Peter Adams writes…

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dear june,
sure is fun checking in with your wonderful site. keep on keeping the coastal memories alive and kickin’.
just saw my name mentioned in a complementary context — thank you, fayden!
anyone remember orville, the ex-seal and appliance repairman? will never forget my arm wrestling match with him at the miramar beach inn….”

and in an earlier email, peter wrote:

“june,
it’s great seeing old friends on your site, the likes of richard english, richard henry, chad, fayden, ann bauer, chuck bodin, michael powers, charles nye, etc.. did you know cherie hooper, orville, michael and rocky mc clure, sharon miller, caroline wood, the band stagecoach, tom neel — all names from the miramar days when john, and i worked on the remodeling. had dinner on a visit up there a
few weeks ago and was astonished to see most of my glasswork still there…”

There Were Sad Times, Too…(For Peter Adams, Stained Glass Artist)

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When Sharon Zugay was diagnosed with terminal cancer in the late 1970s, her many Coastside friends offered help and support—but mostly they gave their hearts.

I remember Sharon as a beautiful young woman—one of those very special young people who are like fairy dust—-

She and her twin sister, Karen, were simply stunning.

Sharon lived with other artists in an historic house (the artichoke king Dante Dianda’s home) which stood next door to the “Sun House” where jewelery and beads were sold (now

At the time there weren’t many of us on the Coastside—and I define “usâ€? as outsiders or newcomers, around college age, with similar reasons for being here. The loss of Sharon was devastating…it was as if we were one body and Sharon represented a living, vital part that we were going to have to live without…

I will never forget the “farewellâ€? disguised as a benefit concert held for Sharon at the Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society. (As usual, Pete Douglas, was generous, turning over his Miramar “digsâ€? to the locals for what was a memorial service with the lovely lady who was soon to be mourned present.)

My last image of Sharon was of her being rolled out in a wheelchair, the Dennis Swensen painting you see in the printed notice hanging on the stage behind her.

A New Years Surprise For Me & You, Too

I just love the Internet!

You never know who you’re gonna hear from….old friends are the best, aren’t they? Friends you haven’t heard from or seen in years, decades…what does it matter how much time goes by…When you “touch base” again the time is always right, isn’t it?

Guess who emailed me? Peter Adams, the Coastside’s famous stain glass artist–some of you may have gorgeous pieces of his work in your homes. (For many years when he was doing stain glass work, was the Coastside’s handsomest postman).

Below: This is Peter Adams, circa 1970s, on Hwy 1 near Miramar, across from Cowboy’s Surf Shop

Peter Adams was here when I arrived on the Coastside. Didn’t he live in the “Dante Dianda” farmhouse, next door to the smoked salmon place in El Granada? (Dante Dianda was known as “the artichoke king” and farmed most of lower El Granada). The smoked fish store was then called “the Sun House” and hippies lived there ,and I can’t remember for certain, but they might have sold beads and other paraphernalia.

Here’s what Peter says:

hey june! surprise — it’s a name from the halcyon days of the coastside! am
living near laguna beach these days, designing stained glass more than ever, and
husband to Elizabeth the most beautiful lawyer in orange county, and stepdad to the
wonderful 8 yr. old Alexandra. was fun to come across your site — many new year
blessings to you…