There are 30 classmates living in Los Angeles. Concerned during the recent fires, the class officers checked in. We were gratified those we reached were spared the worst, and they were grateful for the contacts, so we plan to do this whenever similar events occur. A huge shoutout to Susan Burkhardt and Hank Malin for spearheading the effort. I connected with a few’82s later for on-scene observations.
John Moscarino, law partner at Valle Makoff, lives in Santa Monica, near Pacific Palisades. Red skies and smoke sent him to a friend’s house. He’s seen the Environmental Protection Agency bagging toxic waste, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will clear debris and test for toxins. Thousands have no timeline for returning home; others own the only houses on their streets that survived, and those are smoke-damaged and contaminated. A subtenant of John’s law firm lost his house. He will rent, wait, and move back some day to a construction zone. Kids are using John’s conference room as remote school because theirs are gone. A friend told him he never thought he could fit everything he owned in his car.
Susan Ross Marki, an investment advisor, lives in La Canada, next to Altadena. They saw the fire starting and soon a branch from a huge 100-year-old oak crushed their balcony. Another branch landed on the roof. The evacuation notice came next morning. They drove to Oxnard and stayed away five days until the electricity was back and the order lifted. It was a beautiful day back in their intact neighborhood and reminded her of 9/11 in New York City, where they were right outside the city mired in disaster on an impossibly gorgeous day. Susan said everyone is unmoored and disoriented by the disconnect. The hardest hit are renters, who can’t find places, and small business owners; if they even have a storefront left, their customers are scattered.
Audrey Freudberg, artist and writer, lives in Westwood, next to the Palisades. She watched the fire line get closer then moved in with friends in West L.A. She tracked the fires on an app, which was nerve wracking as winds and flames shifted constantly. The firefighters were amazing. After six days she went home. Audrey feels blessed to have a home, with friends who lost theirs or have the only one left in their neighborhood. The experience was traumatic and devastating for all of L.A.
Bill Johnson, an episodic television director, lives near Wilshire. He is grateful the Hollywood Hills flareups nearby didn’t erupt and spread south. Bill knows a teacher, divorced with two kids, whose Altadena house burned down. They are living in a friend’s basement. Bill helped put on fundraisers at his golf club and volunteered at tent complexes set up for donated household and personal goods. He witnessed people asking how they should pay for items, and when assured it was free, they burst into tears.
May we never forget the value of a simple act of kindness to a fellow traveler.
—Philippa M. Guthrie, 2303 Woodstock Place, Bloomington, IN 47401; (812) 325-7512; philippaguthrie@yahoo.com; David Mason Eichman, 9004 Wonderland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046; dme4law@sbcglobal.net