Category: Bruce Orchid

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Conversations: I Hear From LARRY KAPLAN (Lincoln H.S. Alum) Part III

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Larry, I LIVED at 555-South 8th Street. Did we live in the same building? Two-story? Next door to the cop fraternity?

My original roommates were Gay Viguie & Sue Samuels. When I arrived they were about to graduate and I inherited the apt.

Yes, Bruce Orchid’s name is familiar..tell me more about him.

I’m curious: What do you want to do next? Do you have anything to do with Mavericks?

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June!

Gay and Sue were my GREAT friends!
Sue had a WHITE Plymouth Barracuda. I would sometimes ride my ten-speed bike to S.F. to see my folks on (some) holiday weekends. Sue was from the City…so, if she happened to be driving to the City the same weekend as I would be biking, she’d stop by my folk’s house on Sunday afternoon. I’d put my bike in her Barracuda, and she’d drive back to the apartment in San Jose.
What a trip!

[Ed. note: HE RODE HIS TEN SPEED FROM SAN JOSE TO SF! DID YOU GET THAT?]

Yup, the apartment was RIGHT next door to the cop frat house.
I had the apt on the ground floor in the very front…a three bedroom. There were four of us. I had my own bedroom and two guys shared another one. The room opposite mine was occupied by a guy named Tom Cameron, who left after a semester–then by a guy named Ed Coda.

This is a bit TOO weird!

I don’t have a thing to do with Mavericks…As far as surfing is concerned, we surfed all over, from Kelly’s Cove and Pedro Point to Steamer Lane….including El Granada, Half Moon Bay…all of it.

One of the most stupid things I did when I was 18 was to take a surfboard with me to Hawaii. What a hassle and for what? They had plenty of them there! Since then, I’ve had a board with me on all my sailboat and powerboat deliveries– where I knew I could expect waves.

A very dear friend of mine passed away a couple of months ago and he was building a schooner that was designed in 1929 by John Alden…a very famous naval architect. The boat is 65′ on deck and 80′ overall. The boat’s in steel and really gorgeous. I have hopes of completing her. I’m waiting for copies of the plans and other papers, etc. from his widow, also a dear friend. It will cost about $1.5 million to complete and I may have already raised the money. That’s what I’d like to dive into soon.

Beyond that I am anxious for Spring and Summer because I have always disliked Winter.

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Just thought of something: If you’d like to see what I’m talking about regarding the boat, visit: click here.

She is one of the few Aldens of the same size built in steel. Most were in wood…and built in 1929 or 1930. The one I want to complete is NEW!

Larry

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Larry, I am not in touch with Gay or Sue. After SJS, I moved to the Coastside. I love it. I love the ocean. That’s why I’m here.

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June,
I read all about you, your books and your being the Historian Emeritus of the Coast. I THINK we knew each other at Lincoln.

I am in touch with Bruce [Orchid]BOrchid1.jpg He lives on Orcas Island off the coast of the state of Washington and has since the seventies. He and his wife have a super restaurant (Christina’s) click here and it is well known for its excellence in every way.

Google it and you will be blown away. Really.

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Conversations: I Hear From LARRY KAPLAN (Lincoln H.S. Alum) Part II

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Larry,

I don’t recall your being a twin. You lived in the Sunset, didn’t you?

Your life sounds wonderful–and I’m happy that you’re doing exactly what you set out to do.

I went to San Jose State, too–but I think you used to surf El Granada Beach occasionally–and so did I–and I knew you at Lincoln. You told me you wanted to design surfboards and doodled in the notebook I was carrying (I’m a writer, you know, and that’s what writers used to do, carry paper. Now they carry laptops).

June
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Good morning, June

Remember Bruce Orchid at Lincoln? BOrchid.jpgHe and [my sister] Barbara dated. He was Pres and she was Vice Pres of the “Student Body.” I was “Director of Athletics” (which served to get me three lunch periods). I think we were a class ahead of you.

I consider most of what I do as “Art Projects”, and I am extremely visual in orientation.

Everything I do for my clients gets seen over and over again and it’s really important to me that it the work is appreciated. The artist in me values that appreciation more than the money received for the project. That’s true whether it’s a yacht I’ve just repaired or a piece of artwork I’ve just delivered.

Your site is fun for me to peruse, and it’s obvious that your passion for writing is abundant. I’m in contact with a few friends from Lincoln and i’ve mentioned your site.

When we went to Lincoln, we lived on 39th Avenue between Rivera and Santiago. Bruce Orchid and I would meet every morning at 39th and Rivera and walk up the hills to Lincoln…when we didn’t drive to school…I had a ’50 Ford Woody. It was blue and I usually parked it in front of school by the stop sign because the Woody didn’t have a reverse gear that worked very well and by parking at the stop sign, I was able to simply pull away in first gear, etc.

I paid $35 (thirty-five) for that Woody and sold it later for $250. Today, that car would be worth $45,000.00. I know because I look at them all the time. I want another one.

At Sanazay State, I lived at 555- South Eighth Street (a block from campus) and I was a ‘hasher” at a sorority. Pretty fun. Really fun. One of my roommates on Eighth Street was the head Ref at last year’s Super Bowl–Bill Leavy–great guy.

Well, that empties my brain.

Larry
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…Conversation to be continued….