The photo was from the auction a few years ago. The program mentioned James Arness, but you could be right.
met him a couple times when I lived in the Pallisades, what a nice guy he was. He will be missed. Also met his brother with him one time Peter Graves I don't if he surfed?
Evryone’s accounts seem very consistent to what I experienced when I met him while saving his giant longboard from the rocks at Pipe, Ventura Fairgrounds. He and Rolf were out and I saw this huge guy, goofyfoot if I remember right, (he was 6’7") lose his board toward he nasty part of shore up top. So I went down and saved it from getting speared on rebar or some other horrible piece of debris.
He was really appreciative and we talked for awhile after that. I thought, “what a down to earth straight forward guy for all his success”. Maybe he was originally from the midwest or something, I don’t really know… a lot of those folks are like that when you meet them.
It’s refreshing to meet people like him, with their success still allowing them to get their head through the door.
Went to college with a fellow named Spencer Beal (!965-67)–He would tell us that, at Easter Break, he was going to the family compound, on the Point at Makaha, and surfed with the Arness’s–Brought back pictures with James, the family etc-- He so so appreciative of the Aloha that the Arness family expressed to the local community…I was so envious–Although we were invited, we had no way to pay for the airfare, from Iowa (Long story)–mac
I lived right down the street, (Makau St.) from your friend. Knew his dad, Carlton Beal. A Texas oil man, as I recall. Had one of my shark incidents just behind thier house, as I described earlier in this thread.
Yep–Same family–Never met Calton, but heard many stories and saw the family pictures, at lot of them with the Arness’s. They were from Midland, Texas, of I remember correctly–Big Oil Country–Probably owned the town…
'Course Rolf won at the 'Bu backside, but I’m guessing James was regular-foot:
