Slavin Pens “Growing Up in the Palisades”

So many people, who don’t know, characterize Pacific Palisades as an area where the rich and famous live. Unfortunately, that mantra has been repeated by newscasters during and after the Palisades Fire. The Palisades community, which is geographically isolated from Los Angeles,  does have some rich, some famous, but more importantly it is a place where neighbors look out for each other.

Stewart Slavin was yell leader and head cheerleader Lany Tyler who was featured in the book, “What Ever Happened to the Class of ‘65?”

Stewart Slavin, who grew up in Pacific Palisades, and then traveled the world as a news reporter and now an author has written a gem Growing up in the Palisades.

He writes: My new book is a love letter to Pacific Palisades, a community I called home from the age of 11 back in 1958 until I began my career as a reporter for United Press International a decade later.

I decided to write Growing Up in Pacific Palisades after the horrific fire in January burned down most of the town and killed a dozen people. But memories never die.

Through more than 100 short stories and 200 vintage photographs, I write about the people, places and experiences that shaped my life growing up in a secluded corner of L.A. that the late comedian and Palisades honorary mayor Bob Saget described as “a little bit like Mayberry’.

Bob Denver, star of “Gilligan’s Island” and Maynard from “Dobie Gillis,” grilling steaks in the backyard of home where he lived on Las Pulgas Drive during the 1950s.                                                 Credit: Pacific Palisades Historical Society. 

That’s because the close-knit community and Fourth of July parade gave it a small-town feel. The Palisades is “where the mountains meet the sea,” and in the 1950s through the 70s was a hidden gem of enchantment and adventure for baby boomers lucky enough to live there.

This is a second edition of my previous book, Memory-Go-Round: Ride of a Lifetime, but with a new title and packed with many more stories and photographs about the Palisades.

You’ll read about the beach and music scenes, the sports we played, old restaurants, and the hot spots that took us from childhood and adolescence into adulthood.

1958 Miss Pacific Palisades Gerry Beye was given a mink stole. The Miss Teen contest was held annually until Covid and also included a Mr. Palisades.

Special attention is paid to histories of the neighborhood and personality profiles, with celebrities and even some Hollywood mysteries thrown in. You’ll think you’ve gone back in time when you visit the Bay Theatre and Hot Dog Show and go behind the beaded curtain at the House of Lee with actor Lee Marvin and other famous patrons.

Esther Williams selling tickets on opening night at the Bay Movie Theatre in 1948.

I am especially pleased with the cover illustration of the book, which I discovered on the front of the 1993-1994 directory of the Palisades Chamber of Commerce.

The original Fourth of July acrylic painting by the late Roy Donley was proudly hung in the main office of the Chamber for many years. But during a remodel, the art was stored in a restroom for lack of a better place. And when the Chamber merged with its Malibu counterpart, some items were given to the Historical Society. But the whereabouts of Donley’s painting is unknown.

The book is dedicated to my classmates at Palisades High, the Spartans of Summer ‘64. We had a corny nickname, the Dolphins, and recently celebrated our 60th Reunion.

Tragically, the Palisades as we knew it is no more. And an uncertain future lies ahead. But for those who lost nearly everything in the fire, many are showing a resolve to rebuild — and stay Palisades Strong.

Growing up in the Palisades will be available on June 1 on Amazon in paperback, hardcover and Kindle. Preorders of the Kindle version are being accepted now.