The Crowd

B.W. Cook

Phyllis Diller was talking very intensely and privately with a dapper old

gent with silver hair and black horned-rimmed glasses. Then the familiar

Diller laugh punctuated the intimate conversation between the two, which

took place at a small round cocktail table in the grand ballroom of the

Beverly Wilshire Hotel. The hotel, at the infamous corner of Rodeo Drive

and Wilshire, is in the city of the stars -- Beverly Hills.

Diller’s slow and exaggerated laugh had turned a few heads in her

direction. They too were of celebrity status. Tony Martin and his radiant

bride Cyd Charisse, looking particularly chic in a white Mary McFadden

pleated Grecian-inspired gown and wrap to match, joined in the laughter

with Diller showing off her figure in a to-the-floor Chinese-red dress,

bare at the shoulder, with a jacket trimmed in, well, what else but

redyed marabou.

They had come to the hotel in their best Thursday-night formality to

honor the Children’s Bureau of Southern California. It was the 95th

anniversary of a children’s charity, which began in 1904 primarily as an

adoption agency for abandoned children.

Today, in the words of glamorous event hostess Constance Towers Gavin,

“The bureau makes a significant daily difference in the lives of more

than 5,000 children and their families each and every year.”

Towers-Gavin, the blond and classy actress wife of

actor/ambassador/businessman John (Jack) Gavin, added, “The goal today is

not to take the child from their family, but rather to work with the

family and the child to overcome problems and to give the young person a

chance to view the world as a caring place where people matter and make a

positive difference.

“We want to create strong families, loving families, families that raise

children to repeat a positive experience for their own children. This is

how we can change the world, improve our community and make tomorrow a

better society for all.”

Towers-Gavin and her co-chairs for the evening of celebration, Sandra

Ausman and Patricia McQueeney, also invited the crowd to pay tribute to

several remarkably generous and involved people. They were Gerald

Oppenheimer, Robert Kirby and one very grand lady who happens to be the

very heart of Orange County, Donna Crean.

Oppenheimer received the organization’s “Tradition of Caring” recognition

for his personal participation in arranging critical eye surgery for a

young girl who was the victim of a recent earthquake in Mexico.

Oppenheimer, UCLA trustee, and Eye Institute board member Jules Stein

made sure that the child, who lost her family in the collapse of a

12-story apartment building (the child was buried for two days prior to

rescue), received the care she needed with a very sensitive operation.

Towers-Gavin choked on her own words of praise as she retold the story

prior to introducing the honoree. The ballroom was silent.

Listening to the tribute was Donna Crean and her husband, John Crean.

Seated front and center in the room of Southern California power brokers,

the couple who met more than 50 years ago on a bus bench in Willowbrook

(near Compton) beamed with pride. They had only arrived minutes before

the dinner, stuck in horrendous traffic on the San Diego Freeway.

“It wasn’t so bad,” confessed Donna, looking very smart in a flowing silk

suit of peach-colored floral fabric.

“We had a driver, so we just sat in the car and enjoyed our time

together.” Her practical, if not pragmatic, words are key to her success

in life and the happiness Donna derives from everything she does.

A woman came over to the table to briefly discuss the award about to be

bestowed on the woman who eight years ago started the Orange County

chapter of The Children’s Bureau.

Today, the Orange County bureau serves some 1,200 children and their

families each year.

“I’m just going to say thank you. No speech,” said Crean to the

volunteer. And that’s just what she did. Constance Towers-Gavin called

Donna to the stage with a heartfelt introduction.

“Thank you, thank you for this honor,” said Crean, accepting a painting

by artist Peter Max given by the bureau as the actual tribute. Crean

shook the hand of Towers-Gavin, and left the stage to return to her

husband and friends.

“I am here because of the children,” she shared at the table. “That’s it,

pure and simple.

“I became involved because this organization has been around since 1904,

and they know what they are doing. We are happy to be able to help,” she

said matter-of-factly, directly, and without frosting.

Despite the direct simplicity of their approach, the Creans do enjoy

their bit of celebrity status brought on by their wealth and generosity.

Lois and Buzz Aldrin joined them for the dinner, as did John Crean’s vice

president of John Crean Homes, Steven Carlin, and his wife, Gloria.

Actor and good friend Buddy Ebsen and his wife did not show for the

dinner, leaving John concerned.

“Buddy is never late,” John said. “I hope he’s OK. He would never just

not show up.”

The traffic no doubt was the culprit. The Ebsens may have been stuck on

the San Diego Freeway, but Art and Lois Linkletter were there as was Stan

Freeberg and longtime Crean friend Jane Withers, who looks younger and

younger with each passing year.

Diller, the fountain of 80-something year-old youth, should be whispering

with Withers instead of the handsome gent in the horned rims. Withers has

the real secret.

The dinner committee included Wallis Annenberg, Lod Cook, Arden Day, Ron

Dominguez, Kirk and Anne Douglas, Virginia Mancini, Ted and Rhonda Mann,

Mace Neufeld and Diane Conn, Bob Ray Offenhauser, Marty Pasetta, Robert

and Rosemarie Stack, and the distinguished Lew and Edie Wasserman.

The dinner chair was Mary Jones Marshall, with assistance from Barbara

Knight.

“I’ll tell you a secret,” shared John Crean. “Eight years ago Donna and I

were invited by Sybil Brand to have dinner at Jimmy’s Restaurant in

Century City. Sybil wanted to tell us about the Children’s Bureau.

“When we arrived we were joined by the Linkletters and we knew we were

hooked,” joked the man who, with his philanthropic bride, gives away

millions each year to charity.

The formula is simple: Money, used wisely. can make a positive difference

in the world. And make no mistake, just as in the world of business, in

the world of society and charity, connections are of great import.

Crean’s joking about the Linkletter presence is another honest response

from a man and woman who know how the world works. They signed up because

they respect Sybil Brand, one of the great and influential women of Los

Angeles civic circles, and also because of the serious involvement of the

Linkletter family.

In other words, people get involved in charity because the cause touches

them and because others involved make the connection.

And, let’s be honest, they also get involved because of three initials:

IRS.

The third honoree of the evening, Robert Kirby, founding officer and

former CEO of Capital Guardian Trust Co., brought down the formal house

with his own version of honesty.

“You know, I must tell you that seeing the smiling faces of the children

who have been helped by the Children’s Bureau is so much more gratifying

to me than seeing the $5,000 toilet seats the government buys with my tax

dollars.”

He made his point, adding, “I have more to say than Donna Crean, I hope

you’ll indulge me.” Donna laughed and waved at him to go on with his

speech from her front-row table.

It was an evening about bonding. Primarily to support children and

families who will probably never attend a dinner such as the one raising

$150,000 on their behalf. It is also an evening about friends and

community members coming together to share of themselves. Not just

sharing money, but a little soul.

Lois Aldrin turned to John and Donna and said, “You know, I really feel

that Buzz and I are perfect for one another. I am meant to be his wife. I

can’t imagine doing or being anything else in life.”

Lois works hard beside her moon-walking mate to help promote his public

appearances and his writing. Aldrin will be coming out with a fourth book

soon, a work of fiction, and hitting the book tour circuit with Lois by

his side.

“Lois I agree, and I’ll take it a step further,” said John Crean, who

will unveil his latest building project with Crean Homes executive Steven

Carlin this summer in Hemet, called Crean Acres.

“I don’t think we pick our mates. I think God picks them for us,” said

the man who will be coming out with his own book later this year. The

working title, “The Wheel and I,” a personal autobiographical journey by

the man who made his fortune from the wheel of a motor home.

“It held my attention,” confessed Donna. “And I’ve lived through most of

it.”

“It’s not for children,” chimed in John. “There are some dirty parts.”

So-called dirty parts aside, whatever they may be -- perhaps from John’s

wild bachelor days or his Navy/Merchant Marine escapades, the book is

most probably a great tale for children. It’s about a man from North

Dakota who came from nothing and realized his dream.

As we sat at the table, John shared one more story that is in fact

allegorical with direct connection to the evening. He recently drove

through his old neighborhood in Compton, passing by his old house. He

recalled that as a boy, a volunteer palm tree sprouted by the mailbox of

the family home. He also remembered debating whether to pull the small

sprout out of the ground, opting to forget about the little tree.

When he moved away, the palm was a couple feet tall. Returning to the old

home turf Crean found that his sprout was at least 50 feet tall.

“Can you imagine?” he said, adding, “I think I’ll offer to buy the tree

and transplant it to Village Crean, what do you think?”

Not a bad idea. But the tree belongs in Compton. That’s where it started.

That’s where it flourishes. People, however, are another matter. People

can start in one place and end up somewhere very different. People

flourish where there is hope, opportunity, and the climate to make a

positive difference. A difference for themselves, for their own families,

and for their community.

That’s the real Crean saga. That’s the real reason to fight the traffic

on the San Diego to have dinner in Beverly Hills. B.W. COOK’S column

appears Thursdays and Saturdays.