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"Yesterday is history - Tomorrow is a mystery - And today is a gift..."

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Remembering Mac Meda - and - The Red Mountain Inn [currently linked to David Osborn's Pages]

- Quotes / Anecdotes / Memories

From Bill Andrews - 23 December 2006 -

BA's Liner Notes:

One of the "things" I try to accomplish on my web pages, is to practice INCLUSION -
[Maybe I'm still feeling sorry for myself 'cause I could never get tan and look like a real surfer - the only team I got to be a part of was Team Melanoma]
More than one or two or three people [the pioneers] contributed to the rich La Jolla history of WindanSea, Mac Meda, The Pumphouse, The Red Mountain Inn, etc.

Likewise, more than one or two or three people have tales to tell about those days.

I guess it kind of bothers me that the one or two or three "Go To" La Jolla Historians, seem to consistently talk about the same people as if they [the pioneers] were the only ones who participated in all of the antics.

The Warden - 22 December 2006 - sent me a list of names to include in THE History Book - I guess I should make sure it is okay with her [The Warden] to submit the names to the public -

Speaking for myself - I can hardly wait to start naming names and taking notes!

============

Dear Bill Andrews - From Jamie Nay - 18 December 2006

"Thanks for all of your great coverage at the beach and last Sunday...for Jack Macpherson's paddleout.

Here are 2 stories...and there will be hundreds, if not thousands, of Jack Macpherson anecdotes.

1. Many people know the kids of the 50s (many of whom had little kids,like Michael and Danny Gildea, living in the middle of the La Jolla surf mayhem familytime) had Nazi uniforms and machine guns.

They were seen at Windansea, coming down drainpipes...bursting into local restaurants...having Nazi parties in the bunkers up on Mt. Soledad...and even guesting at the Jewish fraternities at U.S.C.

The locals became concerned that there was a new Aryan colony here in the Jewel and the F.B.I. was notified of some of the participants.

Jack was then working in the Post Office.

One day, his supervisor came up and said, "Uh, Mac...the F.B.I. is here to talk to you."

So he sat in a car with 2 G-Men.

They asked him if he and his friends were trying to overthrow the U.S. government.

He then told them he and his friends were surfers just having a good time on their flexy-fliers...shooting down Bon Air Street.

The F.B.I. started laughing and said something like, "It does sound like a good time."

2. 10 years ago, a La Jollan was released from prison, for a horrible crime, like killing his gardener or something equivalent.

The first thing he did was drop by the West End, to look up Mac and bring him a t-shirt, that read 'SD JAIL'.

I was introduced to him and he offered to off anyone if I ever needed the work done.

I said not today.

He then told me a story about everyone's favorite 'I hate kids' bartender, Jack Macpherson.

He said that when he was growing up in La Jolla, his father used to beat him unmercifully.

He had no place to go. He was a kid. And he said he would go down to Jack's place on Girard Street.

Jack always kept a blanket on the couch for the kid.

And never discussed it.

The fellow then said he wouldn't have made it if it weren't for Jack.

And that's for today.

Jamie Nay (AKA The Warden)."

============

From - Michael Gildea - 17 December 2006

"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."

BA sez:

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!

============================

Written by Bill Andrews - 10 Dec 2006 -

There is a story to tell - and if we don't tell it, no one else will - or if they do:

If someone like Tom Wolfe is a dork tells it, it will be written by a tourist, someone on the outside, merely looking in, trying to figger-out why we did what we did??

Maybe it's best not to ask why - just to admit that some things just ARE.

The story, if untold by those who care about it [the story] will just erode away like the WindanSea sand and so many of the WindanSea lives - forgotten??

- BUT -

The sand at WindanSea keeps coming back - so it's up to us to keep the stories alive, bring the stories and legends back, at least in spirit -

There are very few legends worth sustaining - Mac's is worth it - we can't let the legends die.

- AND -

They won't die [the legends] if the stories keep getting told!

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.

By the way - I censored this photo / letter because of an arrangement I have with the service who hosts my dribble - anyone who has been around me for more than a nano-second knows that I am very uncensored - but that's a different story, best told when I get a new host.

BA

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