Book credits lifeguard with tourism boom in and around Santa Monica
SANTA MONICA BEACH The evolution of Santa Monica as one of the top beachside tourist destinations in Southern California owes a large debt to the lifeguards that have kept the water safe for more than 70 years.
Pam Anderson’s red swimsuit didn’t hurt either.
An organization of Santa Monica lifeguards first banded together in 1933 in the midst of the Great Depression, when heaps of tourists and Santa Monicans alike headed to the beach to escape the harsh realities of the economic downturn.
As more people arrived at the beaches, the fear of more drowning incidents and its adverse effect on tourism rose, prompting the formation of the Santa Monica Lifeguards.
So began the story of the first lifeguard organization in Santa Monica, chronicled in a new book by current LA County lifeguard and historian Arthur C. Verge Jr.
Verge will be discussing his book, “Santa Monica Lifeguards,” tonight at the Ocean Park branch library.
The organization was founded by George “Cap” Watkins, an avid swimmer who primarily earned his living as a Hollywood stuntman.
In those days, the lifeguards were an eclectic bunch, some with strong Hollywood connections, others who would go on to become major figures in the surfing world, several winning national and world titles.
“Without safe beaches, you wouldn’t have a tourist trade,” Verge said on Wednesday. “I don’t think Santa Monica would have developed as it did without the lifeguards on the beach.
“They made a safe environment and that helped (Santa Monica) take off economically.”
Many of the lifeguards became friends with Hollywood socialites, the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Norma Shearer hanging out with the heroic men who kept a watchful eye on the swimmers. The lifeguards often baby-sat the Hollywood stars’ children on the beach.
The Santa Monica Lifeguards, which started with 18 participants, merged with its LA County brethren in July 1974. Today, there are between 60 and 70 lifeguards patrolling Santa Monica’s beaches, according to Verge.
It took Verge about a year to compile the material for the 128-page book, a collection of short stories and photos donated by former lifeguards and Bill Beebe, the photographer for the now-defunct Evening Outlook.
A history professor at El Camino College, Verge is also the author of the “Los Angeles County Lifeguards,” a photo book also published by Arcadia Publishing.
Born and raised in Santa Monica, Verge, a third-generation Santa Monican, joined the LA County Lifeguards in 1974 and has remained in the organization since, patrolling the Santa Monica and Venice beaches a few days out of the year. His father, Arthur Verge, a retired professor at Santa Monica College, was a Santa Monica lifeguard until 1964 and is also featured in the book.
Verge, who now lives in El Segundo, is expected to bring along a few veteran lifeguards that worked on Santa Monica’s beaches following the end of World War II when he presents the book this evening. “(Verge) knows the material so well and is so well acquainted with the people, the players and the history,” said Jamie Watson, who works at the Ocean Park branch library. “It’s significant to highlight our history and that (the branch library) was around when lifeguards were getting formed.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 13, 2007. Read the original PDF.