Our Laguna: Spitaleri has long list of accomplishments

Laguna Beach Taxpayers Assn. honored Vern Spitaleri Vern Spitaleri at a dinner party Jan. 22 at the hillside home of Judy and Don Josephson.

“What can one say about Vern Spitaleri?” President Martha Lydick asked. “A lot!”

Spitaleri was a hero of World War II. He served with Naval Amphibious Forces in North Africa, Italy, Normandy, Southern France and the Pacific Theatre. He came home with three Purple Hearts, presented to warriors who lose blood in defense of their country, and a Presidential Unit Citation.

His outstanding military record was honored by the Laguna Beach Patriots Day Parade Committee, which named him Patriot of the Year in 1998.

He might well have been honored also as the Citizen of the Year.

“What he has done for Laguna is spectacular,” Lydick said.

Included in his service to the community, as recounted by Lydick:

 A member of the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors for many years;

 President of the Laguna Beach Boys Club when it was constructed on the present site before it was coed;

 Founding president of the Friends of the Laguna Beach Library — that alone endears him to Lydick — the current and perennial president of that group as well as the taxpayers;

 A member of the committee that acquired Main Beach for a city park and an active participant in obtaining the revenue stream from the Festival of Arts lease payments required to float the bond that funded the acquisition;

 Co-creator of the Main Beach Park Foundation;

 A member of the first Laguna Beach Citizens Advisory Committee;

 President of the Laguna Moulton Playhouse during the expansion of the theater;

 Founding director and president of Opera Pacific (actually the offshoot of Lyric Opera, which presented full productions of opera at the Irvine Bowl on the Festival of Arts Grounds);

 Former Festival of Arts board member;

 President of Motivated Museum Members, which successfully fought the hostile attempt to merge the Laguna Art Museum with the Newport Harbor Museum;

 President of the Afghan Amity Society, which he co-founded with Khyber Pass owner Sadiq Tawfiq;

 Sitting president of the Laguna Beach Historical Society; and

 Past president of the Emerald Bay Assn. — the Spitaleris’ art-filled home, including works by Vladimir Sokolov, is in the gated community that the late Elizabeth Quilter used to call the “golden ghetto.”

Mayor Elizabeth Pearson declared Jan. 22 Vern Spitaleri Day in Laguna Beach and presented him with a proclamation honoring his contributions to the city.

“We would not have the Laguna Art Museum in Laguna without Vern,” said arts supporter Bobbi Cox. “He led the charge.”

Tawfiq also expressed appreciation for Spitaleri’s support and help in launching Afghan Amity in 2002, an organization that has built two schools in Afghanistan.

Spitaleri said it has been a pleasure to serve Laguna.

“Such a fabulous city deserves everything we can do,” Spitaleri said. “I hope I can do more before I cash it all in.” Spitaleri’s professional career was equally outstanding.

It included stints in senior management of three Fortune 500 companies and serving as chairman and chief executive of First High Tech Co., in what is not what is now the Irvine Industrial Complex and Orange County Airport. He was board chairman and chief executive of Concrete Floats, which built marinas from San Francisco to San Diego, including Dana Point Harbor.

But he bleeds ink.

Spitaleri worked in management with the American Newspaper Assn. in New York, Knight Newspapers and the Miami Herald. He was a consultant to International Newspaper Foundation and founding director and president of Suburban Newspapers of America.

From 1967 to 1981, he was the editor and publisher of the Laguna News Post, a combination of the South Coast News and the Laguna Post.

“Vern, you are Laguna’s secret weapon, and we hope you will continue for many years,” Lydick said. “The Taxpayers are proud to present this plaque as a small reminder of all you’ve done … And Cherry, you have for been there all these years, thank you.”

The Spitaleris have been married for 57 years. They were wed in New York, moved to Miami when he was with Knight Newspapers and then came to California.

“We’ve lived here for about 50 years,” Cherry said.

The Spitaleris have four children — Marc, Eric, Kris and Lynn, all of whom graduated from Laguna Beach High School, and between them they produced the Spitaleris’ nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Lynn’s best friend since she was 8 is Audrey Fong, daughter of Art and June Fong, owners of Fong Imports on South Coast Highway, all of whom were at the dinner.

“One day we were in the library and she [Lynn] said, ‘Want to see my dad’s name in print?’ and she pulled out a copy of ‘Who’s Who,” Audrey recalled.

Cherry said Audrey was her second daughter and Lynn was the Fongs’.

Frank Ricchiazzi, somewhat height-challenged, which he attributes to his Sicilian heritage, wanted to know where Spitaleri got his height.

“My father was Sicilian, but my mother was born in Alsace,” Spitaleri said.

Spitaleri’s father was 2 when his father came to America and fell in love with the country. His dad sent his family money to join him because he wasn’t going back, Spitaleri said.

Vernon R. Spitaleri was born in Pelham, N.Y.

Among the guests at the dinner in his honor: Michael and former Mayor Cheryl Kinsman, Karl and Dee Koski, Sandy and Ara Hovanesian, Laguna Playhouse’s Amy Lawson, City Treasurer Laura Parisi, Bill Atkins, Ann MacDonald and Laguna Beach Visitors Bureau President Karyn Philippsen, who donated the wine for the event.

Dinner was catered by K’ya and prepared by chef Craig Connole, who has been with the restaurant for about four years. The event was on the second floor of the Josephesons’ tri-level, 6,200-square-foot home, designed by Al Lopez. The tinted windows overlooked a 50-foot-long swimming pool, a spa as big as some living rooms and a view of the city.

ARMCHAIR ‘ARTEOLOGIST’

Photographer and social commentator Mark Chamberlain coined the word “arteologist” to describe his interpretive exploration of the world he sees through the lens of a camera.

Soka University is hosting a retrospective of Chamberlain’s work through May 14 in the Founders Hall Art Gallery.

“Reflections by an Armchair Arteologist” complements Cal State Fullerton’s Grand Central Art Center’s retrospective due to open Feb. 6, featuring 42 artists who exhibited during the past four decades at BC Space, the gallery Chamberlain and the late Jerry Burchfied founded.

“What began with the curiosity of a stranger in a strange land eventually led me to an appreciation of the power of the photograph to convey much more than just impressions of what is being shot,” Chamberlain wrote in his artist’s statement.

“Once my explorations extended to the commonplace around me, I found the joy of an archaeologist digging in very rich terrain. This perspective offered the opportunity to actively engage the fleeting present, while reflecting the past and even alluding to the future.”

The Soka gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday.

OUR LAGUNA is a regular feature of the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot. Contributions are welcomed. Write to Barbara Diamond, P.O. Box 248, Laguna Beach, 92652; call (949) 380-4321 or e-mail coastlinepilot@latimes.com