I came across these photos of the Shrine Auditorium, and it reminded me of my dad sharing a few but cryptic moments at the Shrine Auditorium. I could not recall the specific event, for I was 10 or 11 then. I thought it had something to do with a prize fight but I was probably confusing that with the October 1, 1975 "Thrilla in Manila" fight between Muhammed Ali and Joe Frazier in Manila, the fight that I saw on closed-circuit TV at the Pasadena Auditorium with my dad and Chuck Pullman. But I recall that Dad used to
talk about going to the Shrine Auditorium, probably to see a fight, maybe a
speaker, perhaps even an evangelist. I don't know for sure. But in
that context, he would often include the names of [Bill] Conroy and [Joe] Sullivan, maybe
even his buddy Bob Smith.
I couldn't recall exactly what event it was related to events with the
County or events with the Sheriffs? Dad did say that he had to wear fez hats when he went inside that was given to him because of venue mandate.
It looks like the Grammy
Awards were held there until the year 2000. Academy Awards were held
there for a couple of years. In 1953, he Annual Los Angeles Examiner
Christmas Show was held there. It was the home of the Trojan basketball
team home games for 33 years; that's impressive. One or two LA Laker
playoff games were held there. Michael Jackson's Pepsi commercials were
filmed there. Presley performed there in '56. A major jazz festival
was held there in '58.
I sent my questions to Dan, who replied in this way:
One thing you have to remember - Dad had Press Pass(es) for many years.
He covered stories for a couple of LA County publications, so he would go to the various venues in Los Angeles, and get in free.
He was the Editor and Contributing Author Los Angeles County Employee Magazine and the Star-News a small publication for the Sheriff's Department.
The latter he did for many years. I think it was in the early 60s or late 50s. Then Under Sheriff James Downey [who actually worked on the 1947 Black Dahlia case] got wind of the fact that Dad was not an LA Co Sheriff's employee anymore, so he told Bill Conroy to assume those roles. Conroy knew Dad loved [writing stories], so he had Dad do some of the articles, cut and paste the articles submitted by various contributing writers, and paid Dad a small stipend for his time and effort.
I used to cut out articles for Dad's Star-News and
then tape them onto a legal-sized, hard-bound divider paper for him in our garage where the dining room joined the living room. The garage was my dad's office, and his office felt like the spartan accouterments of a war correspondent inside his tent on the perimeter of the battlefield. It consisted of a cardboard table, his famous green graphite lamp, coffee pot warmer, 3-hole punch, scissors, and other
office supplies in the nook where the dining room joined the living.
Later, he wrote a column "Let's Be Civil" for the Superior Court Clerk's Local 575 publication. I am guessing that when Conroy retired on a medical retirement that is when his relationship with the Star-News ended.
He liked getting backstage and getting up close with the stars and then sharing his inside scoop from his angle. In addition to writing the story, I think he always hoped to sneak in a cartoon whenever possible.
He may have had to wear a Fez hat or was given one as a souvenir for covering a story.
I remember going to the Shrine Auditorium with Dad to see the circus - I am guessing it was Barnum & Bailey.
I think there may have been other events, but I don't recall them at this time.
