My
name is Buzz. This is my first attempt at a homepage and as such,
I will be changing it's theme often. While you're here, I hope you
enjoy the tour of my Life...from Birth...to the Present!
- I was born at St. John's Hospital
in Burbank, California in 1947. My mother, Joyce,
was just 21. My father was a drummer with some of the
biggest bands back in those days (i.e., Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman
are just a couple he accompanied). Unfortunately, my father
was not a part of my life for very long. My mother
didn't know it, but he was ALREADY married. Well, as you can imagine,
after I was born and my grandfather and mother found
this out...he was outta there!!!
- I was a WILD kid! I grew
up in a era where KIDS could be KIDS. Life as a child was just one adventure
after another. We called it 'exploring'. In the summers, exploring was when I would wake up, eat breakfast,
and then off I'd go to 'explore' until the street lights came on! And explore we did too! That meant getting into anything and everything...including the storm drains under the city streets - to poking around abandoned warehouses.
It also meant riding with my friends for as far as we could on our bikes - sometimes 20 miles away from home.
- Because my mom was a single parent
and had to go out and make a living (she was a singer by profession), I
was left in the care of my grandparents more often than not. They were
wonderful people. Charles and Violet were from the
Heartland of this country, Illinois. Below is a picture
of my Grandpa and my Father.
- My grandparents had a couple of
small businesses. They had a diner right next to RKO studio's in
Culver City, California. It was called MOM and POPS
Restaurant, What Else!! Some of the actor's
at RKO would come over
and eat there. The Lone Ranger and Tonto, Andy Devine (he played Jingles on the Roy Rogers show) and many
others loved my grandmother's HOME cooking! I used to sit on the Lone Ranger's lap and he would feed me sometimes. How exciting it was for a little boy 5 years old. They old the diner when RKO shut down in the late fifties.
- The other business they had was
a KIDDY LAND. And, appropriately, it was called "Mom and Pops
Kiddy Land." It was located on Crenshaw Blvd. near
Exposition Blvd. in Los Angeles. I loved that place!
My grandparents would let me help out as much as I wanted. I learned
how to operate most of the rides, including the Carousel. I also helped
in the concession stand and when I got a little older I was even was allowed to sell tickets. My pay was all the orange Nesbit I could drink.
Families came from all over and it was a very popular place in the 1950's to take the kids.
My grandparents were wonderful people,
but my grandfather was the key to me being the person I am today. PoP,
as he preferred to be called, was
a very generous man. He could always find a job for people who needed
work,
and even a place to sleep.
He loved kids too! Grandpa was one of a kind. I still miss
him after all these years.
My Grandpa died in 1962 of heart
failure.
My grandmother sold the Kiddy Land
after that and retired. Grandma lived to be 89. I took care
of her for the
last 10 years of her life.
I think she watches over me today! This is a pic of my grandma and I.
I give my grandparents most of the
credit for raising me to be the generous and understanding person I am
today.
I attended Morningside High in Inglewood, California. I graduated in '65. I joined the ARMY in October that same year.
