Before Santa Monica

Before going to the Santa Monica Branch Office, I was living in a lovely two bedroom apartment on Reese Drive in Beverly Hills and sharing the commute with three other DAs, Raul Esnard, Sterry Fagan and Dave Fitts. These were interesting guys. David Fitts was one of the brightest persons I have ever met; he was pretty wealthy, being in the Lincoln Savings and Loan Company, but you would never know it by his attitude and the tiny VW beetle we cramped into when it was his turn to drive. His ability to speak and argue a case in the most succinct manner was beyond compare. Highly educated and a Stanford Law graduate, he spoke with a slight lisp, but with charm. Jurors loved him and I am glad we did not tangle after I became a defender. Dave was selected to be on the three-man prosecutorial team in the case of Peele vs Sirhan Sirhan, the assassin of the Democratic nominee for the President of the United States at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles and was designated to make the complicated opening statement which outlines the prosecution’s case and also to make the closing argument to the jury relating the proven facts as applied to the law and demand (request) a guilty verdict and subsequent death penalty. David was later appointed to be a Judge of the LA Superior Court where he finished his career. When it was my turn to drive and the other riders were dispersed, I would invite Dave up to our apartment, open a bottle of scotch and Dave would regale Maxine and me with great stories of his earlier exploits, such as his bicycle trip through Europe and his experiences. We really liked and admired this guy. Sadly, Dave died in his early sixties and the world lost this most fascinating man and, I should mention, surfer, mostly at San Onofre a surf spot known as the Trestles.

I don’t mean to denigrate the other riders, but their exploits, though remarkable, well, Dave had an edge. I forgot to mention Dave was also a combat infantry sgt. in World War 2. Raul, a USC graduate, was also a very good trial lawyer and did a remarkable job, but was not at the right place at the right time which, like so many prosecutors, who go through a complete tour of the Office without having one of the major heavy cases assigned. That applies to most of the Deputies. If a major case is assigned and a good job is done, it helps with advancement because one then becomes a proven advocate and then is in line for added majors. I must say, I was pretty good, but so were those who never received any fame and many in my mind were as good or better than I. Raul did not have to worry and probably did not have to work as when you are driving westbound on Sunset boulevard nearing the end of Beverly Hills and about to enter the Westwood and Bel Air area, on your left was a mansion as large as, if not larger than, the other huge residences lining that famous street belonging to Raul’s in-laws whose wealth, I am told, was based on correspondence international schools. I was not a member of the social class and relatively ignorant of what rich people were doing. So the trio of riders would give me a hard time on occasion, such as they would wear white shirts that had a little alligator logo attached around the pocket area and claim it was a club logo, but I could not join. I had never heard of Andre LaCoste, the tennis player whose line of sports gear had the little alligator as its trademark. I felt bad, but thought, well, I just did not belong.

Sterry Fagan was a handsome devil and a very sharp prosecutor. Sterry and I knew each other from High School, Beverly Hills High. We did not associate or know each other except as Beverly students. By the time I entered Beverly in the 9th grade, I had attended seven different elementary schools, some of them twice, and I was no longer interested in school, classmates or anything else. Got into a lot of fights just to make myself known to the new classmates. My only contact with Sterry was we were both in the B Football team, what was known then as the left guard or running guard, which meant on most occasions, I would pull out and lead the interference either around the right or the left and Sterry, rightly so, was a running back. There was no platooning players and you would play offense and defense and generally for the full sixty minutes. You might ask, what kind of football team could a rich kids’ school produce, and you may be surprised that our varsity quarterback, Jimmy Powers, was the 1st string quarterback for USC, and I saw him throw passes that defeated my college, UCLA. Our fullback, Mickey Titus, played 1st string for Stanford until his leg was broken in the Army game. Johnny Roach played running back for UCLA and Bob Hansen played center, I believe, for Montana. Beverly, when I went there had champion tennis players and Herb Flam beat Pancho Gonzales in the Pacific South West Championship when Pablo was number one in the world. There were also future movie stars, directors and music writers and players going to Beverly such as Maria Tallchief,  America’s first Native American prima ballerina (look her up,) Andre Previn, concert pianist at that time who became one of the most renowned conductors and music creators for movies, and a classmate and high school friend, Richard Sherman and his older brother Robert, sons of a famous songwriter who, on their own, wrote the words and music for Mary Poppins. Also, famous casting director Lynne Stalmaster. You get the idea; we had an outstanding student body. Dan Bleiffer, the famous LA heart surgeon, Richard Shapiro, who became editor of the Havard Law review. We had champion swimmers, divers . In other words, it was  great school and a good education was offered if we wanted to apply ourselves, though I did not care for grades.  The alumni association is still alive and kicking, and I, after over 70 years, am still a member

A few things about Sterry I still recall from High school days are he was voted, together with Bill Chamberlain as the class best-looking. The name Chamberlain may cause you to remember Richard Chamberlain, Bill’s younger brother, a star in films such as Shogun and TV as young Doctor Kildare.  The Chamberlains lived about two blocks from me.

I remember Sterry would run around the track just before varsity football games showing off his running style. He was the CI champion in the 880 yard race. One significant episode I remember well: playing a pick up game of 6 on 6 touch football, on my side, we could not run as fast as  Sterry, so I was assigned to prevent him from going out for the pass by blocking him at the line of scrimmage which I did very forcefully, knocking him down. He didn’t like it, so he grabbed my shirt, cocked his right fist ready to let me have it. I grabbed his hand holding my shirt and it was a standoff.  Eventually he backed down, knowing from my expression I was ready to fight. I doubt if he had ever been in a fist fight and I surmise he thought it was not worth it, backed down and that was the end of it and the game. Do not recall seeing him after that at any pick up games.Well, that odd encounter was never brought up and I like to think we became good but not close friends. Sterry finished his career, like others, as a Superior Judge working alongside David in the Long Beach Courthouse.

Try to imagine Beverly Hills in the 40s. Today it is quite built up with stores, cafes, tall buildings and every inch of space is occupied. When I was growing up, it was mostly residential, the tallest building, four stories, was at the intersection of Wilshire Blvd. and Beverly Drive traveling North and South. South Beverly Drive was pretty much empty and there were vacant lots south of Wilshire. The famous shopping street, Rodeo Drive, was a bridal path, part of a riding trail connected to the bridal path that bisected the north and south lanes of Sunset Blvd. Beverly Hills was a small community and the residents really liked it.

Coming up next will be a sad story that I overcame.

Until then

Marsh