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Singer is a late blues bloomer
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WEST L.A. The sound of plastic compact disc jewel cases clanking into each other filled the air as a pair of hands frantically rifled through a row of albums.
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Author explores love of Los Angeles
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DOWNTOWN There are two simultaneous trajectories to the life of Santa Monica resident and author Anna Sklar, one geographical arch that jumps across cities within Los Angeles, and another personal love for the demands of reporting that bridged jobs.
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When love meets battle
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LOS ANGELES Emma Peterson is used to missing stretches of days at Harvard-Westlake Middle School, doing her homework on the floors of airports, and sacrificing organized retreats and camping trips for her sport. The blond hair, pale blue eyed 14 year old travels to around 10 competitions per year, lugging with her bags of weaponry and protective gear, and usually wins medals.
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Choosing to give back
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DOWNTOWN When Cory Russell and Kate Mottola found themselves languishing in their hometowns, out of work or out of school and hesitant about the next big life-defining move, they did what any twentysomething might do: Head out to sunny Santa Monica — and volunteer full-time for the local Red Cross.
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Professing a love for the classroom
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SMC Christine Schultz, chair of the philosophy and social science department at Santa Monica College, had a particularly good day teaching class last week. Extemporizing on the scientific method, emphasizing the importance of the process of solving questions over the value of answers, Schultz got her students to howl with laughter.
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Educator began a local institution
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When Joel Pelcyger traveled to New York City as a fellow for a two week Heads of Schools program offered by Columbia University’s Teachers College, it was the first time in 37 years he had spent any extended length of time away from the school he co-founded. Since the age of 24, when he helped begin Santa Monica’s PS #1 Elementary School, Pelcyger has been a campus mainstay.
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Santa Monica’s curator of art
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BERGAMOT STATION When the Santa Monica Museum of Art celebrated its 20th anniversary with a birthday party last month, executive director Elsa Longhauser was able to savor the moment knowing she has served an important role in the evolution of the local institution.
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Giving back to those who gave
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DOWNTOWN A sense of déjà vu consumed Renè Buchanan as she walked through the doors of the Daybreak Shelter, the surroundings so familiar, yet something she couldn’t quite place in her memory.
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Leading Pico forward
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PICO NEIGHBORHOOD It was a modestly-sized apartment building, $58,000 and the wise words of his father that jump-started Robert Kronovet’s long career in real estate.
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On the stump for real change
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DUBUQUE, IDAHO In a crowded room illuminated by the flashing bulbs of news cameras and the cheers of political supporters, Nancy Linehan Charles finally came face-to-face with a former first lady.
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This ‘Diva’ is popular
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CITY HALL Seated on a bench outside City Hall on a recent Thursday afternoon, Jeri Wingo went about explaining what her duties are as the newly-elected president of the Municipal Employees Association, the union representing the majority of city workers.
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People are what make a community
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Editor’s note: Our weekly Community Profiles feature strives to focus attention on some of the most interesting individuals in our midst and has profiled some of the area’s best and brightest this year. Some entertain the masses, others save the community. There are even those who just make the world a more beautiful, thought provoking place to live. Here are our choices for best profiles of the year that was 2007.
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One last service for this server
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DOWNTOWN SM It will start out like any other Wednesday.
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Fighting the good fight
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DOWNTOWN Held captive in a car traveling out of control at full speed, gripping its sides with an automatic weapon pointed at him, Tighe Barry thought he had just been kidnapped by the Taliban.
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Growing into the role
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SM PLAYHOUSE John Waroff, a fixture at the Santa Monica Playhouse for more than 30 years, gets a kick out of playing Santa Claus every December — a kick in the shins that is.
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A writer writes on
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The writers’ strike is in its fourth week and there’s no end in sight, only a small glimmer of hope with the agreement for both groups to get back to the bargaining table today. That makes for hard times for the screen and TV writers belonging to the Writers Guild of America (WGA), and not just financially.
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Hook, laugh, and sinker
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SM PIER As he lowered his line into the dark, dirty waters of the Pacific Ocean, Kevin Buchanan knew he didn’t have much of a chance of catching any fish, despite loading his hook up with anchovy. The halibut and smelt just weren’t biting on this day, and even if they did, the British ex-pat wasn’t planning on eating what he reeled in.
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From one mat to another
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DOWNTOWN As a world champion wrestler in the mid 1990s, the last thing Diamond Dallas Page envisioned doing was one day trading the wrestling mat for a yoga mat.
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Junior parenting coach
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ATLANTA In the days leading to her college graduation, Vanessa Van Petten was a nervous wreck.
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Reaching the world
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SMC The desks in his classroom were positioned in a circle. Ryan McMillen, like the handful of students arranged around him, held a copy of Jonathan Safran Foer’s “Everything is Illuminated.”
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Informing the electorate
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NORTH OF MONTANA Rose Kaufman filed into a room where a Parent Teacher Association meeting was being held, the mother of three children was interested in learning more about the school district in which her children had just started attending.
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Taking one for the team
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LOS ANGELES It’s always been said that for a team that doesn’t reach its potential, resulting in another “what if” season, that there’s “always next year.”
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True force in Santa Monica
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SANTA MONICA AIRPORT A group of angry protesters rally in front of the airport administration building, some wearing gas masks, others holding signs complaining of fumes emitted from the jets, all screaming “enough!”
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What would a ninja do?
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MAIN LIBRARY If you’ve got questions, the ninja’s got answers.
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An electric force in town
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MID-CITY Mark Olson was suffering from heat exhaustion.
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Shakespearean summer
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WILMONT As the school year begins this week, the once empty hallways and classrooms will be buzzing with stories of summer break activities, from trips to another country to personal enrichment programs at camp to the seemingly endless hours in school.
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Searching for hidden ties
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There were times when Richard Hewitt had to choose between his parents in Santa Monica or the 12 siblings in a mountain village of four hundred yurts. Other times he had to choose between getting slammed by extremist Christians or staring down extremist Muslims.
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Gay pastor takes a stand
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At the heart of this serene residential neighborhood, a few blocks removed from the Pacific Ocean and comfortably shaded by aging oaks, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of Santa Monica stands in simple, whitewashed dignity. Located on an intersection where even passing cars obediently slow to a full halt at the stop signs, this church, at first glance, is the last place on Earth to find a rebel.
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Kerns welcomes tourists
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OCEAN PARK The person behind Santa Monica’s booming tourism, Misti Kerns recently returned from a road trip to Montreal, promoting the city by the sea as the premier traveling destination in Southern California.
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No ‘mini’ feat
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SANTA MONICA For Stephanie Negriff, deciding to move to Santa Monica and work for the Big Blue Bus wasn’t all that difficult.
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Writer has a fresh palate
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DOWNTOWN A well-harvested vegetable grown to exemplify its natural and unique flavors needs very little attention from the salt and pepper shaker.
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Getting better with age
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Downtown A local talent running a local business can seem a rare thing in today’s world, but Raphael Lunetta decided to change that.
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Artful dodger: Actor relives evading war
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Marines stood at attention and saluted Christopher Allport when they saw him enter the officers’ club at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. Curious about the unfamiliar face with the look of an officer, the soldiers asked Allport which company he was from.
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He’s no dummy, he just acts with one
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SECOND STREET — During his more than 14 years as a puppeteer, Steve Meltzer has worked on several commercials, appeared with his dummy Fred Mingo on Nickelodeon and “The Daily Show,” and worked on the cult classic “Team America: World Police” — the first feature film to use marionettes instead of real actors.
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Visions of things to come
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WEST CHANNEL ROAD — Sofia Adams noticed she was different from all the other kids when she was 10 years old. It was then she started seeing the strange visions and having mysterious dreams.
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Survivor settles in SM
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SANTA MONICA PIER — Gazing out at an endless sea of blue water was somewhat surreal after having left a hometown submerged in water.
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The heart of a ‘Lion King’
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HOLLYWOOD — Even if you’ve seen a stage production of “The Lion King” during its current two-year run at the Pantages Theater, you may not have known that everyone’s favorite lion cub who would be king emerged from the wild that is Santa Monica.
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Perking up ears every morning
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SM COLLEGE — You may not know what he looks like, but you’ve likely heard his voice in the morning.
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Safeguarding the soul of Santa Monica
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SM PIER — The pier is Santa Monica’s most recognizable landmark, drawing 3.5 to 4 million visitors each year and putting a face on the city for visitors, locals and Hollywood alike.
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Malibu passing on gas
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MALIBU — A plan to anchor a liquefied natural gas facility off the coast here may have to be scrapped after a Ventura County smog control agency voted unanimously to impose stricter standards on the world’s largest energy supplier, environmentalists said.
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Keeping it reel for four decades
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MONTANA AVE. — Kevin Thomas is a wise guy.
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Getting off on the latest fashion ‘Project Runway’
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There are many things that turn Vincent Libretti on — freedom, diversity, and of course, fashion.
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You’ve got questions, she’s got answers
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If you’ve ever stopped by the Santa Monica Visitors Center on Main Street, you may have been helped by mainstay Thelma Parks. For the last 19 years, Parks has been pointing people in the right direction, advising tourists on which Santa Monica attractions to visit and providing answers to misguided locals.
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Giving her voice to film
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Most people give scant thought to those working behind the scenes on movies, commercials or television shows. And probably even fewer spend time pondering who ensured the subtitles in “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” read true.
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Ready and willing to help the disabled
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30TH STREET — Chris Knauf’s passion for helping those with disabilities is not exclusively a professional pursuit. The new chair of the Santa Monica Disabilities Commission watched his own mother struggle in the grips of schizophrenia, an untreated illness that led to her suicide at age 40.
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Local advocate fights for NRDC
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SECOND STREET — Melissa Lin Perrella is a voice of the people.
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Cheers to local bartender
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SM BEACH — Everybody knows T.J. Sorady.
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Local pawnbroker defies stereotypes
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DOWNTOWN — With The Beatles’ “All You Need is Love” playing in the background, Patrick Fischer and his fellow pawnbroker Debbie Dowse sit behind a tall, wooden counter processing paper work while waiting for a customer to come walking through the doors of Angelo Garzieri’s Jewelry and Loan Company, the “Pawn Shop to the Stars.”
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‘Rental Man’ gets his groove on for Westside
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WILSHIRE BLVD. — On a daily basis, thousands of motorists drive on 11th and Wilshire and stare at the man on the corner, holding a sign and dancing like a madman.
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Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels fights for justice and peace
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NORTH OF WILSHIRE — Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels was destined to be a doctor but divine intervention turned him into a rabbi and an activist in the local community.
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A watchful eye in times of change
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SMPD HDQTRS. — Seated in his fourth-floor office within the new Public Safety Building just off Main Street, Santa Monica Police Chief James T. Butts Jr. has a bird’s eye view of the Santa Monica Pier, the downtown district and a large swath of the city whose people he has been entrusted with protecting for the past 15 years.
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The truth is out there
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SM BEACH — When Mary Setterholm looks at the ocean, she sees more than an endless expanse of mystic blue.
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Trying tough love each day
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AIRPORT COURTHOUSE — She walked into the courtroom dressed in a wrinkled jail jumpsuit, looking pale from the fear of the unknown. Her greasy auburn hair was pulled over one shoulder, revealing brown eyes that looked heavy from a lack of sleep.
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Living well is best revenge
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PICO BLVD. — For nearly Jennifer Carslake’s entire existence, drugs and alcohol have been her passion. For the first half of her life, it was about abusing them. Now, at 41, it’s about helping others become free of them.
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Maneuvering for a bigger office
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THIRD STREET — While traveling along the road to success, there are many detours that can throw one off track, but not Ben Allen. The Santa Monica native seems to have his GPS system locked in and his determination set to four-wheel drive as he has swiftly and skillfully outmaneuvered the competition to become the 33rd student to serve on the University of California Board of Regents, where he will set policy and help guide the state’s public universities for the 2007-08 school year.
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Lessons of a life in the scrum
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Rugby is the sport for those who loved playing “kill the man with the ball” as kids, according to Stuart Krohn of Sunset Park, summing up the mindset of those who don their mouthguards and little else each week to ruck, scrum and grub the day away.
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Driven SMC student is branching out
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Marlene Ruiz knows that achieving the American Dream doesn’t come easy.
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Lifeguard’s credo is to go with flow
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BAYWATCH HDQRTS. — Dave Estey describes his job as long periods of boredom coupled with moments of terror.
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A wrench in the works
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SUNSET PARK — When it comes to cruising up the coast on one of his more than 20 custom, handmade motorcycles, director/master builder Scott Gillen appears the ultimate easy rider.
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Cool beans: UnUrban owner wears heart on her cup sleeve
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PICO BOULEVARD — Having been recognized by the Chamber of Commerce as a steward of community and the environment, Pam Stollings of UnUrban — a coffeehouse, community center and performance space on the east end of town — said she is humbled, grateful and inspired to make her business more than just a place to buy a caffe latte.
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Book report launches teen’s next chapter
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THIRD STREET — Oprah Winfrey is known for her deep generosity, often treating her guests and devoted fans to lavish gifts like luxury cars or shopping sprees to exclusive boutiques.
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Just doing the best he can
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11TH STREET — Jerry Washington is a product of his environment.
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Eddie Frierson: Finding a field of dreams
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THIRD STREET PROMENADE — After 18 years of performing his critically acclaimed one-man show for audiences across the country, former UCLA pitcher, Santa Monica High School baseball coach and playwright Eddie Frierson is returning to the place where it all started: the Santa Monica Playhouse, which played host to some of his first performances.
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Joel Zucker: Dog’s best friend
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MAIN STREET — Joel Zucker’s yellow Labrador, Bailey, is more than just his version of man’s best friend. The well-trained pooch is also Zucker’s little champion, for Bailey was ranked one of the top 12 dogs in the world in 2004.
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Tatiana Blanc: Santa Monica’s soldier
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THIRD STREET PROMENADE — Like others who join the Army after high school, Tatiana Blanc enlisted because she was wanted to travel, learn valuable skills and save money for college.
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Leaving the beige behind for brighter days
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MONTANA AVE. — Walking into Marcia Bloom’s boutique clothing store here is like entering a dream world where imaginations are allowed to run wild and the only requirement for admittance is a desire to be entertained. Her husband, Sam Kass, a playwright and “Seinfeld” alum, compares it to “Alice and Wonderland,” where “people can come inside and take a step out of reality, leaving all of their worries behind them and really take time to smell the roses.”
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Gerri Gilliland’s Irish-American dream
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