OUR LAGUNA:Library grateful for generous friends

Almost 100 friends of the Laguna Beach Library gathered last week to celebrate another successful year of fundraising.

“We have so many generous friends, and this was an amazing year of contributions,” said Martha Lydick, perennial president of the Friends.

Contributions included a $2,500 check from the Laguna Beach County Water District, presented by General Manager Renae Hinchey, $2,000 from Doris and John Morrissey, $10,000 from the Laguna Board of Realtor Taste of Charity proceeds, $12,000 from the city and a Village Laguna donation made the night of the dinner.

Artist-designed bus benches will be installed at the library on Glenneyre in January, Lydick said, thanks to the Arts Commission. Once again, authors from all over the country donated their books for the event’s silent auction. Donors included Allison Noel, Kathleen Givens, locals Connie Merritt, Bette Anderson and Diane Connell and former Lagunan T. Jefferson Parker, who all attended the dinner.

“The book shop raised more money than ever and all the income goes to support our library,” Lydick said. “Our only overhead is the telephone bill.”

Bookshop volunteers Magda Herliska, Dee and Carl Koski, Judy Lomax, Mary Ann Martin, Nancy Joseph, Nancy Pearlman, Marie Hornstein, Lorna Shaw, Jane Pressman, Skip Levitt, Juliet Brobner, Rosemary Boyd, Edith Erickson and Forrest Strayer were among the guests at the annual dinner, held Oct. 26 at Tivoli Terrace.

The dinner also included the reelection of Lydick, Vice President Diane Lichterman, Secretary Angela Irish, Treasurer Diane Connell and board members Sandy Ohanesian, Randy Kraft, Nancy and Howard Pink, Glenna Matthews, Terry Smith, Sue Cohen and Judy Jameson Trulock.

Past Friends President Michael Onorato, now a resident of Bellingham, Wash., was a guest at the dinner.

“Michael served as president, vice president, secretary and treasurer — all at the same time,” Lydick said.

Onorato was instrumental in opening the Friends bookstore in 1986. He also started the local oral history program, while on the faculty of Cal State Fullerton, with interviews of Dick Jahraus, Vern Spitaleri and the late Bill Thomas.

Jeff Parker, who lived in Laguna for about 20 years before moving to San Diego County, was the guest speaker.

“You never really leave Laguna,” Parker said.

Parker’s first published book was “Laguna Heat” and even after he moved his books have been flavored by Orange County. “California Girl” was his homage to Laguna.

“It was written for you guys,” he said.

Parker read the prologue to the book to whet the appetites of readers.

His books are not politically motivated or intended to educate, he said. He thinks of himself as an entertainer — a storyteller.

His newest book, “Storm Runner,” was a challenge.

“I set myself the impossible task of writing a thriller set in Fallbrook,” Parker said.

He figured if he could pull that off, he really was good.

As if his book sales weren’t enough proof.

Lydick presented Parker with another paperweight to add to his collection, accumulated as the guest speaker at Friends’ dinners.

The dinner concluded with a toast to author and passionate library supporter Theodore Taylor, who had died earlier that day.

A PERSONAL NOTE:

I first met Ted Taylor at a Friends of the Laguna Beach Library dinner. We shared a love of words, books and writing.

As it happens, Ted and Flora Taylor’s home is just a couple of blocks from my Woods Cove bungalow. He got in the habit of dropping off notes on my porch, advising me of a new book due to be published or his dissatisfaction with cover notes.

One time, he left the whole draft manuscript for a book written with former Police Chief Neil Purcell about the 1960s drug culture in Laguna Beach, but never published.

“That was one of his greatest disappointments,” step- daughter Patricia Killoran said.

One of Ted’s heads-up was about a movie made in 2003 from one of his novels.

“Dear Barbara,” he wrote:

“I guess that words, if they are crafted well enough, stay around for a while. ‘The Maldonado Miracle,’ written as a novelette 42 years ago for Redbook Magazine, then converted to a full novel a few years later in my garage down on Ocean Way, will be screened for the first time next week at Robert Redford’s Sundance Film Festival.

“Making her debut as a director, Salma Hayek, the Mexican-Lebanese actress, has done a marvelous job on this simple story of a town in trouble and the ‘illegal’ boy who caused it all. Best, Ted”

He also dropped off a note along with a copy of “The Flight of Jesse Leroy Brown,” about the first African-American to serve as a U.S. Navy fighter pilot and the unbelievable odds he had to overcome in order to sacrifice his life in the service of his country.

Ted’s note read:

“Dear Barbara,

“Worked on this one for a year and a half. Research period was almost a year. As you well know, I am not a pilot and I’m not African American. Some will undoubtedly say I wasn’t qualified [to write the book], but the story has been around for almost a half century and no one undertook it, black or white and I thought someone should put it down on paper. Hope you’ll enjoy it. All best, Ted”

The book said as much about the author as it did about the subject.

More years ago than I care to count, my now 22-year-old grandson, Scott, then in the fifth grade, called me to say he had been assigned to read a book written by a man who lived in Laguna.

“Oh, I said, you’re reading ‘The Cay’ by Theodore Taylor,” I said, to Scotty’s surprise

How did I know? Because the book has been assigned reading for countless fifth-graders across the country and anyone who knew Ted, knew that.

I mentioned Scotty’s call to Ted, who immediately dropped off an autographed copy of the book for my grandson and his classmates.

Boy, did that impress Scott! And it prompted another call. “Could we send him a thank-you note?,” Scott’s teacher had asked. Sure, I said. A few weeks later, a package of letters, written by everyone in Scott’s class, maybe in his grade, arrived. I apologized to Ted, but it wasn’t a problem for a man who got fan mail from kids by the bushel.

Ted, whose talents ranged from reporting to editing, from writing screenplays to public relations, from producer to director, generously — if mistakenly — attributed some of his varied skills to me.

He loved writing books and could never understand why I preferred being a reporter rather than an author of books.

Unlike many reporters, I have no desire to write “The Great American Novel.” I love writing what I call instant history — and that includes writing obituaries.

A few years ago, Ted left a package on my porch, with a terse note: “Dear Barbara, Please hold until I take my one-way flight. Best Ted. P.S. — Sans baggage!”

I am honored that he trusted me to do the job. I wish this day had not come. (See obituary on Page 1.)