CAMARILLO : Big Spin Winner Still Lives Simply

The most recent wave of Lotto mania barely caught the imagination of Eric Daily of Camarillo. Sure, he bought a ticket, he said. But it was more of a reflex than an act motivated by dreams of freedom and enrichment.

“Nowadays, I rarely play,” he said. He doesn’t need to.

Five years ago, Daily won $6.3 million in the “Big Spin.” It was then the largest jackpot ever awarded by the California State Lottery. Every year, Daily receives $252,000 after taxes. The annual payout will continue through the year 2006.

Unlike those who have squandered their lottery winnings, 29-year-old Daily has spent his judiciously, enabling him to take control of his life. His advice to other winners: “Take your time and go slowly.”

Although he is now independently wealthy, he pursues a relatively simple suburban life. His friends say the windfall has not changed him much. “He’s a little more reserved. I guess that goes with the territory,” said Rick Fiore, a friend for 10 years. “I don’t think he is interested in pursuing a vast empire.”

Instead, Daily is happy pursuing his interests by collecting books as well as theater and movie memorabilia.

For the past three years, Daily has owned and operated Oz West, a bookstore in Ventura specializing in rare and reader copies of children’s books, including his favorite “Wizard of Oz” series.

A graduate of Camarillo High School, Daily plans to enroll at Moorpark College in September to complete general education requirements toward a bachelor of arts degree in theater at UC Santa Barbara.

But it is not as though he lives as a humble pauper. Daily’s house in the Camarillo hills commands a panoramic view of the Santa Rosa Valley and the Oxnard Plain, which his great-grandfather, pioneer Wendell Phillips Daily, helped settle.

The velvet-cushioned throne in the living room is Rex Harrison’s seat from the film “Cleopatra.” And the 1930s movie posters are originals. His Corvette’s license plate frame reads “Millionaire in training.”

But his fortune has not led to extravagant excesses. Daily’s other car is a Toyota, and he still socializes with many of the same friends. “My big deal,” Daily said, “is to go to Hawaii for 10 days every year.”

Nor did the money lead to a fairy-tale romance.

In 1989, he met Carolyn, who is now his wife, in a church-sponsored production of “The Music Man” in Simi Valley. They were dance partners.

“For our first date, we went to Marie Callender’s for pie and herb tea,” Carolyn Daily said. It took a photograph of Eric at the Big Spin to convince her of his wealth. Now the couple have a baby girl, Katelyne.

The lottery changed Daily’s life in November, 1985.

Then 24, Daily was a produce clerk at Vons market in Westlake Village. He bought scratch-off tickets at the market with a $10 employee gift certificate and qualified for the Big Spin television program in Sacramento.

Before leaving, Daily told his boss something most employees only fantasize about: “If I win it big, I’m not coming back.”