Coast Highway; Lido Village, 700 Lido Park Drive; Ebb Tide Mobile Home Park, 1560 Placentia Ave., and Beach and Bay Mobile Home Park, 7204 W. Coast Highway.

Fowler said the owners and managers of the parks posted were the only ones who refused to cooperate with the recent city council-initiated crackdown on all trailer parks within Newport Beach...

There are nearly 300 trailers in the six parks given notice this morning, Fowler said. Bay Shore Park [that's ours again, which I fondly called Eye Sore Park] at the corner of Dover Drive and W. Coast Highway is the most populous, with 100 trailers.

Councilman Richard Croul indicated he felt the actions taken by the building division may be harsh. "How can we justify this?" he said. "There are a lot of places in the city that encroach on the public right of way (one of Fowler's complaints about the trailers). We let other places stand that were built without a building permit," Croul said, noting that Fowler had also cited the erection of dozens of illegal cabanas in the parks. [Yes, we had an illegal cabaña for storage of our extra junk and it was truly an eye sore]

Fowler explained that the city is enforcing state laws and cannot be arbitrary.

It got mom pretty disturbed but I assumed it was just a political maneuver that would lose impetus, or at least take a long time before any serious action was taken. So far (it's December 9, Saturday), I've been right. From the date on this page to now, it has been learned that Eye Sore Park's property lease runs out about May, then the Irvine Company, who wants the land for development, can kick us out with 90 days notice. So we've still got 6 months to go, but I pro'ly won't be here when it all happens.

My abode at Eye Sore Park. Chuck is at the left leaning on my '63 Chrysler Imperial, and that's me wearing the leather hat I got in Rapid City. This is a 1973 photo taken after the canvas cabaña (it was under the awning) was cleaned up and removed to comply with city regulations.

TOMORROW: Trailer park crisis explodes

Nov 28 - Missed the bus home again

Tuesday, November 28, 1972 - Page 333
LOCATION: Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Anaheim

(2:00 PM 12/9/1972)
I got up at 8:30 and walked to the nearest definite bus stop, 17th and Orange two or three miles away. Got there at 10:00 and was at work by 11:45. The days were warm recently -- I vacuumed the pool and cleaned up some trash. Tuesday was a Ken day, and he did some work, then helped me with the latest rooms. I stained doors and he cleaned walls -- I wouldn't have to paint them because they already were clean enuff.

I quit at 6 but I managed to miss the bus. For 45 minutes mom's line was busy -- I assumed it was off the hook. Occasionally when it was replaced it was slightly ajar, so it seemed busy. I stayed there, reading my book, waiting for mom to call to ask why I wasn't home. But Laramée finally managed to reach her -- the line had been busy. She was talking to dad about the trailer. The paper said... Well, I'll get to that later.

Mom came & picked me up -- got home at 8:30. She went to see "Butterflies Are Free," but I stayed home. The night got foggy. Was on page 110 in the Dino book.

Original 1972 Theatrical Poster

TOMORROW: Newspaper: Trailer park violations

Nov 27 - Stayed overnight at Chuck's apartment

Monday, November 27, 1972 - Page 332
LOCATION: Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Anaheim

(12:00 PM 12/9/1972)
I got the 10:00 bus, and reached the Ivanhoe at about 12:00 -- there was alot of traffic for the RTD. The major thing I did that day was fix the light bulb for the Ivanhoe sign. I had to replace the socket in the fixture. I didn't know anything about electricity till I started working there. Mike was getting ready to take his Kawasaki 750 out to exercise it and recharge the battery, so I asked him to drive me home. His speed was usually 75 miles an hour and I was just holding on by the short bar on the back -- I couldn't hold onto him cause he'd just waxed the seat and would slip off.

We got to Eye Sore Park just as Chunk and Joe arrived in Joe's van. After talking some, Mike left and Chunk & Joe went paddling. I didn't realize it but mom was gonna have the bridge game there, so when Chunk & Joe drove away I went with them. They made a few stops -- once to pick up Joe's father at the beach (he only speaks Czechoslovakian), and they also stopped to talk with a kayak maker on Lido. Got to Chunk's about 7:00 and Joe left after a few minutes.

Chunk & I played chess -- won one, lost second. Murray came over unannounced. I beat him twice in one game, then he beat me in the second, and I was winning the third but he quit. Watched T.V. alot -- Laff-in, the Rookies, and the New Bill Cosby show. Bob Kirkeby called, then came over -- he and Chunk then went out scuba diving about 10:00 P.M. Murray left a quarter hour later, and I got to sleep about 11:30, sleeping on the couch in Chunk's mummy sleeping bag. Chunk returned about 1:45 A.M. He din't get any lobsters like he wanted however.

TOMORROW: Missed the bus home again

Nov 26 - Nothing much going on

Sunday, November 26, 1972 - Page 331
LOCATION: Newport Beach

5:00 PM
I spent much of last evening and the morning (I got up at 8:30) working on Tempus Fugitives, mainly trying to determine the chronology of events. Winnie came by so I could take the canoe off the Barracuda & put it back in the driveway. That was the day.

TOMORROW: Stayed overnight at Chuck's apartment

Nov 25 - Holiday Aftermath: Big motel cleanup

Saturday, November 25, 1972 - Page 330
LOCATION: Newport Beach, Anaheim

5:00 PM
Last night I got to sleep at 7:00 P.M., and woke up this morning at 8:00 A.M. Left here at 9:00 with mom driving me to work by 9:30. The Chowchillas weren't there, having left early and I helped the maids, Mary, Angela, & Laura, with the rooms. I stripped the beds & rollaways, gathered up the trash & towels, and carried the used linen & trash to their respective destinies.

This is one of the Chowchilla High School (website)
mimeographed news publications left in the guest's rooms

There were lots of renters besides the big high school group, but the band member's rooms took all the time. The girl's rooms were on the right side (as you enter) & the boy's were on the left -- all very civil. I can't decide which were worse -- the girl's with their cluttered bathrooms, stained sheets and old stockings, or the boys with their incense, ashes, broken ashtrays and Mad magazines.

I got away with 41 cents, mostly pennies, tho I refrained from the fortunes of pants pockets. It was an educational experience I could've done without. Yesterday they all went to Disneyland and the rooms were thick with souvenirs and bags, and A, B, C, D, & E tickets which I was tempted to borrow permanently. But I remained trustworthy (except for that 41¢) and was thru by 2:00 P.M. Mom picked me up, and here I am. Again. I won't get much money for last week cause I didn't work as many hours -- pro'ly just 20 or 25 instead of the required 32.

Mike's parents and a few relatives (a sister & brother-in-law & assorted nephews y nieces) came [to the Ivanhoe] yesterday and left today. Mr. Sarason fixed the broken Coke machine and therefore the rented rooms were graced by tons of cans. It is now 5:02:10, and that's all.

TOMORROW: Nothing much going on

Nov 24 - Thanksgiving - Part 2***

Friday, November 24, 1972 - Page 329
LOCATION: Newport Beach, Anaheim

5:30 PM [...continued from previous entry]
Afterwards, while Dad was getting some sleep, Chunk & I went paddling in the down river canoe he & Joe have been practicing in. We went all around Lido Isle and returned by 8:15, after only a half hour. It was a clear nite and a fairly full moon was just rising redly. Anyway, Dad, Chunk, Me, & Mom ate the turkey dinner. I had hardly anything cause I was full of steak.

Winnie came by again after having a second dinner with her mother, and she & Chunk drove me over to L&M's. Larry returned, and after awhile, about 9:30, Dad & Lar & I & Mom drove to L&M's [at the Ivanhoe motel] and we stayed there for quite a while. About 10:30 P.M. a group of 100 people in two bus loads came -- the Chowchilla High School Football band. L&M were pretty busy, & we entertained ourselves watching the girls and things thru the closed circuit T.V. There's an intercom from the Apartment to the Lobby entrance outside where the camera is and Larry talked thru it to the girls and guys out there. It was a riot. Chunk & Winnie left early, and the rest of us departed at about 12:30. We got back, Dad left, and I showed Larry my fossils, then he left, and I got to sleep at around 2:00 A.M.

6:30 PM
Friday I got up at about 9:00, and I took a bath. Mom drove me to work, and she stayed there an hour, leaving about a quarter to 12:00 (so she must've been there more than an hour, since I got there 'bout 10:00), anyway, she talked to Lara a while. I watered plants, hosed the driveway, replaced an inaccessible light bulb, and helped the maid. A new one was hired -- Laura. She has experience, having worked at the Cosmic Age Motel. She was applying for the job when I returned to the Ivanhoe Wednesday.

New maid's previous job: Cosmic Age Lodge
1717 S. Harbor Blvd, Anaheim, California

Anyway, all the feminine pulchritude enhanced the landscaping and the day was warm and sunny. The coke machine broke, so I wrote an "OUT OF ORDRE" sign for it. Ken arrived at one, so I was asked to leave, which I didn't mind doing. So mom came back to pick me up after being home just a half hour. We went to Canspec in L.A., and drove thru a few mobile home parks.

This report card here is explained on page 324. [That's November 19 where a note at the bottom says "At November 24 (a year from when it was sent) is a typical report card from school. Example of my great stupidity."]

I know this cheap carbon copy is very faint so I will repeat the info here:
LYDA III  GRADY - REPORT DATE 11/71 - GRADE 12
PERIOD - COURSE TITLE - "MARKS" - TEACHER
01 - BOYS PE 9-12 - "F"  GAGE J
02 - SEMANTICS - "NC"  MAUTHE A
03 - SOCIAL PROB - "F"  DONALD R
04 - SR MATH REV - "D"  ROSER G
05 - DRAMA 1-2 - "F"  LINDQUIST P
06 - PHYSIOL 1-2  "F"  ROBERTS D

I'd like to point out that these grades reflect the fact that I simply decided not to go to school anymore because it started too damned early. It was not worth interrupting my sleep. If you paid me, maybe I'd get my butt up at 7 or 8:AM, but school didn't pay, so why bother?

TOMORROW: Holiday Aftermath: Big motel cleanup

Nov 23 - Thanksgiving - Part 1***

Thursday, November 23, 1972 - Page 328
LOCATION: Newport Beach

TURKEY DAY

11:30 AM
The new book I've been reading on the bus and waiting for the bus these past few days is "The Age of the Dinosaurs," by Björn Kurtén, one of the books Mark got for me. Haven't seen him since. I'm now on page 74 -- occasionally I skip a page or two of innocuous things I already know too well. The busses of the OCTD are taking the day off, and Mike doesn't need me today, and it's Thanksgiving, so I'm not going to work. I woke up at about 10:30. I've been working on T.F. notes.

[Side note] THE DRAWING ON THIS PAGE IS A LARRY BROCKWAY PRODUCTION [Dad's friend Larry was an excellent artist and this Santa Claus sketch demonstrates his talent]

(5:00 PM 11/24/1972)
It being Thanksgiving, we were beset by relatives and acquaintances. First came Dad and he answered my question about what caliber bullet you'd need to shoot out the ear of a sauropod. Larry Brockway ("Brock") came shortly thereafter. Then Chunk came with Russ Nichols, a paddler who was in the '71 Canoe & Kayaking World Championships, and this year's Olympics. Larry & I had a steak dinner (the turkey was still cooking, & Larry had to leave at 3:30 to man the 'Hot line,' a phone service, sort of).

A shot of our trailer in 1973. At the left is my Imperial and Chuck, and I am wearing my South Dakota hat. 

Russ had brought a projector, & audio visual set up for a film he made about the 71 Championships (his brother wrote & performed the music) -- so we saw that. It was done very professionally, and was about 15 minutes. Before it started, Winnie dropped by -- so there was her Barracuda, Russ's van with two canoes on top, Larry's convertible VW, and Dad's Audi parked all over, and with 7 people in the trailer 'twas a bit crowded. After the movie Russ & Chunk & Winnie left -- they had an appointment for dinner at the Beechers'. The Beechers are parents of a friend Chunk knew well who died in a bike accident a year or two ago with Mike McEvers, and Murray & Bruce Englar.

Anyway, Larry had to leave soon after that for the Hot Line. So I occupied Dad for a few hours with all the new books I got, and in a few hours Chunk returned. I showed him my fossils & paleolithic tools -- I had forgotten he would be interested in them because of his preoccupation with Indians (He's proud of the few drops of Cherokee & Blackfeet he's got in him). [End-of-page: Thanksgiving Day events are continued in the next entry]

TOMORROW: Thanksgiving - Part 2

Nov 22 - 9th anniversary of Kennedy's murder***

Wednesday, November 22, 1972 - Page 327
LOCATION: Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Anaheim

(11:30 AM 11/23/1972)
I got on the 8:00 A.M. OCTD bus -- I can't remember why I missed the 7:00. Just overslept I guess. Wednesday just happened yesterday, but it's practically a blank. I had a lot of wild dreams last night -- I was pursued by homicidal people in the Ivanhoe motel, a real thrill. I escaped of course. Those kind of dreams aren't nightmares for me, they're fun cause I know it's a fake. Then I had a dream about Megan. Good grief, she's a year in the past. She was prettier and more mature and she realized she really did love me after all. I was very condescending about it. And then I dreamed about a wild science-fiction book mom found, full of beauteous outré illusory illustrations. Those three dreams were very deep and detailed but I can't remember much about them now, and I knew there were others among them, but they're completely lost.

Anyway, Wednesday -- what happened? I stained the doors in the three rooms and finished the rooms completely. Then I went around the motel and repaired various defects in anticipation of the big group coming in Thursday. I left at 5:30, waited for the bus forty five minutes, then walked back, called mom, and while waiting did a half hour of maintenance work -- fixed the lobby door, went through the renovation book checking off things. The day was overcast as if it would rain, but it didn't. It was sposed to be sunny & warm. Mom came, we drove to Ralph's Supermarket & she bought stuff for Thanksgiving -- we bought Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner. Watched TV though there wasn't much on. I washed the dishes and went to sleep at 11:30.

IN THE NEWS 1972
A mere 9 years earlier, John F. Kennedy was killed in Texas. This crime was still fresh in everyone's memory. I recall as a 7-year-old kid being close enough to shake his hand when he was campaigning in San Diego.

I can remember being with my family when we watched Kennedy speak at San Diego State University, my father's Alma Mater. In the following news coverage we see California Governor Pat Brown (father of our current Governor Jerry Brown) greeting the president and joining him in the car on his way to the university.

On November 22, 1963, I was dismissed from  elementary school and sent home amid stunned whispers that the president had been shot.

NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET
In November 1973 I spent lots of time in Dallas-Fort Worth. While there I went to see a tourist attraction that had been installed on the first floor of the infamous Texas School Book Depository. Nobody else was around when I arrived. An elaborate table-top diorama recreated the fateful route of the president's motorcade while -- upon the press of a START button -- a narrator described what was happening. When the toy car passed the dreaded Depository on Elm Street, startling strobe-lights flashed, gunshots rang out and JFK was extinguished. Among the many exhibits was one wall that featured a duplicate of Oswald's rifle along with the kinds of bullets that killed Kennedy.

This bizarre spectacle faithfully depicted the "Official Warren Commission Story" which was inexplicably believed by multiple witnesses who actually heard & saw the killshot fired from behind a fence on the "Grassy Knoll."

I retraced many of the crime scene's steps described by eyewitnesses in attorney Mark Lane's meticulous reconstruction of events in his 1967 film. At the end of this documentary we learn of many witnesses who died "strange" deaths following the assassination.

Later while in Dallas I went to see a controversial new movie called "Executive Action" -- with a story co-written by Mark Lane -- that realistically explained how disgruntled arrogant elitists arranged the hit on Kennedy. At the end of this film the screen is filled with photos of 18 witnesses who had mysteriously died within 3 years of the assassination. That upsetting motion picture was quickly removed from many theaters throughout the country (wiki info).

1973 Original Theatrical Poster
(This was actor Robert Ryan's final role)

Is this how it went down?

Sometimes I wonder how any sensible human being can possibly believe that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone -- if at all (Lane's "Rush to Judgement" presents an eyewitness who insists that Oswald didn't even shoot Dallas Police Officer J.D. Tippet). It seems that everyone is pretending to be comfortable living with all of these lies. In fact we are not. Now it is 2013 and 50 years have passed. Why not reveal the whole truth?

Let's suppose the deathbed confession of CIA operative & Watergate burglar E. Howard Hunt was true... He swore that LBJ -- coincidentally, the man who benefitted most from Kennedy's removal -- was instrumental in the CIA's strike on JFK. If such a scenario was accepted, how would this affect our view of American history? Maybe it's better to just leave it alone, ignore the facts, and believe whatever you want. C'est la vie, everybody.

TOMORROW: Thanksgiving - Part 1

Nov 21 - Perils of hypothermia**

Tuesday, November 21, 1972 - Page 326
LOCATION: Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Anaheim

The Ivanhoe's swimming pool

11:00 PM
Left at 7:00 -- back to the early riser routine. There wasn't much work to be done on the next three rooms -- I'm just about finished. Just have to stain the doors. A big group's coming in Thursday, and the weather's been good, so the pool has to be ready for their use. But the heater isn't heating and the recent rains washed alot of gravel into the pool from the roofs. And the gravel just won't vacuum up normally. So great heroic me, manned with a face mask, ventured into the pool's depths. Any colder and the water would've been ice. It was a clear and beauteous day but the air temperature was only around 70°.

For a half hour I vacuumed up gravel (without the attachment the hose was able to suck it up), from the shallow end, and the ear-busting deep end. It was slow work, having to come up for air that often -- every 22 seconds or so. I know the water in S.D. [South Dakota] I dipped in, and the Kern River water I dunked in must've been colder but it's hard to believe. When I got out it felt like my body had fallen asleep. I was so numb I could barely walk, and when I did it was paraplegically. I could barely talk too.

So I took my lunch break ('twas about 2:00) and went up to one of the rooms I was working on that had a good heater and tried to warm up. It was more than a half hour before I warmed up -- till then I felt like I was packed in ice. Cancerians are susceptible to chills and I was living up to the theory. I stayed under blankets for an hour, warming them with my breath. I barely survived, but nobody but me noticed how close I was to passing out. I've been cold before, but that was the first time I've ever felt how agonizing it could be, and how it's possible to die from it.

Anyway, I quit early at Mike's suggestion, leaving at 3:30, just when Angela got there. I got home at 6:00. Watched "Brian's Song," an award winning tear jerker about a football player who died from cancer, and then the last hour of "West Side Story." Two movies like that, one after another, can be harmful to your health.

TV Guide ad for 1971 ABC Movie of the Week

1961 Theatrical Poster

TOMORROW: 9th anniversary of Kennedy's murder

Nov 20 - Sketches of my maintenance keys

Monday, November 20, 1972 - Page 325
LOCATION: Newport Beach

11:30 PM
Oops. I forgot to give back the maintenance keys. It's only happened once before. Oh well, this gives me the opportunity to let you see them.

[Captions for top-right row of five keys, left to right] > This is the fabled Master Key -- that opens any of the normal rentable rooms, plus the linen room and the supply room. -- > This is usually the first key I use in the morning. It opens the lock to the pool's gate. That's all the little thing's for. -- > This cheap lil' key is usually the second one I use. It opens the lock to the pool's heater & pump room. -- > This one's pretty similar to the one on the left, but it opens the lock to the rear supply room door. -- > The key below is also pool related. It opens the lock to the little storage room under the stairs closest to the pool area. That's where the chlorine and acid is.

[Captions for bottom-left row of four keys, left to right] > This one's for the maintenance room and the heater rooms -- > This one opens the alley leading to the three heater rooms -- > I have absolutely no idea what this key is for. I think I've used it before but I don't know what for. If I ever find out I'll let you know -- > This is the most important key of all. It's for the kleenex boxes. -- [Lower left caption] That's the key ring.

I watched "Patton" last night on T.V. Twas uncensored. Left this morning on the 10:00 A.M. bus. Finished 2250 A.D. Was 182 pages long. Sent letters to Rusti (Sue) & Greg. Took a bath. Watched Laugh-in, an hour of Barefoot in the Park & The Bill Cosby show. It's a full moon. Mom's playing bridge. It's 11:33:03 P.M.

1970 Theatrical Poster

TOMORROW: Perils of hypothermia

Nov 19 - Special added distractions for this journal**

Sunday, November 19, 1972 - Page 324
LOCATION: Newport Beach

11:30 AM
Have to write replies to Greg's & Sue's letters today. I dug out all the old letters, including paraphernalia from the January escape with Matt, from my term at Sea Schwinn, from my pitiful affair with Meg, and various other things that occurred a year ago and at the early part of the year. I included some of the things in this journal as special added attractions. Such as:

A Sea Schwinn letter of introduction for possible jobs & the Note I left to Mom letting her know I took off. Page 5 [January 05].  A letter Matt wrote to a possible girlfriend while at Beth. He never sent it and didn't miss it when I grabbed it. January 11.  Letter I wrote to G. Dot in response to a letter she wrote to me. I poured it on pretty thick, and when she got it, it brought tears to her eyes. Page 18 [January 18].  With the boots dad bought, he sent that letter. Included as an example of his handwriting. August 20.

On this page are examples of pay I got from Sea Schwinn -- A lot better pay than I get now. At November 24 [page 329] (a year from when it was sent) is a typical report card from school. Example of my great stupidity.

TOMORROW: Sketches of my maintenance keys

Nov 18 - Ant wars continued

Saturday, November 18, 1972 - Page 323
LOCATION: Newport Beach

(11:30 AM 11/19/1972)
This day was very clear and sunny and azure. Mom was working today so she could get a long weekend for thanks giving day. I cleaned up my extremely messy bedroom, took a much needed bath, and washed the dishes and carried out a mop up operation for the defeated ants. There were a few surviving stragglers -- they had a line set up from a candy jar to an exit in a cleft near the sink. I sprayed them to death -- they just never learn. While emptying the trash I noticed an army of ants entering two holes in a crack on the porch -- so that's where they came from. I murdered them too. We shouldn't have anymore problems with them. Shouldn't, but pro'ly will.

I worked a lot on T.F., further organizing my notes, passing a plateau I had to hurtle before I could go further. Got to page 151 in "2250." By the way, when I missed the 10:00 A.M. bus yesterday, I walked up to Mariner's Savings at 10:30 and deposited $80.00, so I now have $83.74 in the bank. Real rich, huh. More than enough to go to Europe on, huh. I should save a bit more just for a little spending money. That's about all for Saturday. Just watched T.V., the usual shows. Got to sleep at 1:00 or 2:00.

TOMORROW: Special added distractions for this journal

Nov 17 - L&M's day off at The Ivanhoe

Friday, November 17, 1972 - Page 322
LOCATION: Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Anaheim

(11:00 AM 11/19/1972)
I got up late, missed the 9:00 A.M. bus so I had to get the 10:00. I vacuumed the pool for an hour and a half, showed Ken (wait, this doesn't matter, but I got to work at 12:45, which means I missed the 10:00 A.M. bus and got the 11:00) how to test the pool, etc. He kept himself busy sweeping up things. Neither Lara or Mike were there Friday, they were, I think, on a tour of Universal Studios. Wouldn't be back till 6:00. I did the stuff on this card and left at around 5:30. I just barely caught the RTD that passed Harbor & Katella at 5:30, and then barely caught the OCTD that passed 4th & Main at 6:00. Got dropped at Coast Hwy & Dover.

I found that we'd been invaded by ants -- thousands of the motes were scattered over our dirty sink with its unwashed dishes. Mom had destroyed them with the Black Flag insect killer. I wonder if those little creatures have souls. I wonder if us big creatures have souls. Enough philosophy. Mom went out to buy Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner, and we watched the usual Fri. TV shows.

Got a response to my "recent inquiry" about MM&M, here attached. Did some work on T.F. Got to page 131 in "Daybreak - 2250 A.D." -- Friday it rained very early in the morning but began to clear up as the day went on.

TOMORROW: Ant wars continued

Nov 16 - Working thru a winter storm

Thursday, November 16, 1972 - Page 321
LOCATION: Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Anaheim

(12:00:46 AM 11/16/1972 nite, 11/17/972 morn)
It rained very hard this morning and lasted thru a lot of the day. Mom got up at 4:00 A.M. to rescue L&M's boxed possessions in the soggy cabaña, so she stole my radio before I could get L&B on [that's Lohman & Barkley]. So I stayed in bed, catching the 8:00 bus. I painted the bathrooms, caulked the tubs, and set up the rooms, working from 9:40 to 5:40. The pool is very close to running over -- it rained abnormally heavy, and for a while there were high winds and thunder & lightning.

I caught the 6:30 OCTD. I was the only passenger so I talked to the bus driver, Dave, all during the trip. Usually there are two or three passengers on that route at that time -- last bus of the day. Got home and watched T.V. -- saw "In Cold Blood," a controversial movie that came out in 1967. Mom cashed my check so tomorrow I'll go deposit it in the bank. I left "2250 AD" at the Ivanhoe unintentionally so I'm not sure what page I'm on -- 102 I think. Can't think of much else that happened today -- so that's it. I'm goin' to sleep (12:10:45 A.M., 11-17 morn)

1967 Original U.S. Theatrical Poster

TOMORROW: L&M's day off at The Ivanhoe

Nov 15 - Movieland Wax Museum

Wednesday, November 15, 1972 - Page 320
LOCATION: Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Anaheim

At the Ivanhoe, as with many other motels, the lobby featured numerous tri-fold brochures promoting tourist attractions in the area. Here is one that was stuffed into this 1972 journal. The photo of me with Frankenstein's Monster seen in the entry for October 31 was snapped at this Wax Museum. As of August 1, 2013, the Movieland Wax Museum in Buena Park was replaced by "TITANIC: The Experience" (info)

(11:57 PM 11/16/1972)
Got the 7:00 A.M. bus. Spent the day painting, finishing the rooms and starting to set them up. Linda quit (she's moving to Missouri) so Mike will have to find a new maid. It rained for a couple of minutes Wednesday. I waited 45 minutes for the RTD, and caught the OCTD by the narrowest margin at 6:30. Got to a telephone and called Mom to pick me up at the Centinella parking lot.

TOMORROW: Working thru a winter storm

Nov 14 - News from Chicago's Sue Latka

Tuesday, November 14, 1972 - Page 319
LOCATION: Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Anaheim

8:30 PM
Got the 7:00 A.M. bus. It started raining at about 6:45. Got to work at 8:45 and spent most of the day painting. It rained pretty good until about 3:00 or 2:00, then I replaced a couple of light bulbs which required the use of a looong aluminum ladder. Ken was there training after about 3:00. I got to page 62 in "2250." Got off work at 5:00, got home at 6:45.

I got a letter from Sue (she calls herself "Rusty" now) and she sent copies of some pictures. I'll mention their location in this book after I find a place for them. Had some broiled steaks for dinner. I'm still on one meal a day on weekdays. Mike got the Chevy Impala sold so I won't be stuck with having to buy it. That's good & bad -- good cause I'll have more money, but bad cause I won't have any transportation to go East in. I guess I'll hop a freight. No pro'lem.

From Sue's letter it seems she's getting sweet again -- Mark got dragged into the army, so she's not stuck with him anymore. So mayhaps on my way east I'll stop off in Chicago. The picture hereto attached was taken inside Bethlehem Cave, in the Shrine of the Watchacallit.

That's Bruce's hardhat, those are my hands, and Mike took the shot. I'm not bothering to track down the exact date, but it should be easy to find -- Around July 18, 19 or 20 [it was July 18], the time the Latka's got the tour. I watched the regular shows tonight -- "I've got a Secret," and "Maude." Nothing else good was on.

TODAY's NEWS: The Dow-Jones Average

In all its years of fluctuations, the New York Stock Exchange ticker showing the Dow-Jones industrial averages had never ever closed higher than 1000. But on November 14, 1972, the D-J average did it, finishing up the day just over the 1000 mark -- LIFE magazine, December 1972

TOMORROW: Movieland Wax Museum

Nov 13 - Daybreak 2250 A.D.

Monday, November 13, 1972 - Page 318
LOCATION: Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Anaheim

11:22:36 PM
Woke up at 7:30. Took a bath, got the 9:00 bus, and was at work by 10:40. L&M had gone up to Big Bear Saturday and it blizzarded. Due to the high winds the pool was full of leaves & trash -- I fished them out and cleaned things miscellaneously. Planted Bagouneas (that's not how you spell it of course [should be "Begonias"]), replaced a photocell-operated light fixture on the roof, and did hardware work in the next three rooms.

I started a new paperback to replace The Magus. "Daybreak - 2250 A.D." (formerly titled "Star Man's Son") by Andre Norton. I bought it by mail in English class in the 8th grade. Never got around to reading it till now (now on page 34). Got off work at 3:30, got to the Arches at 5:15, got home on foot by 5:45. Mom wasn't home. I went to the liquor store and bought a couple of TV dinners, potato chips and the November Playboy. Watched part II of "Giant" tonight. 'Twas excellent.

Mom called saying she was gone 'cause she drove Chunk up north. Then she went to her bridge game where she is now. Chunk left the letter hereto attached for her -- I thought I'd include it as a handwriting sample and a testification of current event (testification? Is that a word?).

For the past month or so, Chunk & Joe (a Czeckoslavakian paddler) have been practicing C2 [that's 2-man canoe]. They're going to the world championship in Europe in June. That's why Chunk, Me, & Murray are going over there. When he's thru being champion, we're going to bicycle all over Europe. The old wanderlust strikes again. Actually I hate traveling but it's my literary duty.

[As it actually happened, I didn't return to Europe with Chuck, but he did win Gold at the World Championships in 1975, in C-2 Mixed Slalom (meaning man/woman canoe) in Skopje, Yugoslavia, and again in 1977 in Spittal, Austria, paddling with the legendary athlete, Marietta Gilman]

Chuck Lyda & Marietta Gilman running wildwater slalom on Truckee River, CA, 1975
(NOTE: In Wikipedia her name is spelled "Gillman." That's incorrect.
Her name is properly spelled "Gilman." See Chuck Lyda Biography)

Here is one of the photos she sent me that is now on Chuck's Website

TOMORROW: News from Chicago's Sue Latka

Nov 12 - Tempus Fugitives: My ticket to success***

Sunday, November 12, 1972 - Page 317
LOCATION: Newport Beach, CA

(11:10 PM 11/13/1972)
Continued work on T.F. I picked some things to read for more data and I'll be getting to them. Persisted in reorganizing my notes. All this of course is mere procrastination -- some might say I'm delaying another failure. Others, more charitable, might say I'm delaying a success I can't handle. Still others, more realistic, would say it's just a way to keep my mind busy. Though I'm prejudiced, I'd say it's a little of all those things, plus the fact that I won't have any extended free time for writing until April, since I'll quit working in March. I'm relying on T.F. to supply necessary finances, and the time in between here & there is to insure it will be capable of supplying the money.

It didn't exactly work out that way... Tempus Fugitives was eventually published when Mike Friedrich (wiki info) asked me to follow up on my first Star*Reach story, "Out of Space - Out of Time" (see it here as The Star Boundary). I worked with Mike to develop TF as a comic book series which I wrote & drew, with words inked by letterer Tom Orzechowski (info). My 4-Part series ran from December 1977 to December 1978 (more). It was such a time-consuming process that I realized I could never make a living as a writer/artist. My payment for hundreds of hours of exhausting work -- not even counting my endless preliminary efforts here in 1972 -- came out to be far less than the minimum wage (California minimum hourly wage was $2.50 in 1976 [info]). 

This story will be the best I can do, and I'll prove that's good enough. Not the best, but "Analog" quality. I just want that for the record because this journal won't go far enough to show I'm right. You'll just have to take my word for it -- I'm in the process of producing a long story -- maybe a novelette, which I'm going to sell to Analog, or Galaxy, or at the very least, Fantasy & Science Fiction. It'll bring me a reasonable income and confidence to go on to write a follow-up story, and with the wheels rolling, I'll go on to become a professional writer. That's not a guess, that's just a factual preview of what comes after this journal's finished. So that's Sunday -- I continued procrastinating. Mom washed the clothes and I got myself to sleep early, around 8:30 or 9:00.

TEMPUS FUGITIVES - The Graphic Novel (webpage)
Story & Art by Grady Lyda

MISSION 1: Out One Era & In The Other

MISSION 2: Jurassic Spark

MISSION 3: What Memes May Come

MISSION 4: EndGamer

TOMORROW: Daybreak 2250 A.D.