Inside Scoop

-- The Daily Pilot staff

LAMB WOOL BE MISSED

Every journalist knows a few sources whose bottomless reserves of

knowledge and good sense can be called on to bring a story together in a

crunch. For the entertainment writers at the Daily Pilot, Gordon Lamb,

press contact for The Orange County Performing Arts Center, was just such

a valuable person.

Lamb, who recently abandoned us to take a job handling media for the Los

Angeles Opera, was stunningly adept at pestering the agents of

performers, juggling complicated schedules and holding the hands of

frantic writers.

Still, for all his talents, Lamb never quite mastered the name of Pilot

reporter Noaki Schwartz.

“He would pronounce it differently every single time,” Schwartz noted.

“And he would try to say it really fast so I wouldn’t notice.”

Despite considerable editorial brain-wracking, the Pilot staff has been

unable to come up with anything else Lamb ever messed up. He did a

fantastic job, and will be sorely missed.

‘BUT OFFICER, I’M ON A HOT STORY’

And here’s another little story about our Newport Beach reporter.

Costa Mesa police appeared to be out in full force on Friday looking for

speeders when Schwartz, rushing off on assignment, was pulled over for

driving 10 miles above the speed limit.

However, after admitting to the officer she was driving too fast, he

praised her for her honesty and sent her off with a warning.

Good thing, because speeding tickets aren’t something reporters can write

off on an expense report.

THE END OF Y2K

OK, we know. Everyone is sick of hearing about Y2K, the nonevent of the

millennium. But we promise -- this is the last mention of any Y2K

craziness.

Rita Goldberg, who helps organize the annual Spirit Run for the

Newport-Mesa Unified School District, must not have wanted to upgrade her

fax machine to prevent the so-called millennium bug’s attack.

The “URGENT” fax she sent over last week about this year’s race had a

not-so-urgent date: Aug. 27, 1956.