Palisadians Send Relief to the Gulf

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September 7, 2005

From left, Romi Messer, Annie Steele and Lena Kane organized a bake sale over the Labor Day weekend to raise money for hurricane victims.

By LIBBY MOTIKA and ALYSON SENA Pacific Palisades individuals, families, churches and businesses have been responding to the enormous need for help and support for the victims of Hurricane Katrina that devastated an area the size of Wyoming on the Gulf Coast last week. Since the cataclysmic event occurred, the Palisadian-Post has been receiving letters and phone calls daily identifying individual and group efforts to raise money to send to the area. Palisadian Maureen Cruise is joining an aid caravan on Friday bound for Covington, Louisiana, just off the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, returning on September 19. Items that will be delivered include paper supplies, diapers, baby supplies, large cans of vegetables and school supplies. Cruise suggests that for those who wish to donate money, they may do so through VFPRoadTrips.org. Resident Billie Phelps is sponsoring a family from New Orleans for one year. School children have been holding lemonade and cookie sales in the village and in various neighborhoods around the town. One group of 4 and 5-year-olds in the Country Estates took shifts selling lemonade, bottled water and homemade goodies on Labor Day in hopes of raising a couple of hundred dollars. But as the day went on, residents volunteered to match whatever the children collected and as many as 20 families matched the $500 the children raised. The Santa Barbara oil company Venoco, through its foundation and founders Tim and Bernie Marquez, offered to match the money collected in the neighborhood. Organizers of the event Kelly Holscher, Evelyn Granat, Gina Vincent and Pam Ellis estimate that they may raise at least $20,000 to be sent to the hurricane victims. Seeds UES fifth-grader Daniela Grinblatt organized a cookie sale with the help of her babysitter Sabrina Lux. Grinblatt and two friends Vanessa Holyoak and Paheli Desai accepted donations and sold the homemade treats on the Village Green. The $500 donation will be sent to the American Red Cross. Kayla and Tessa De Mari offered free lemonade and asked for donations for the hurricane victims from their stand at the corner of Sunset and Temescal Canyon Rd. They made $178 in three hours. Palisadians Liana, 11, Holly, 10, and Elon Wertman, 7, and their friends Harley Food, Isabella Rust and Zahara Eden opened a lemonade stand on Saturday in Brentwood. They raised several hundred dollars on Farmers Market day and at another they children got a $10,000 donation. The secret to the amount of money raised, they said is: The lemonade and cookies are given away for free, donations are accepted with a smile and a round of applause. Romi Messer, 10, organized a bake sale over the Labor Day weekend and enlisted help from her friends Annie Steele, Lena Kane, Lily McGuire and Ashley Moreno. At Sunday’s Farmers Market, they raised over $400 for the relief effort. This coming Sunday, September 11, there will be a table set up at the Farmers Market between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. for donations. Goods will also be accepted. These include water, canned goods, diapers, pet food, formula, blankets and clothing. All contributions will go to the American Red Cross. The Rotary Club of Pacific Palisades donated $1,000 for gas for a truckload of supplies gathered by the Van Nuys Rotary Club to be delivered to the needy in Louisiana. The Office Supplier began a relief effort last Friday by placing a five-gallon water bottle on the counter for donations. Manager Jenney Miller reported that so far the store has collected $500 not only from customers, but also from other businesses on Sunset, including Denton Jewelers., En Route Travel, Daniella Coiffeurs and First Federal Bank. The money will be sent to the American Red Cross. Carol Sanborn, director of pastoral ministry at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, said they collected $13,000 in relief money last weekend and donated it to Catholic charities in the area for hurricane relief. Both the parish and school have an ongoing collection for Catholic charities and relief services. “We’re asking parents to match what the kids raise,” Sanborn said. “We are exploring a mechanism through Catholic charities by which parishioners may share their homes for lodging,” Sanborn added. “We’re also investigating the possibility of both our confirmation program members and school children collecting school supplies for children in Mississippi and Louisiana.” For anyone who wants to volunteer time to help relief efforts, Corpus Christi is referring them to the American Red Cross. The Palisades Lutheran Church is also brainstorming ideas for supporting victims of Hurricane Katrina, including sponsoring a pastor or family who wants to relocate here, according to Rev. Walter Mees. “We have a lot of congregations under water,” Mees said. “This is going to be a longterm and ongoing response.” He added that some of their members have family in the area hit by the hurricane, and members are giving money towards relief efforts through Lutheran Disaster Response, a collaborative ministry based in Chicago. Others are donating money to Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, an organization that is collecting hurricane relief funds and will supplement $1 for every $2. Calvary Christian is encouraging parishioners to donate money, which it sends to local churches in the New Orleans area. Palisades Presbyterian Church has collected $2,410 for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and $675 for the Red Cross, and its efforts are ongoing. Two of the church’s nursery school graduates who are now first graders had a lemonade stand that raised $70, and another young member of the church had a yard sale Saturday to raise money for relief efforts. The Methodist Church is collecting money for the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), a nonprofit international humanitarian aid organization providing Hurricane Katrina relief. Members of Kehillat Israel are collecting money for The Jewish Federation’s Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund and the American Red Cross. Honorary mayor Steve Guttenberg spoke to the Palisadian-Post from the Astrodome in Houston, where he has been volunteering since Tuesday morning. “I was in New York and kept seeing this on the news,” Guttenberg said. “I couldn’t stay away. “As a volunteer, I show up to a ‘shape-up,’ and one time I’m giving out food and then I get reassigned and I’m giving out cots. It’s a big space’the Astrodome’and they need people to run different errands,” said Guttenberg, who has been working 12-hour days. “Most of these folks just want someone to talk to. I’ve been talking to and spending time with them.”

Wine Is Not Science, It’s Love

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September 7, 2005

The Grape Vine

By Merv Hecht I had dinner last month with a physician who’s working on a software program that purports to scientifically correlate brain waves with the effects of mood-altering medications. His theory is that doctors currently prescribe these drugs based on loosey-goosey criteria, not based on a scientifically-proven regimen. If he can establish reliable correlations, he believes the basis for prescription of these drugs will become more “scientific.” We wish him good success. Wine making’and tasting’is sort of like that. The people making it are exercising a lot of judgment on what other people will like. And the people drinking it have trouble verbalizing what it is that they like or don’t like about many wines. It’s not science, it’s love. During August, two articles appeared in The New York Times that dealt with these issues as they relate to wine. One, “The Emperor of Wine: The New World Order” is a biography of Robert M. Parker, Jr., who is probably the most read and most influential wine critic in the world. Parker initiated the 100 point scale of wine evaluation. The bottom line of the article, as I read it, is that Parker tastes so many wines at a time that from a purely physiological point of view his palate can’t possibly hold up during a tasting of as many wines as he tastes at one time. So his expertise is not based on science, but a “unique semi-divine tasting ability.” Do you want to buy wine based on the recommendation of somebody using a “semi-divine” method? Do you invest in the stock market that way? The second article is even more interesting. “The Chemistry of a 90+ Wine” is a review of a California company called “Enologix,” which is the brainchild of Leo McCloskey. McCloskey’s theory is about the same as the physician I mentioned in the first paragraph. Instead of evaluating a wine by tasting it (a loosey-goosey methodology), he uses scientific instruments like mass spectrometers to measure the chemical compounds in the wines. The results are fed into a proprietary software program. Based on the chemical analysis, the program predicts, with great accuracy, he says, what the Parker score will be. By testing the grape juice at various stages, the producer can make changes to increase the “Parker score.” When I was a lawyer, in a different lifetime, I represented a very successful computer-dating company. The clients filled out an extensive psychological and personal evaluation sheet. The results were fed into the computer, and a computer program matched up likely marriage candidates. I spent a fair amount of time at their office handling legal and tax matters for the company (which had grown quite large). While there I noticed that one of the owners, whom I’ll refer to as Mrs. Smith, looked at the computer matches, but didn’t follow them with any regularity. She met with each client, made her own notes, and did a personal match-making. When I asked her why she didn’t rely on the computer, she explained it as follows: The computer can assimilate a limited amount of information because of the limits we are willing to go to input data. But even the data that is input doesn’t deal with bad breath, sloppy grooming or lisps. First these items have to be cleared up, she said. Then, she said, there’s a certain intuitive element that is the most important of all. I wonder if Mr. McCloskey adds or subtracts anything from his data, based on his intuition. I wonder if Mr. Parker has a checklist of the elements of taste that he reviews as he tastes the wine, or if he just has an overall impression: “Ahhh, this is a 95.” I wonder if the physician’s correlation tables will be accepted by the general psychiatric community. And most of all, I wonder if most wine drinkers care about any of this stuff.

Patrice Dworkin’s Delicate Panels Transform Uncertainty into Beauty

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September 7, 2005

When artist Patrice Dworkin completed her monumental flying angel bas reliefs several years ago, she was pleased with what could be called a beautiful exploration of empowered women. She had equipped each of her “angels” with symbols of their shining talents’a briefcase for one, a trowel and garden gloves for another. While a few of these colorful papier-mach’ wall fixtures still hover like guardian angels in the studio of her Rustic Canyon home, Dworkin has continued her search for new content, admitting “that the best thing about the work is doing it, but as soon as I’m done, I’m done, and I’m ready to move on.” Dworkin confesses that she thought her angels were edging toward craft, and while she did enjoy such craft projects like making props for her children’s school projects, even volunteering to fabricate the man-eating plant for the Adderley School’s production of “The Little House of Horrors,” she eventually wanted to return to paint and ink. She sketched the world around her in her pocket tablet, worked with collage and paint, and experimented with different surfaces. Soon enough she found an imagery that would stimulate her imagination and invite introspection. “You never have to look very long for your creative ideas; they find you,” Dworkin says in tracing the origins of her new work. In her trials and experiments, she discovered Plexiglas, which attracted her because of its translucence and its durability, and for the past two years has been the “canvas” for her explosive creativity. To visualize Dworkin’s work, imagine a Chinese scroll with its delicate pastel watercolor images decorating a long, vertical parchment. Instead of paper, imagine Plexiglas with delicate, jewel-like lines incised on back and front against a pastel background. The panels pivot 360 degrees. The imagery mimics both the botanical and anatomical worlds, and is meant to resonate back and forth. Are those the delicate veins of the sycamore leaf or the fragile network of the circulatory system? Ever since Dworkin declared herself an artist a decade ago, snipping the safety tether to the Brentwood Art Center classes, she eagerly accepted the challenge of art, where there are no boundaries, no right, no wrong, but where she could go beyond the pretty and try to express the feelings which have no words. The new work combines Dworkin’s particular love of the plant world and the magnificent design of the human anatomy. “A single leaf my son Adam brought me inspired me and allowed me to go on more of an inner journey,” Dworkin says. While Dworkin’s paintings contain familiar imagery, they speak to her response to a period of grief and uncertainty. Her daughter Chloe was born with a heart anomaly, which required her to have a pulmonary valve removed when she was six months old. “Although she was chugging along with no symptoms without a pulmonary value, it became clear as she got older that there was an advantage to placing a value, which meant open-heart surgery,” Dworkin explains. Dworkin and her husband Stephen consulted heart specialists all over the world, and finally decided to go ahead with the operation. But the uncertainty over what to do, if anything, and then the uncertain success of the operation, was excruciating. “What do you do with all this?” Dworkin asks. “I realized that the only way to address this was in my work. You start to transfer something painful and turn it into something beautiful.” While Dworkin had resolved to use the imagery of the circulatory system in her work, although abstracted, she had to consider how Chloe would feel about it. “Chloe was thrilled and thought that my treating this very serious thing about her, her heart, not her pretty face, was wonderful.” You can see the remnants of the circulatory system Dworkin had been drawing over and over and over in earlier paintings, elements that she says have become very rich. The paintings have both botanical and anatomical references that are touch points for the meaning of the work. Chloe, who turns 15 in October, had successful heart surgery in June, bringing to an end the year of anxiety but also exuberant creativity for her mother. It is this work that the Los Angeles Art Association will feature in a solo exhibition, which opens with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, September 10 at Gallery 825/LAAA Annex at Bergamot Station. “Creating this show has been such a steadying influence,” Dworkin says, adding she is still intrigued by Plexiglas and her attachment to hearts and flowers (Chloe means blooming or growing). “For my future work I am considering a eucalyptus motif and more 6-ft. panels.” Although she has been absent from the studio this summer, caring for Chloe in recuperation and preparing Adam for his first year in college at Tufts, Patrice can’t wait to get back to work. “I’m compelled to do this,” she says. “If I don’t do this work, I get grumpy.”

PALIHI FOOTBALL PREVIEW

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September 2, 2005

Coaches Expect Forward Progress

Palisades High offensive coordinator Aaronn Castro (right) is putting his players through rigorous conditioning drills to prepare for the season opener September 9 against Sylmar.
Photo by Rich Schmitt, *Staff Photographer*

Ever since practice began exactly one month ago, Palisades High coaches and players have sought to erase the memory of last season when the Dolphins set a school record for losses. That was then, this is now and the focus is on moving forward, not reliving the past. “We are young and inexperienced, but we’re stronger, faster, and more talented,” said second-year Head Coach Leo Castro, whose team finished 1-9 and dead last in the Western League a year ago. “We’re deeply motivated to succeed and our goal is to make the playoffs.” A postseason berth would appear to be a tall task with so many new names on the roster and the graduation of key starters, including quarterback and kicker Dylan Cohen (who won the Post Cup Award last spring as Pali’s outstanding senior athlete), receptions leader Brandon Bryant, offensive lineman Justin Page, tailback Anthony Anaebere and defensive captain Dave Villalobos. Several other players transferred to other schools, including last season’s leading rusher Andre Harris (Taft), promising receiver Javon Crowder (Crenshaw), and brothers Donovan and Nicholas Blount (Cathedral). Replacing Cohen at quarterback will be junior Raymond Elie, who made first-team All League on frosh/soph last year. Backing up Elie will be Robert Gillett, who started several games when Cohen was injured last season. “The plays are the same but varsity is definitely a different level in terms of strength and speed,” said Elie, who lives down the street from the USC campus. “I’ll be looking to pass first but if the line collapses I’ll use my second instinct and run. And when I take off, I’ll score. No one’s going to catch me.” Elie’s bravado is shared by senior wide receiver and free safety Ryan Henry, who points to the Dolphins’ improved conditioning as a key to improving their record. “We started preparing much earlier this year,” hHenry said. “We went to seven-on-seven leagues at the beginning of the summer, we’ve been in the weight room since and the coaches have been much stricter about getting us in shape. Our focus during practice has been on conditioning, tackling and special teams.” Much of Castro’s staff is the same. His son, Aaronn, returns as offensive coordinator and Carter Austin returns as running backs coach. Ed Weans will be the defensive coordinator, Jujuan Atkins will work with the defensive backs and Ron Cuccia is the quarterback consultant. “I’m really high on Raymond because he is a triple-threat kind of quarterback who can run, throw or hand off, so he’s going to give the defense problems,” Castro said. “On top of that, he’s left-handed. He and Gillett competed for the starting spot all summer, so both got better in the process.” Only 35 players suited up on varsity last season and the Dolphins figure to dress even less this year, meaning several starters, Henry included, will have to play both offense and defense. “Our numbers are way down,” Castro said. “We may only have about 30 players on varsity and 18 or 19 of those will be juniors. So we’re an extremely young team.” Anchoring the front lines will be 6-7, 275-pound junior Mitchell Schwartz, an honorable mention All-League choice last season. “We’re looking good,” said Schwartz, whose older brother, Geoff, is now the starting offensive tackle at Oregon. “The team is much more enthusiastic and our camaraderie is way better than last year.” Up from the frosh/soph squad are tackle Marsden Burton (6-2, 340), center Josh Brookhim (6-0, 180) and linebacker Julian Portugal-Gooden (6-0, 205). Castro described senior offensive guard/defensive end Christian Clark (6-3, 240) as a “pleasant surprise” while linebacker Henry Argueta and offensive guard/defensive tackle Evan Lambkins (6-1, 235) will provide stability up the middle. Gillett, second-team All-League last year, will double at linebacker and free safety. Billy Ortman and Ryan Lebowitz will play linebacker, Shane Brando will play guard and tackle and D’Kylo Forman will be an offensive and defensive tackle. On offense, seniors Marquise Coleman and Gillett will be the work horses at running back, assisted by fullbacks Michael Anderson and Cesar Amaya and tailbacks Jonathan Aghachi and Anthony Yarborough. “I actually prefer to play defense but I like being on the field every play,” Gillett said. “Our backfield will be balanced and we’re more accustomed to the coaches and what they expect. I think we’ll start this season much more prepared than we were going into last year.” Wideouts will include Herbert Smith, Julian Harris, Dajuan Cofield, Travis deZarn, Sudsy Dyke, Christopher Henderson and Michael Cissel and Colin Vining. Alphanso Gray, Deonte Baker and Portugal-Gooden will rotate at tight end. Cohen’s placekicking and punting successor will be senior Esteban Moreno, who booted a 38-yard field goal two years ago in his first game on the frosh/soph team. “I’m pretty accurate from 35 yards and in,” Moreno said. “My longest in practice is a 48-yarder. I just hope I can be reliable when the pressure’s on.” Unlike last season, Castro is not reluctant to start juniors over seniors. In fact, the Dolphins will start eight juniors on offense and six on defense. “We’re going with the kids who we’ve coached and taught and know our system,” Castro said. “Last year, we gave the seniors the benefit of the doubt and, in many cases, it hurt us. This time, we’re going with the guys we know will stay eligible and who know the plays we want to run.” One factor that could help the Dolphins improve on last year’s record is their schedule. Seven of Palisades’ 10 games will be at Stadium by the Sea, including its annual showdowns with league rivals Venice and Westchester. However, Los Angeles, the team the Dolphins beat last year, has been replaced by Invitational finalist South Gate, which returns Daniel Kozasky, one of the top quarterbacks in the City Section. By far the Dolphins’ toughest test will be Sylmar in next Friday night’s opener. The Spartans possess one of the most highly-touted running backs in the nation, C.J. Gable, who burned Pali for two long runs in Sylmar’s 25-10 victory last season. “There are no pushovers in our league anymore,” line coach George Burns said. “Five years ago you could count on one or two wins every year just by showing up but that is no longer the case. We’re gonna’ have to fight like heck to win every game.” Pali’s players seem ready for the challenge. “We’re pretty confident,” Baker said. “We’re looking forward to coming out strong and starting the season off right. I think a lot of teams are going to overlook us because of last year, but we’re a different team and we’re going to surprise people.” Frosh/Soph Despite having only four returning starters, second-year coach Calvin Parker is optimistic that his team can improve on last season’s 2-7-1 mark. “We will most definitely be better,” said Parker, who will be assisted by defensive coordinator Kelly Loftus and special teams coach Al Heath. “I think we have a better attitude this year, better chemistry. If we execute the way I know we can, we can win eight or nine games this year.” Sophomore Alan Ferguson will start at quarterback while fellow 10th-graders Lazzarian Rankin (fullback), Vorsper Aiwize (tailback) and Miles Nelson (tailback), a transfer from Westchester, will handle the ball carrying duties along with freshman Justin Sawai. Returners Milton Strausberg and Adam Cristiano will anchor the receiving corp while freshman Brandon Omar will be a factor on the offensive and defensive lines. Another key will be the continued inprovement of sophomore center Alejandro Medrano. “We haven’t fumbled a snap since he took over in the fifth game last year,” Parker said of Medrano. “He’ll be a key on offense and the front seven will be the key on defense. We need to have good pursuit and get more helmets on the ball.”

A Fan’s Journey to Major League Ballparks

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September 1, 2005

By JACK KUHLENSCHMIDT Special to the Palisadian-Post I love baseball. Ever since I was a toddler, baseball has been a passion of mine. Not necessarily playing baseball, but just watching professional baseball. The slick glove of Cesar Izturis, the homers of Mike Piazza, and the arm of Raul Mondesi are almost a part of me. The atmosphere around Dodger Stadium makes me feel as if the team really needs me there to support them, or they will lose! The crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd: that is where I feel I truly belong. The fans, with their yelling and passion, and how the stadium is set up enough to take my breath away. And of course, one of the most important things about a baseball game, the ballpark’s hot dogs. Luckily for me, Dodger Stadium serves the immortal Dodger Dog, a long skinny wiener that, when topped with the right condiments, makes a good game even better. So when my good friend Jake invited me on a whirlwind tour of four baseball cities in four days, I jumped at the chance to join him. Jake had been doing similar trips with his dad for five years. I could only hope the stadium, the dogs, and the teams would stand up to my Dodgers. The first city we visited was Toronto. We had high expectations of Toronto, because Canadians always say that they are so clean. Maybe our expectations were much too high. I truly believed that every building there was going to be a shining white and silver, without any blemishes at all. Well, they were regular buildings with the occasional graffiti, but Toronto was still much cleaner than smoggy L.A. At the stadium, we were let onto the field (let’s just say Jake’s father happens to be very famous) to meet players and get a feel of a major leaguer player’s pregame routine. The Skydome has artificial turf and a domed ceiling so that nothing can intrude on baseball. We learned that the ball actually bounces more slowly on the artificial turf, which makes it a very tricky surface to play on. A hard-hit ground ball might not make it out of the infield. After the players took batting practice, Jake, his father, and I were escorted to our seats. I shook my head and tried to recover from meeting so many major league ball players. We got hot dogs and enjoyed the game. The Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-2, because the Jays got a strong pitching performance from Roy Halladay. A stadium highlight was a man selling beer who sang a song to the rhythm of “Hot in Here” by Nelly: “It’s getting hot in here. So hot, so buy an ice cold beer.'” Another observation: the hot dogs in Toronto were much meatier than American hot dogs. No comparison to Dodger Dogs, though. Also, Canadians really do say “aboot” and “oot” instead of “about” and “out.” After staying overnight in Toronto we flew south to Tampa Bay, which Jake and I quickly determined cool people call simply Tampa. We met about 20 major leaguers from Florida and Tampa Bay and walked around on the artificial turf at Tropicana Field, which was an even faster playing surface than the one in Toronto. Tampa dogs are really boring and ordinary, without any special characteristics. The Devil Rays were blown out of the water by the Marlins (I will spare you the score). Tampa Bay is a beautiful place, an almost unreal and peaceful city. I was extremely sad because the best baseball fantasy of my life was half over. We left the stadium for the airport and on to Houston, Texas. Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros, has a retractable dome roof, which means games can be played either indoors or outdoors. Because the temperature was 93 degrees, the roof was closed and air-conditioning on when we arrived. Thanks to Jake’s dad, we met Jim Wynn, one of the greatest Astros in history, and witnessed the historic occasion of his number being retired. We went into Wynn’s box about five minutes after Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Morgan had left, which was almost as awesome as actually meeting him. We had a lot of fun in Houston. They had spicy hot dogs, incredibly delicious when topped with onions. Very different from Dodger Dogs, but they would rank nearly as high on a 1-10 scale. Minute Maid Park is a true work of art because of its intricate design and masterful seating arrangement. It has a natural grass field and the domed ceiling is worked up with thousands of metal supports, making the roof look futuristic. The walls of the stadium are made of brick, which makes it look like a ballpark from the 1920s or ’30s. The seats go up to the ceiling and there are 50,000 good seats. Anywhere you sit you can see the field. The seats are dark green and blend with the brick walls to create a soothing mixture. The Astros lost a slugfest, but it was an amazing game with lots of offense. The teams combined for seven home runs! During the seventh inning stretch, after “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” is played, Houston fans go wild singing their favorite song: “Deep in the Heart of Texas.” Our last stop was Phoenix, Arizona. It was so hot there that you could literally sunburn in five minutes. It was over 100 degrees all day long, so when we weren’t at Bank One Ballpark we were in any air-conditioned area we could find. Two hours before game time, we made a mad dash to the stadium and sat through batting practice, satiated by homemade Polish dogs with sweet grilled onions, not a bad choice to beat the heat. I waited an hour and a half outside of the Detroit Tigers’ locker room to get the autograph of my favorite player, Ivan Rodriguez. He has been the face of catching for years and has inspired me to try to play like him. When he went out to warm up, my heart started beating faster. “Is it really him?” Standing behind the dugout, I was surprised when I realized he makes a Maria Sharapova-esque grunt every time he throws his balls at incredible speed. I screamed, politely, of course, “Ivan! Oh Pudge!” all during his warm-ups, until he was finished. He was entering the dugout when he noticed me among dozens of fans. “Throw it here,” he said and I tossed my baseball to him. ‘Squeak, squeak’ my sharpie rubbed across the leather of the baseball and he tossed it back to me. I yelled ‘Thank you’ and a modest grin swept across his face for a split second. He only signed my ball. I could have gone home right then. My quest was complete. The Diamondbacks won the game, 13-7, on a pair of Shawn Green homers. It was a great game to watch because of all the offense and a couple of defensive gems. We then had to return to our sad and boring lives in Los Angeles. Drive to school, drive back. Do our homework, go to sleep. Wake up, go to school. From fantasy to reality. We arrived at my house in a solemn state, stunned that it was all over. But I knew this was a trip I would not forget for the rest of my life. (Editor’s note: Palisadian Jack Kuhlenschmidt is an eighth-grader at St. Matthew’s.)

Making a Big Racket on the Tennis Scene

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September 1, 2005

Palisadian Brian Alle won the Boy’s 14 Singles division of the USTA Long Beach Junior Open held last weekend. Ranked in the Boy’s 12s, Alle played up a division and beat the top seeded player, Michael Tang of Irvine, 6-4, 6-3, as well as the No. 2 and No. 4 seeds on his way to the title. Last month, Alle and fellow Palisadian Brett Allchorn were selected by the USTA Special Performance Committee to participate in the National USTA Pacific Zone Team Championships in Tucson, Arizona. Alle, who attends Calvary Christian School, and Allchorn, who goes to Paul Revere, participated in the Boys 12 & Under singles, doubles and mixed doubles events. Players were selected based on their Sectional/National Rankings. Four other teams participated, representing Northern California, Hawaii, the Pacific Northwest and the Pacific Southwest. The Southern California Section sent six teams, consisting of 5 boys and 15 girls per team. Nationally recognized coaches advised each team. Alle finished undefeated in nine matches.

Louise Davies, 81; Owned a Top Real Estate Office Here

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September 1, 2005

Louise Davies, a longtime Pacific Palisades resident, passed away at her San Remo Drive home on August 26 at the age of 81. She died of natural causes after a lengthy struggle with Parkinson’s disease. Best known as one of the Palisades’ leading realtors during the 1970s and 1980s, Louise and her husband, Merton E. Davies, a legendary planetary scientist with The Rand Corporation, will be remembered as much for the character and charm of their household as for their important accomplishments in business and science. Born in Santa Monica on June 18, 1924, Margaret Louise Darling was the first child of Shelby Rogers Darling and Kathleen Dodge. Her father, born in Oregon in 1895, was a descendant of early pioneers of Kentucky and Ohio, and moved to Southern California in 1910. Her mother Kathleen’s roots date back to among the first American colonists, and all four of Kathleen’s grandparents were living in California by the 1860s, making Louise a fourth-generation Californian. Louise’s only sibling, David, was born in 1931. The young family’s early years during the Depression were difficult, and at times they lived in a trailer while Shelby pursued work in farming and construction. After graduating from Van Nuys High School in 1942, and blessed with movie-star good looks, Louise began work in a department store where her natural charm and abilities were quickly recognized. In 1945 she met Merton Davies, a young Stanford graduate who worked as an engineer at Douglas Aircraft during World War II. On February 9, 1946, they were married in Santa Monica, and their first child, Deidra Louise Davies, was born August 18, 1947. After the war, Merton joined Rand, where he would remain his entire career. He and Louise had two sons, Albert (born in 1950) and Merton, Jr., born in 1951. In 1948, Merton and Louise bought a lot at 468 Arbramar in the Palisades and built their first home. At Rand, Merton worked on top-secret Cold War battle plans as a pioneer scientist in the field of satellite reconnaissance, while Louise managed the household and educated the children. Every weekend was spent at the beach with neighborhood friends, and the summers included three cross-country trips with a travel trailer. From 1960-63, the family lived in Alexandria, Virginia, while Merton worked at Rand’s office in the Pentagon with Air Force intelligence. Louise enjoyed life in and around Washington, D.C. during the Kennedy Administration, and Merton’s work brought them into high-ranking political and military social circles. When the family returned to the Palisades, Louise got her real estate broker’s license and began her successful business career. After starting with Ross Price Realty, she opened Louise Davies Real Estate in about 1967. Many of her clients started as referrals from Rand, but Louise established herself as honest, reliable and extremely capable. At one point she owned and managed two offices, one in the Palisades and in Santa Monica, with a total of over 20 agents and employees. In 1984, she served as president of the Pacific Palisades branch of the Los Angeles Board of Realtors. During this period, she occasionally found attractive investment properties and began another career in residential property ownership and management. Ultimately, her holdings would include numerous apartments, retail and residential properties in the Palisades and other areas of Los Angeles. When Merton began applying his space photography skills to planetary exploration of the solar system in the late 1960s, he worked with many international colleagues and organizations, and as a result, he and Louise began traveling around the world, often to remote destinations. As a result, they accumulated many new friends who would then visit them in Los Angeles. Louise took great pride in their children and grandchildren. Her daughter Deidra, a probate and trusts attorney in Santa Monica, married Chris Stauff and they have four children, Tamara, Katherine, Corinne and Kirk. Her son Albert, an entrepreneur in the wind-energy industry, lives in Santa Rosa and is married to Sally Jacobs. They have three children, Brendan, Meara and Colin. Her youngest son, Randy, is a real estate lawyer, married to Deborah Schelling, with two daughters, Kimberly and Carolyn. Louise also had two great-grandchildren, Gage Madison Stauff and Kendall Louise Stauff. As a businesswoman Louise was successful through dedication and hard work, a keen ability to recognize the requirements of her clients, good judgment, common sense and an engaging personality. She was bluntly honest and reliable, which earned her many repeat and referral customers. The same traits gained her the admiration of her family and friends. Always mindful of her difficult early years, she was cautious in financial matters, yet generous in the support of her family’particularly in matters of investment, travel and education, which she viewed as among the most admirable of pursuits. Even after the loss of her lifelong companion, Merton, after 56 years of marriage, and while her own health deteriorated, Louise remained dedicated to her work and to the care and support of her family. Services will be held at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, September 3, at Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Chapel, 5600 Lindero Canyon Rd., in Westlake Village. Contact: (818) 889-0902.

Jon B. Riffel, 84; Gas Company VP

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September 1, 2005

Jon B. Riffel, a 37-year resident of Pacific Palisades who was a Southern California Gas Company public relations executive, has died at the age of 84. Riffel, who helped found the Marine Toys For Tots programs, suffered a severe stroke on August 17 and passed away a week later at Santa Monica Hospital. He was the gas company’s vice president of public relations and advertising from 1968 to his retirement in 1986. He held similar positions at Lockheed in Sunnyvale and North American Aviation in Columbus, Ohio. In 1947, he collaborated with his friend Bill Hendricks, a PR man for the Warner Bros. studio, and other Marine Corps reservists around Los Angeles to form the popular Toys For Tots holiday toy drive to benefit underprivileged children. Toys For Tots got its start when Hendricks’ wife, Diane, handcrafted a Raggedy Ann doll and suggested her husband donate it to an organization that would give it to a needy child for Christmas. Hendricks, however, found that there was no such agency, so with the help of Riffel and other Marines, he started Toys For Tots. They collected 5,000 toys that first year. Warner Bros. celebrities assisted the next year, when the program was expanded nationwide. Riffel served as president of the Public Relations Society of America in 1971 and helped create the Public Relations Student Society of America, which now boasts 250 chapters at colleges and universities throughout the country. He was also a longtime board member of the Museum of Science and Industry in Exposition Park. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Riffel joined the Marine Corps in 1942 after graduating from Hendrix College. He participated in the Iwo Jima and Okinawa campaigns in World War II, and was called back to active duty during the Korean War before retiring with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He later had a brief acting career, landing a speaking roles in the movies “Battleground” and “The Monty Stratton Story.” He also had various parts in stage productions. Riffel is survived by his wife of 54 years, Marion; a daughter, Susan Graby (husband Robert) of Bellevue, Washington; sons Bran of Pacific Palisades and Jim (wife Meredith) of El Cajon; grandchildren Jennifer, Jeffrey, Susan, Laura and James; and honorary grandchildren Chris, Shannon and Gail. A private burial was held at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City. A memorial service will be on September 10 at 1 p.m. at Calvary Church of Pacific Palisades, 701 Palisades Dr.

Topanga Art Exhibit To Honor Ann King

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September 1, 2005

Ann King, a former resident of Pacific Palisades, will be honored with a memorial art exhibition opening September 20 at the Topanga Canyon Gallery on Pine Tree Circle, 120 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd. King died on June 13 after a five-year battle with cancer. An artist and member of the Topanga Canyon Gallery, she was an inspiration to many, including Ron’ Prinz, who credits King and her painting for confidence in her own work. “It’s what keeps me going,” she said. Prinz , other gallery members and friends will exhibit their artwork along with a number of King’s paintings at the show, which runs through October 16. Proceeds from the sale of King’s work will be donated to St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, where she was a member and served on the Vestry for two years. The Gallery is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Chemist Joseph Lin’s Work Is All About Saving Face

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September 1, 2005

As T. Joseph Lin tells it, he studied chemical engineering simply because his mother told him to do so. “I was a good Chinese boy,” says Lin, a soft-spoken man who, with his wife Cathy and three sons, has lived in the Palisades since 1974. “I listened to my mother. My father started one of the oldest cosmetic companies in Taiwan, and studying chemical engineering made sense.” Lin grew up in Taiwan and came to the U.S. where he graduated from UC Berkeley in 1957 with a degree in chemical engineering. He then went on to receive a M.S. degree from the University of Washington in 1959. “When I finished school,” Lin says, “I realized that I still really did not know anything about cosmetics and decided that I had better look for a job in a cosmetic company to learn the trade.” Finding a job, however, was not easy. After many rejections, Lin was offered a job at Beauty Counselors Inc., a small company in Detroit where he worked on aerosols and manufacturing problems. Still yearning to learn more, Lin attended night school at Wayne State University, where he received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering. He soon joined Rohm and Hass in Philadelphia but in 1965 was lured to Max Factor by a headhunter, as a principal research chemist. “My dream was to work for a big company, and I was very excited about moving to Hollywood,” Lin says. But four years later, Lin’s mother asked him to return to Taiwan to help the family business, Shen Hsiang Tang, where he designed a new factory, set up a research and development department and trained the staff. He also created two cosmetic brands’VIP and Cellina’that are still popular in Taiwan today. Eventually, Lin felt he was losing his edge, and in order to keep up-to-date with scientific developments, decided to attend an International Federation of Societies of Cosmetic Chemists (IFSCC) congress, where he met some Japanese scientists, who asked him to consult with them. And, once more, his life took an unexpected turn. “When I was a boy, Taiwan was a colony of Japan and I knew how to speak Japanese,” says Lin, who is also fluent in Mandarin as well as the Taiwanese dialect. “So I brushed up on the language and was soon lecturing in Japan.” In 1974, Lin returned to California and became an independent consultant for clients worldwide including Avon, Estee Lauder, Gillette, Neutrogena and Johnson & Johnson to name a few. For years he wrote a popular column, “Notes from the Orient,” for “Cosmetics & Toiletries” magazine. In August, he was honored by a Japanese cosmetic trade magazine, “Fragrance Journal,” for his work as its columnist for the past 30 years. Although Lin continues to be an independent consultant, he has his own company, Shangri-La, Inc., where he is working with his sons Richard and Edward to develop skin-care products and innovations considered to be unique. Presently they have two products, under a brand called Octane, available: a green tea shampoo/body wash gel with mint and a re-energizing gel with ginseng boost. Needless to say, Lin has a lot to say about cosmetics and the industry today. “There is only so much you can do with cosmetics,” Lin begins. “Nowadays cosmetic companies have a lot of competition, like Botox, plastic surgery and laser. My view is that not just one thing will fulfill all the needs of the consumer. We need all these things. It’s a myth to think, for instance, that natural ingredients are better than synthetic. Synthetic ingredients are still necessary. They’re really indistinguishable from natural. “The desire to be beautiful is so strong. It’s part of our DNA. Companies want to get a high price for products. They have expensive jars. A French name. A big movie star as a spokesman. But they are getting smarter’and they really want to make good products. Women are willing to pay and the cosmetic companies are struggling to deliver. Essentially, the customer is really buying hope in a jar.” And scientists are always working to discover something better. For instance, for a while, they thought that Vitamin E would be a key ingredient to save the face. “Everybody was putting Vitamin E in cosmetics because we know the aging process of the skin is oxidation,” Lin explains. “So we thought that using antioxidants and, in this case, Vitamin E, was a good thing. And now we hear that it was bad for the heart. And then it all changed. “We’re continually learning. That shows that our understanding is not perfect yet. We still have a lot to learn about this thing we call nature.” It seems Lin’s mother was right about what Lin should study. Today, after 35 years in the business, Lin is recognized as an expert on cosmetic formulations and manufacturing. And he’s been able to give back to his native Taiwan, where he is on the board of the Taiwanese United Fund, a nonprofit cultural organization that raises money for young Taiwanese artists. “I enjoy my work,” Lin concludes. “I go to different countries, meet new people, discover new technologies. Newer functions are being discovered and I hope they’re real. I’m getting old myself, and am interested too!”