"Thanks for posting all the pics. Earl Gildea - La Jolla '56 or '55 - is my dad and took the pic of Macpherson diving off the clam with the finger flying high... These people were all young parents while this s**t was going down...my brother and I were lucky to get out alive with all those village knuckleheads raising us rascals."
The photo your dad took is in my top 10 - plus - "village knuckleheads" what a classic description! - AND - When I get a different host, I won't have to censor the language! Thanks again for your email!
I went to the West End after the sunset today - my first time there - I wanted to see some of the Mac Meda memorabilia - including the garage sale bomb hanging from the ceiling I heard that the remainder of Macpherson's ashes were gonna find their final resting place inside the bomb - I don't know if that's true or not, but from what I know of Macpherson and the rest of the surviving Mac Meda Gang, it sure sounds appropriate.
Way back, then, the mid fifties to the early sixties, the gulf between the WindanSea "Tribe" [I know, it's (Tribe) is way overused, but there is a wonderful simplicity there] and the Shores Tribe seemed as wide as The Grand Canyon [or so it appeared to me] My goals as a Shores gremmie were: 1. Long Term - become a good enough surfer to surf WindanSea without getting beat-up, stuffed into trash cans, etc. 2. Short Term - avoid the WindanSea guys [this was pretty difficult, 'cause La Jolla High School was 7 - 12 grade] at all costs, and most importantly, stay away, way away, from Butch, Tiny Brains, Macpherson, and Rakestraw. There was no way I was gonna EVER be one of them - they were way too cool, too tough, too rough - PLUS - my mother would never have allowed it! I know that if things today, were as they were about 50 years ago, I would still be uncomfortable around the MacMeda Destruction Company crew - BUT - I'll bet you that if Macpherson and Rakestraw could have gone back in time to Dodge City in the 1800's they would have fit right in. I guess in the big picture, Macpherson and the rest of the early WindanSea / MacMeda crew were pioneers - I, as a Shores gremmie was more like a settler. Those guys [the pioneers] carved the trails and set the bar [and the bar tabs] very high - I was lucky enough to be able to go down some of the trails they made - for that, I thank Mac and his band of merry pioneers.
[I know, it's (Tribe) is way overused, but there is a wonderful simplicity there]
1. Long Term - become a good enough surfer to surf WindanSea without getting beat-up, stuffed into trash cans, etc. 2. Short Term - avoid the WindanSea guys [this was pretty difficult, 'cause La Jolla High School was 7 - 12 grade] at all costs, and most importantly, stay away, way away, from Butch, Tiny Brains, Macpherson, and Rakestraw.
