Vision of a Happy Life A Memoir

As luck would have it, I interviewed for that job the next week and was hired as editor-in-chief of The Tolucan, a community newspaper situated in the heart of Toluca Lake, a ritzy neighborhood in Los Angeles surrounded by NBC, Burbank, Walt Disney and Warner Bros. studios. Toluca Lake was the home of Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamoure, Andy Griffith, and members of John Wayne’s family. It’s greatest asset was Lakeside Country Club, a private golf Club located on the border of Toluca Lake and Burbank that drew movie stars, motion picture executives and sports celebrities.

During my last week at the Enterprise, Owen asked me to cover a hearing in downtown Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Regional Transportation Authority was considering a multi-million dollar project that would put a commuter train on the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks—a move to alleviate traffic on the freeway system from outlying communities into downtown LA. The proposed Metro Link would run in the morning from east Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo, Moraine, Wind Valley, Chatsworth, Burbank into Union Station in Los Angeles and return on the same route in the afternoon. Two prominent businessmen from Wind Valley and Moraine objected to the project, thus the need for the Enterprise to cover a story happening in Los Angeles.

Since I knew there was a possibility I would be home late if I got caught in LA traffic, I asked Erin to take care of the boys until I got home. Her work for me had come to an end: Toluca Lake had no night meetings. It was an enclave within the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles County, thus no local governing body for me to cover. The Tolucan focused on social events within the star-studded, celebrity-driven community. I felt joyous, light as air. Somehow, I had landed a good job in a field that I loved and I would be home from work by 5 p.m.