Willard Courtney is a 95 year old man who has spent his entire life in Southern California. He currently lives near Dover Shores in Newport Beach with his wife. Over the course of his life he has seen southern California and develop into what it is today.

G.V. Johnson (1845-1928) left his MN boat building in the late 1800s, went to Seattle to continue and ended up in Newport Beach in the 1920s, building boats with his son, Marcus J. Johnson (1872-1950) and grandson, Kenneth M. Johnson (1903 – ?).

“The carrier was absolutely enormous to my six year old eyes and got bigger and bigger as we approached. The tender went around the bow and I remember the anchor lines seemed bigger than me. One of the scariest memories of my young life was being snatched out of my dad’s hands by a crewman on a rickety wooden ladder on the port side of the carrier…”

They told me of a large Yawl which had run aground on the Balboa Jetty, before the CDM jetty was built. The keel was never recovered….

That was the day, the day which now is recognized by the International Aviation Community as the beginning of the Sport of Modern Hang Gliding…

“The wind had picked up and the bow began to plow, bringing gallons of water into the boat. I quickly grabbed the coffee can and began bailing with one hand. The other hand was busy controlling the tiller and rudder. I had wrapped the sheet (the line regulating the sail) around the tiller so the boat could be managed one-handed. Even with all that effort, I was losing ground. The water was coming in faster than I was bailing…”

“As high school kids in Newport we all needed a litte WAM (Walk Around Money) to buy Nui Nui burgers at the Snack Shop, Big Boys at Bobs and ice cream at Wil Wrights. Working for Mr. Felton was our source of WAM…. I didn’t know until later that the statuesque girl was Candice Bergen, star of the silver screen and television.”

Southern California in the 1960s wasn’t just a time and place; it was a state of mind. No where else in America could one find all the things happening in, around, and to you that came together in just the right way as they did in Southern California in the 60s. And I would venture to pinpoint Orange County within Southern California as the epitome of that special state of mind. My brother and sister and I certainly thought so growing up there during that wild, wonderful time.

“I can remember meeting in front of Hollywood High with our club guys, The Athenians. Gene was riding in my ’32 Ford fender-less hot rod and showed up with 35 cents. Bob was in his ’34. Louie was in his ’34 Ford roadster and Ed with his ’32 five window Ford Coupe. And nobody had much dough…”

“I obtained a paper route, and found that one high school teacher (who shall remain nameless) was on the route, and she was very particular that her paper be delivered up on her second story balcony. I did just that, but at the end of the first month, she didn’t pay her bill. Being a small, astute business manager, I…”