Postcard from Santa Monica - “Passing Time at the Pier’s End”
If you're driving East to West, the spiritual end point for Route 66, regardless of the technicalities of history, is The Santa Monica Pier. Considering this, it is no coincidence we're ending this season there where more than snapping a picture, we'll learn of the artist Bob Waldmire from vendor Mannie Mendelson, hear the trumpet stylings of Buddy Balou, and take some time to reflect on the journey we've taken through revisiting the voices of Michael Wallis, Jim Hinckley, Scott Piotrowski and Rhys Martin.
TRANSCRIPT
(As this transcript was obtained via a computerized service, please forgive any typos, spelling and grammatical errors)
Evan Stern (00:01):
If you've been riding along with me for a while, by now, you've probably forgotten. I opened this season with a quote from Amarillo photographer Jim Livingston.
Jim Livingston (00:10):
There's so many stories on Route 66 that, um, are gonna disappear. And so one of the most valuable things I think about traveling Route 66 is to hear people's stories that may be the most magical part of Route 66.
Evan Stern (00:25):
A bearded bespectacled, unassuming Odysseus, having devoted much of his life to social work and helping others navigate their mental health, he picked up a camera when he found it was time to work on his.
Jim Livingston (00:36):
There's some ugly stuff in America. Really ugly, ugly stuff in America. And I had become hugely cynical. And, um, you know, part of the reason I had to jump ship was I was the most bitter, cynical human being in the world. And I needed to reframe the world. I needed to see what was beautiful about the world. And so my little half inch viewfinder became this magic window that I could focus on nothing but what was beautiful.
Evan Stern (01:01):
He tells me this was almost a reactionary act as shooting landscapes, sunsets, and passing trains gave him the chance to distance himself a bit from people. Yet ironically, he would end up photographing more than 1600 and driving over 25,000 miles after sparking upon an idea when taking in the scene at a local cafe-
Jim Livingston (01:23):
2015, um, I was in a coffee shop on Route 66, and it was crazy. You'd have a biker, like a real biker, you know, skinned up knuckles and, you know, um, and then you'd have a doctor, and then you'd have a artist, and then you'd have a soccer mom. And I was thinking to myself, this is really crazy that you'd have this eclectic group of people. And so I was originally gonna do a, just a portrait series to show how eclectic this group of artists, this group of, um, customers were. But what I realized, part of what made that original magic was that eclectic group of people were their traveling route, 66. And so that's when I attached the, the whole project to Route 66. The thing, the big thing that I learned about just doing the portraits was a portrait of a stranger is just a stranger. Unless there's something to connect you to that person, it's just, even if they're the most interesting person in the world, you know, it's, it's somebody else's mom, it's somebody else's, there's no connection. And so I started asking questions. Those three questions seemed to resonate with just about everybody.
Evan Stern (02:33):
Those questions he settled on asking his subjects to complete were, I, am I regret, And before I die. Eventually, he titled the whole series, the I Am Project. And after taking my picture, I told him I was an old soul. That I regretted the ways I'd behaved and treated people when hungry. And that before I died, I wanted to get paid for my work. But the truth is, if you ask me those questions on any given day, I might come up with different answers. And as I entered the final stretch of this trip, I found myself circling back to them. I mean, inevitably when you reach the end of something big, you can't help but get a little introspective. And if you're driving east to west, the spiritual endpoint of Route 66 is the Santa Monica Pier. So naturally we're concluding this season there. And yes, we might even get a little reflective. I'm Evan Stern and this is Vanishing postcards.
Evan Stern (03:45):
Urging the necessity of an interstate highway system. President Eisenhower proclaimed to Congress in 1955.
Evan Stern (04:47):
"Together, the uniting forces of our communication and transportation systems are dynamic elements in the very name we bear United States. Without them, we would be a mere alliance of many separate parts." And while I believe our highways are necessary, sitting in traffic on LA's 1 01, I question how true these words proved. Over 10 million live here. But I'm always surprised by how isolating this megalopolis can feel. And if these roads were born of the freedom promised by a car in every garage, this smog and gridlock remind me of its costs. Yet Los Angeles, for all its faults still tempts me. And Buddy Balou argues, there's good reason for that.
Buddy Balou (05:38):
For me, it's paradise. I came from New York where it's freezing. I love California. I love the sun. Sun in January, I love no snow. Uh, it's just a calmer, quieter tempo. Blue skies in New York, you look up to the sky and you see like a four four by four inch square of blue here. It's a blanket's, God's blanket. It's beautiful, beautiful
Evan Stern (06:00):
Seeing as that It's December 8th, and we're both in short sleeves, standing under a cloudless blue sky. It's hard to argue otherwise. We're talking about 55 feet above the Pacific, approaching the far side of the Santa Monica pier where Buddy brings his trumpet most every day to busk from 10 to two.
Buddy Balou (06:19):
I am just giving what God gifted me, that's all. And, and people appreciate it. And the pier is like, um, playing at a circus, it's like a carnival. And I actually wrote a voiceover piece about it saying, you know, when I was a boy, I wanted to run away from a home and join the circus. And then I, when I moved to Santa Monica, I realized I, I arrived. And, um, but now I'd like to run away from the circus and join the movie circus. And then I realized it's all a circus, but it's beautiful. The only thing the pier's missing are the tigers and the bears and the horses and the lions. I was, I was playing here, looked over at a big, giant sea turtle came up about two weeks ago. Every animal showed up cuz there was a feeding frenzy. And it was like laid out like a blanket of fish, of birds and fish and everybody, and they were feeding and it moved all the way over here. There were seals, there were every pelicans, every bird, every, I mean, it was so cool. That's what I love. And just to be by the sea and by, I could get a little shack right over there. I'd live there. It's just too expensive right now. That's why we want to get in the movies and then we can afford a little place overlooking the sea
Evan Stern (07:26):
Short and fit with a solid head of hair and spritely energy that could fool you into thinking he's a lot younger than his age, it's been a long time since Buddy's been in front of the cameras, but that doesn't seem to trouble him or keep him from dreaming of forging a path in the biz.
Buddy Balou (07:40):
I, I have surrendered, I was born in Southside Chicago where Route 66 begins. I just turned 70 and now I'm at the end of it. I mean, if that doesn't tell me, born in Chicago and I end up at the end of it, you know, I opened my parachute and where did I land at the end of Route 66? And I started in the beginning. So for me it's just serendipity and meant to be, you know, there's, there's, uh, kismet,
Evan Stern (08:06):
An accomplished dancer who worked with Baryshnikov at the A B T and spent 12 years on Broadway as a member of a Chorus Line, I trust Buddy when he says he's surrendered. But it's also obvious he appreciates the possibilities Los Angeles offers. I know that's a big part of why he and other dreamers continue to land here. When I ask Scott Pietrowski how much of the Route's magic is fed by virtue of the fact it ends in la he says all of it.
Scott Piotrowski (08:34):
Well, let's talk about the differences between the Lincoln Highway or 99, even to some extent, or Yellowstone Trail, or, I mean, it doesn't matter to me. Pick your road, right? The only one that ends in LA is 66. And what makes that different is that the people who wanted to talk about the road, who talk about their travels on the road came out here and they had a voice. You know, they were writers, they were actors, they were singers. And by being in Los Angeles and Hollywood, they had a voice for themselves already. I mean, Bobby Troup is the perfect example. I mean, if he wasn't coming to LA to Hollywood, we wouldn't have the song. How many other of the highways have us on, uh, LA is the answer to Route 66? It doesn't really matter what the question is, LA is the answer. Can you tell I'm a little bit passionate about my city.
Evan Stern (09:24):
An Ohio born filmmaker who drove here in 96, never to look back for Scott, Route 66 serves as a conduit for his passion for all things la
Scott Piotrowski (09:34):
I know that in terms of Route 66, a lot of people kind of give Los Angeles a a bad rap because of the traffic and because of the density and because they feel like Los Angeles doesn't do. Its, its shared a preserve history. But the reality is there are over 100 national register of historic places, landmarks within the Route 66 corridor in LA County, and there are literally thousands of local landmarks in that corridor as well. So when people talk about there's not enough to see or do along 66 in la the reality is there's more density of of 66 and things to see and do along 66 in LA than any other part of the road.
Evan Stern (10:16):
Still for most driving the route, the most iconic site that comes to mind here is the Santa Monica Pier, which despite the old alignment's official end, has evolved into something of a symbolic capstone.
Scott Piotrowski (10:29):
We know factually where the road ended, where the termini were at different times, and the Santa Monica Pier was never officially a part of Route 66. I think anybody who denies that is just denying facts and history. Now that being said, we routinely talk about going to the Grand Canyon while taking your trip on Route 66. We talk about Merrimack Caverns as being a part of a Route 66 trip, and that's not on the road. So we can certainly allow that the the spiritual endpoint of your Route 66 journey is gonna be at the Pacific Ocean and is logically going to be the Santa Monica Pier. There's really no question that if you come 2,400 miles, you're not gonna stop a mile away from the ocean. Say, okay, I'm done. And turn around and go back. That would be kind of silly. Um, but yeah, I think the important thing for me is we talk about the endpoint, we talk about where people are gonna go, but we're certainly, we certainly can't disavow the actual history that's there.
Evan Stern (11:36):
Well, regardless of the technicalities of history, that doesn't stop me from snapping a picture at the end of the trail sign, which is now a rite of passage for anyone who makes it this far. But a little further beyond this marker, I find Santa Monica Bait and Tackle, whose owner, Mannie Mendelson, Scott tells me has been a fixture on the pier for over 30 years.
Scott Piotrowski (12:00):
He's got the last shop on the pier. So when you talk about the pier being the, the symbolic ending of the road, um, Mannie's the symbolic end, you know, he's, he's the last stop on the pier and it's just, you know, if you're taking the trip and you're doing the whole thing and you're considering the pier to be your last stop, Mannie's your last stop and, and you just gotta appreciate what he's done. The idea of a mom and pop shop on the road, he's, he's lived that for 30, 35 years, 40 years what, however long it's been now. So we talk about Route 66 being about mom and pop places and local landmarks and staying away from your big boxes and everything. And I think Mannie kind of epitomizes that
Evan Stern (12:48):
Removed from the amusement park's raucous arcades and carnival games. About a thousand feet past the tide line, fishermen cast lures from the pier's lower deck. The ages and races are varied. Some are weathered, a few have probably never picked up rods before, but it's an altogether peaceful scene that Mannie grew up around.
Mannie Mendelson (13:09):
I grew up here in Santa Monica and my grandmother, uh, used to work on the old pier. The pier was nothing like it was before because there was no amusement park. And you know, you would see a handful of people out there in a day and that there were, there were characters out there like, uh, there was this one lady who would, who was fishing with a coat hanger and, um, she had a clump of the mussels that you see hanging on all the piling. And the lady would catch these giant fish because the fish would come over and they, they thought that those mussels were part of the piling and they would be. I mean, they, they all had their, uh, their own characters, that's for sure. In, I used to work for the city of Santa Monica. I was a trash man for five years, and then I went to the city of Beverly Hills for two years.
Mannie Mendelson (14:02):
I got rear-ended, taken away an ambulance. I had back surgery after my back surgery. I couldn't return to work. But, uh, what happened was, uh, I started, I, I would see fishermen coming out here and I go, let here, let me get you some hooks and weights and bait and stuff. Let me, uh, accommodate the fisherman. There's nobody, there's not a bait and tackle shop here anymore. So I started doing that. I put a little freezer in there. I was selling bait. I was selling hooks and weights, and the city came to me and goes, Hey, we we're gonna have a place at the end of the pier alotted for a bait and tackle shop. Would you like to sell your hooks and weights out of there? I go, what a blessing. You know? So that's how I obtained this.
Evan Stern (14:45):
That was in 1990. And while tchotchke vendors have come and gone, Mannie and his simple weather worn shop have remained constant.
Mannie Mendelson (14:54):
It's a public pier. It's the only place in California that you don't need a fishing license, to fish off of. When they had the recession, that's when they started that where people could come out and get some food without having to spend a lot of money. I happen to have all the accommodations for fishing. We rent poles. I've charged the same price as long as I've been in business over 30 years. We charge $4 an hour to rent a rod. I think that's what it's all about. Life. What life's all about is not what you receive, it's what you give. And if, uh, you could do acts of kindness and people remember something, then uh, hopefully they can do the same thing.
Evan Stern (15:37):
Now in his fifties with the beer belly and gray light brown mustache, Manny credits a lot of this wisdom to artist and cartographer. Bob Waldmire, who one day entered his shop to offer some postcards for sale.
Mannie Mendelson (15:50):
I met Bob back in, uh, 1990 when I first opened. He would come out here and he would, he would sit across the way and he would doing sketches and stuff. And, um, just his personality and everything was, I mean, it was so that I looked forward to like a mentor and stuff. And then, you know, back then I was probably 25 years old or something, and everything was like going through one ear and out the other. But, uh, he did, uh, influence me a lot in everything that I've done here.
Evan Stern (16:19):
Born near the war's end in Springfield, Illinois. Bob spent years sketching, playful, exceedingly detailed bird's eye maps of 66 while driving it in a customized 72 VW bus. An itinerant hippie, he inspired the George Carlin voiced character of Fillmore in Cars, but was perhaps most eloquently described by Michael Wallis, who called him the Johnny Appleseed of the Mother Road. Bob's seeds, Michael says, were in the form of his work that he deposited so lovingly across whole dimensions of Route 66. Scott got to know Bob when he was living in Hackberry, Arizona. And speaking of him today still brings a shine to his eyes.
Scott Piotrowski (17:03):
Bob was kind of the epitome of a hippie traveling artist, I guess that you would say. Um, he didn't like to sit still, he didn't like to be in one place, I don't think. He liked being alone. You know, he didn't, didn't like being around a lot of people, which made LA kind of difficult for him. The last time that I saw him was on his last Route 66 trip. I spent some time with him in Santa Monica at the beach there. And, uh, we talked a lot about what he, he had done and his life and, and his experiences on the road in particular. And just, I, I really loved being around him just because it was always a, uh, a different perspective for me and a different view of the road and just a chance to, I guess, be free. You know, it's like you kind of let go of everything when you're with him and the problems go away. The, the city life goes away and the tra you know, the traveling, the, the cars go away and just kind of, for me, with him, it was just sitting there and having a conversation and, and not worrying about anything else.
Evan Stern (18:11):
Mannie shared a deep bond with Bob as well, and near the end in 2009, traveled to Illinois to say goodbye in person.
Mannie Mendelson (18:19):
I went back on, uh, December the second, and he passed away on December 16th. So, uh, when I went back there, yeah, I was, I was very, very fortunate, his, his two brothers were there and, uh, there were, there were visitors from all over the world. Their brothers were only letting them stay there like 10 minutes. And I go, Hey, I better leave Bob. And he goes, no, you're my friend, you're gonna stay. And I ended up staying the whole day, you know, and, uh, and uh, he gave me a rock. There was a piece of, uh, route 66, and I remember, you know, I was sitting on the bed with him and he put his legs up and he got some white out and he made a Route 66 Shield on there. And he rode some stuff to me and, uh, just remember how skinny we was and stuff.
Mannie Mendelson (19:08):
And it was so sad. Um, so I got on my knees, I was praying, and, uh, um, so when I got back, Bob called me and he goes, uh, hey, did, how'd the rock make it back? I go, well, Bob, I go, I was going through the airport and they, they rubbed some stuff on it to make sure it wasn't a bomb. And some of that stuff got smeared and stuff. This was on the, uh, this was on the 14th of December, two days before he died. And, uh, he goes, I'm gonna send you another one. So he got a smooth rock, so he sent me this other one. So I, I claim to have his last piece of art wowk. So I'm very, very honored and I want to try to be an influence like Bob was
Evan Stern (19:48):
Remarking on the outpouring of love he received in these final days, Bob joked "had I known how good getting sick was gonna be, I'd have done it earlier" before adding, he couldn't imagine having lived a richer life. Following death, as per his specific instructions, half of his ashes were buried with his parents in Illinois, while the other half were deposited at various points along Route 66. Some were dropped from the Chain of Lake Bridge near Chicago, others in his beloved Chiricahua mountains. And after scattering what remained in the Pacific's waves, Bob's brother Buzz reserved a portion to give to Mannie, who keeps them in a glass case memorial he built outside his shop.
Mannie Mendelson (20:33):
I have some of his ashes out here, pretty honored. He, he knew a lot more than I did, and he's the one that encouraged me and told me what I had. This is my backbone. This is, uh, yeah, I take a lot of pride in everything, especially being part of Route 66 and, and knowing all about it with everybody that's out there and everything that they represent. There's all aspects of life coming out here and, you know, it's really interesting about it. is you ask people where they're from, and somebody will tell you, Brazil, the next person that come in will say, I'm from Texas. And just, uh, curious to what drew them to this place. I'm gonna, I'm gonna be here as long as the good Lord allows me in the city, keeps me here.
Evan Stern (21:24):
In addition to Bob's ashes, the tribute house's, articles, postcards, photos, an Illinois license plate bearing his portrait and a few of his signature maps of 66. It's a failure of my research I somehow overlooked Mr. Waldmire until now. But whether I noticed it or not, realize his work was present all along the way. I photographed a mural of his in Tucumcariwithout knowing what I was looking at. And later discover I missed drawings he left at the Rock Cafe in Stroud, Angel's barbershop in Seligman and La Posada in Winslow. More than Johnny Appleseed, Michael Wallis also says that Bob is the conscious of all road warriors on 66. And right now, I hear my conscious tell me that as much as I've seen and experienced, there's a lot I haven't come close to touching, which is something he told me to expect before my drive even began.
Michael Wallis (22:21):
I've traveled it. I cannot tell you how many times. And every time I go out on the road, I find something new every time. More importantly, I find someone new, I turn over a rock and another genie emerges every time. It, it also represents not only what America used to be, but what it is now and what it can become. And also this is a very important part of that. I can see in my mind's eye a lot of things, but in my mind's eye, like right now, I'm looking at Route 66. I'm looking at it, coming out of the bowels of Chicago, winding all the way across the country, and I see it, I see a road anchored by two big blue states, but mostly red states in between, which means the road runs purple or should run purple. But I also don't see these things.
Michael Wallis (23:28):
I don't see state lines, I don't see county borders, I don't see city limits. I see a seamless linear village all the way across two-thirds of the county. And on that village is this family. And sometimes it is so dysfunctional, you can't believe it. We who really understand the history, the culture of the road also believe the road has an obligation to live up to its publicity. So it, it cannot deny its past. It's a road of humanity. And that's why you tell the whole story, the good, the bad, the ugly, the black and white, the shades of gray. That's all, that's all part of, of the story.
Evan Stern (24:23):
This is a story I have tried to tell, and Jim Hinckley warned me about succumbing to nostalgia as well.
Jim Hinckley (24:31):
We have a tendency to get myopic and, and focus on neon and tailfins, but Route 66 has morphed into a, uh, an odd blending. It's, it's, uh, it's a living time capsule and honest to God living museum with a thin overlay of Disneyland. And, uh, to be honest, Route 66 today is better than ever. I think, uh, when Route 66 was Route 66, like when you went up through Oatman, picture that road with a million cars a year on it. What a nightmare. And driving Route 66, even in the sixties and early seventies, bumper to bumper traffic, no shoulders, you got some guy with a 40 year old truck pulling hay, and then this guy with a Corvette trying to get around everybody. You know, most of it was a white knuckle drive. It was just no fun. And now you can, you can do both. You're in a hurry. Get on the interstate. You want to enjoy life and see America slow things down, you get on Route 66.
Evan Stern (25:29):
I can attest that whenever I felt like rushing on this trip, Route 66 had a way of getting me to ease up on the pedal. And my contemporary Rhys Martin agrees. That's its beauty
Rhys Martin (25:41):
To me, Route 66 represents what's great about this country. Um, things are so divisive these days and, you know, with access to information around the world comes access to everything. And it's easy to get caught up in bad news. It's easy to get caught up in things that are stressful. It's easy to lose sight of the things that are special. And really for me, when I boil everything down, the most special commodity that we have is time. And when you take a trip on Route 66, you get time, you meet people, you hear these stories, folks that are, you know, just really great everyday folks that wave to you from the car, even though they've never seen you before. Um, you get these great meals that are prepared in these cafes that that's the only place you can get that meal. Um, it's not cookie cutter. And if you take a trip with family or friends, whoever's in the passenger seat with you, you get time with them. And when we look up another 25 years from now, route 66 will be as vibrant and as commercially important as it used to be. But even if it only exists as a, as an open air museum, it's still time.
Evan Stern (27:00):
But good or bad time does exist. And while the journey never really ends, my time on this leg is nearing its conclusion. I thank Mannie, he gifts me a hat. I walk to the pier's end, then look out and breathe in the Pacific's expanse. I feel like books and movies have taught us that in moments like these, our minds open to some meditative stroke of transcendence. But the truth is, I hear nothing, feel little other than the breeze. And I'm happy just to gaze at the view. When I've had enough, I start walking back and I'm happy to find Buddy and his trumpet sitting where I'd left him earlier this morning.
Evan Stern (27:45):
Let's see, I'll tell you what, since I'm in LA can you maybe give us the, uh, love theme from Chinatown.
Buddy Balou (27:51):
Nope. Don't know it. Nice try. No, nice try. Nice. No, I don't know that.
Evan Stern (27:56):
See, I figure, see being in LA I figured you should
Buddy Balou (27:58):
No, no, no, not at all. It's gonna take a lot more than five years to know that I, I didn't come here with like, what's looking at the dictionary of what LA is. I'm, I'm just discovering it like a newborn baby.
Evan Stern (28:12):
So what do you feel moved to play now?
Buddy Balou (28:15):
Well, I, I don't know. Let me check my pulse. Well, I'm happy. This is called what I did for Love
Evan Stern (28:32):
As a theater fanatic, it's probably sacrilegious for me to confess that A Chorus Line has never been my favorite musical and have thought What I Did For Love to be one of Broadway's sappier 11 o'clock numbers. But right now, Buddy's Choice is perfect, and not because of his connection to the show, but because this trip has been a love project. Yes, bank accounts have been drained, gray hairs have grown and pounds gained since the start. But this drive is something I had to do before I died. And I won't forget, can't regret what I did for love.
Buddy Balou (29:32):
Yeah,
