60’s Los Angeles

“Johnny Weismuller Jr., son of a famous athlete and actor, was just hangin’ out with friends, a familiarity foreign to a kid in cut-off jeans; I didn’t feel like I’d fallen off the back of a turnip truck but I didn’t exactly fit in either. Sensing my discomfort, John looked at me and laughed: “Joey, Joey… this is Los Angeles, you can be anyone you want to be in LA. Go. Go! Get down there on the hard sand and walk on your hands…go as far as you can.” With the rush of dizzying exhilaration that produced, I felt like I almost belonged in LA — a feeling I haven’t forgotten in 50 years.” Joey Tranchina