Ojai: Talk of the Town

It took a great deal of courage for Tim Arlon (aka TD Lind) to muster up the courage to ask family friend, Glyn Johns, the legendary producer of such renowned bands as the Rolling Stones and The Who, to produce his most recent record, "Little Mr. Big Man," with former bandmate Screamin' John. Johns' reply was a dream come true for any musician, "What took you so long?"

The record was released in October 2019 and was nominated for awards on the Blues charts and was a great record to tour behind, til a pandemic happened. The album is available on iTunes and Spotify and also on Tim and John's website, sjtdl.com (Screamin' John, TD Lind dot com). You can read more with Seamus Morrison's fascinating story in the Spring issue of Ojai Quarterly on OjaiHub.com.

Tim talks about the epochal changes in the music industry, from the disambiguation of albums into singles which spread through the early days of iTunes, and the way Spotify's paltry artist reimbursements are forcing working musicians to earn their daily bread through touring. It's been a rough road for artists especially since the cancellation of live performances. 

Tim also teased us with a secret collaboration with Danny McGaw that he couldn't tell us about but said we should keep our eyes (and ears) open. 

When he's not working the circuit as a bluesman, Tim looks after Ojai Olive Oil's trees as grove manager, a job he learned after being stranded in the south of France decades ago. A chance encounter at the Ojai Farmers Market happened because Tim heard Alice Asquith speaking French, and from that, he was hired to prune more than 2,000 trees. He now conducts tours, helps Philip Asquith press the olives into the fresh, fruity olive oil for which the place is famed. Olive trees will produce for thousands of years is properly pruned; trees that fed ancient Greeks and Romans are still in production. "I love it, I'm out in the nature the whole time," he said. Even when bears crash into his house.

Growing up in an artistic family — his father was a rock-and-roll singer and music publisher and manager (Aretha Franklin and Sheena Easton among them, and is still managing The Kinks) of renown in England, his mother was a working actor — paved the way for Tim to start his first band at age 16. His early influences included Eddie Cochrane and jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt before moving on to Humble Pie and Led Zeppelin. We also talk about finding your own way in music as in life.

We didn't get around to talking about English dance hall music, the expeditions of Sir Richard Francis Burton or Robert the Bruce.

The Agora Foundation has been a key part of the intellectual landscape of Ojai for a decade now, bringing in top teachers for bracing and wide-ranging discussions of the Great Books Seminars. Executive director Andy Gilman was a co-founder of Agora as well as of the well-received Ojai Chautauqua panels, which bring together top panelists for even-handed dialogue about knotty issue.

While the pandemic shut down the in-person seminars, it opened other opportunities, which Gilman was able to pivot toward. Now weekly, the Agora seminars take place every weekly, and bring in people around the country and beyond. The bracing range of topics include Thucydides, Marcel Proust,  Dostoyevsky, as well as founding documents like the Federalist Papers and the Lincoln-Douglas Debates. The talks also include Eastern classics like the Bhagavad Gita.

The Ojai Chautauqua began in 2014 as an offshoot of the Libbey Bowl Foundation based on the intellectual tent revivals of the 1870s in western New York. Gilman called it the "seminar write large." Gilman has hosted 17 of these public events since then, along with Dan Schnur of USC fame as the moderator, with topics such as "Media in Politics" and "GMOs."

Gilman has lived in Ojai for most of his life and has deep roots in the community. We talked about a lot of topics, as you might expect from two people who love Ojai and have known each other for more than a decade. We did not talk about the conquests of Genghis Khan, brook trout fishing in the Adirondacks or Joe DiMaggio. You can learn more about the Agora Foundation and Ojai Chautauqua at www.agorafoundation.com.

Michelaina Johnson, a Ph.D candidate in the Environmental Studies program at UC Santa Cruz, spent a year researching the lack of affordable housing in Ojai and possible solutions. The results of that research were published in a highly readable account in the Fall issue of Ojai Quarterly. 

Johnson has deep roots in the community, going back generations, and she was hearing from her many local friends about their struggles to find housing in Ojai, a struggle made more difficult by the pandemic. In her thorough story, she asks local leaders and citizens about the problem and what to do about it. More affordable housing can solve several problems at once - traffic, air quality and equality of opportunity. 

We talk about the "trick or treat test" for neighborhoods - are they safe, well-lit, compact, neighbors knowing each other,  an abundance of young children. Michelaina said the key question in her story was "what kind of community do we want to have?" The question takes on even greater importance because of the influx of city-dwellers moving to Ojai to get away from the urban stresses. 

Her Ph.D program has brought her into close study of land and water use, and the role of government in those key issues. She has also studied the issues of climate change — which is evidenced by the proliferation of wildfires in California and the increasing scarcity of water. Despite it all, she intends to maintain "a very intimate connection to Ojai."

We did not talk about Hannibal's use of war elephants, the novels of Michael Ondaatje or the final episode of "Bojack Horseman."

The Ojai Playwrights Conference, which takes over two weeks in August, is one the foremost cultural occasions in the country. Typically, the OPC selects eight plays for intensive workshops with experienced dramaturges, theater directors and producers, culminating in stage reads for the public in  highly anticipated shows. Sadly, this year the in-person OPC was another victim of the pandemic.

But Robert Egan, for 20 years the OPC's artistic director - along with the rest of the staff and board - was not deterred. Instead of moving past this fraught era, they went straight at it, with a lineup of 15 plays from a mix of first-time selections and established playwrights like Luis Alfaro, Jon Robin Baitz and Aziza Barnes. The new OPC Foundry Project will collaborate with eight playwrights developing seven new works, which will form the core of next year's conference. 

We talk with Egan about the central role the OPC has developed in the creation of new works for the theater, including a number of works that went straight from Ojai to Broadway, including "The Motherf**cker with the Hat," by Stephen Aidly Guirgus and "Other Desert Cities," by Robby Baitz, which was the longest running non-musical in Broadway history. 

Egan also talks about growing up tough in the Washington, D.C. area, where he made the school's Hall of Fame for two areas - football and theater - and where a brutal beatdown led to a memorable encounter with a police officer that changed the trajectory of his life. 

We did not talk about the infield fly rule, whether Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was an overrated general, or Boccacio's "Decameron." You can, however, learn more about the OPC's bold new initiatives at ojaiplays.org.

In a preview of a hugely entertaining feature in the Fall issue of Ojai Quarterly by Kit Stolz, (which will hit the streets August 28th), we talk about Franz Lidz has had a dream career in journalism, covering such characters as future president Donald Trump trying build a golf course in Scotland, and his conflicts with the colorful locals, reminiscent of the film "Local Hero." He spent 27 years as a senior writer for Sports Illustrated during their glory years. He now writes for the Smithsonian Magazine, going deep with long-form narrative features on Neanderthals, the skull of Pliny the Elder and chronicling the swift pace of cultural and agricultural changes in the Lake District of England, where Beatrice Potter, Wordsworth and de Quincy created masterpieces. He broke important stories such as George Steinbrenner's slide into dementia, which was hugely controversial at the time.

Lidz' memoir, "Unstrung Heroes," was made into a major film directed by Diane Keaton. But Lidz said that the real story of his four eccentric uncles before it was "Terms of Endearment"-ized, was even more fascinating. One believed himself to be the world's greatest boxer, another believed himself to be the poet-laureate of Brooklyn Heights, another fought with the Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War and several of them were institutionalized. Lidz' father, the youngest of the brood, was a successful scientist and inventor; among them the first transistorized portable radio. 

Besides journalism, Lidz spent a few years as a front-office executive with the Detroit Pistons, and with his wife Maggie, ran a farm in Pennsylvania for decades.

We talk about the state of journalism, the importance of storytelling, and the tricky and unreliable nature of memory. We also talk about Lidz' and his wife's move to Ojai to be closer to his family and the joys of grandparenting. We do not talk about the Pelopponesian War, Argentinian street food or rowing crew at Harvard with the Winklevoss twins.

Laura Walter, the coordinator for the Ojai Music Festival's Bravo program, provides music education for Ojai's kindergarten through 3rd grade students. Since the pandemic, Walter has pivoted deftly to providing that music curriculum online. It's not been without its challenges, as anyone who tried to sing "Happy Birthday" over a Zoom call can attest. 

Still, this partnership between the Music Festival and the Ojai Unified School District is one of the most important public-private partnerships in the Ojai Valley. Walter, an accomplished flautist and recording artist, has been with the Bravo program for 12 years now. Her approach integrates vocal music with critical thinking games to teach the fundamentals of pitch and rhythm. She also introduces a lot of movement into the curriculum so that children learn that music isn't just sound, but feeling - the tactile sensation of vibrations.

We talk about the new studies with functional MRI machines that map out the way music lights up different areas of our brain, its importance for memory and intelligence, as well as life satisfaction and enjoyment. Walter discussed folk songs and their importance to a culture, and her own introduction to music through piano lessons in her rural Michigan home, and her education and experience that made her the perfect fit for this program.

You can check out her work and the work of the Ojai Music Festival at ojaifestivals.org.

We did not get around to talking about kombucha brewing, the deliciousness of walleyed pike or Terrence Malick's new document on Lil Peep.

Lila Glasoe Francese idolized her older sister, Carolyn Glasoe Bailey when they were growing up in Minneapolis for good reason. At age 19, Carolyn opened an art gallery just as the Minneapolis art scene was burgeoning, and introduced many artists to the wider world as a gallerist and curator for private collectors. Carolyn introduced Lila to the world of art, fine dining and travel. She also introduced Lila to her husband, Dines Francesce, and inspired their move to Ojai. Carolyn lived here for 25 years before her tragic death from the brain cancer, glioblastoma.

Carolyn's brilliant career advanced many artists to greater success, and she also helped patrons increase the value of their collections. Stylish, free-spirited and insightful, Carolyn traveled widely, using Ojai as a home base where she cooked amazing meals, raised her son, Matson (who developed a mobile app to track sea turtles) and connected many people with each other. 

That tragedy, along with a little sister's appreciation for a life, well-lived, inspired Lila's book, "The Situation, a Radical Journey Through Sisterhood." Lila and her widowed brother-in-law, Chris Bailey, also started the Carolyn Glasoe Bailey Foundation, which includes an artist residency, exhibits, talks and grants. The foundation, begun in 2015, is located in Ojai and directed by Frederick Janka; it also includes the Ojai Institute, which promotes arts program in schools.

Lila talks about how the process of writing the book gave her a deeper sense of gratitude and the fact "that every moment matters." We talk about Brené Brown's work as well as a quote from Spike Lee that helped Lila work through the writing of this book, "The one commonality about humanity that we all share, is the sharing of our stories."

We also talk about the current frenzied pace of real estate in Ojai, where Lila and her husband's business, Ohi Home, stages homes for sale and "makes sure seller don't leave money on the table." 

"The Situation" is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and online at thesituationbook.com. A portion of the proceeds benefits the Carolyn Glasoe Bailey, where Carolyn's motto was "Buy art, save lives."

Reed Fish and his wife Liz took off a year to travel the world, collecting memories like FDR collected stamps. After his return to California, he set up shop in Ojai as a photographer and videographer, raising his family and working hard. 

Before those adventures, he made a well-received film called "I am Reed Fish," which came out in 2007 and starred Jay Baruchel, Alexis Bledel, Schuyler Fisk and Katey Sagal. The whole experience was great fun, including the premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. Very loosely based on Reed's life story, it involves a story of a young man who is torn between duty and imagining a different future for himself. We talk about the trials and travails of the film industry.

Fish is also a podcaster, with his "Workin' It" podcast available wherever you get them. We talk about a few of his guests, retired pro tennis player Lester Cook, professional poker player Jeremy Kottler, and Mikael Jurgensen, keyboardist of Wilco - exploring the ways and means by which people make a living. We talk about how difficult it is to get the signal heard through the noise, especially with Spotify dropping hundreds of millions on podcasts. "We're still at a stage with podcasts where it's the one thing that's growing," Reed says, "30-40 percent of people haven't even listened to a podcast."

We did not talk about Errol Flynn's steelhead fishing adventures in Ojai, the writings of George Orwell or the docuseries "The Last Dance."

Mark Frost is one of the foremost authors, screenwriters and producers in Hollywood (and Ojai). From his early days on the stage at the famous Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, to his years in the legendary writer's room with Stephen Bochco, David Milch and others with "Hill Street Blues," Mark Frost has been creating and working with some of the best minds in the business.

So in the late 1980s when he got a call from David Lynch, with whom he collaborated on another project that didn't get launched, he was all in. The quirky, moody show, which ran for two seasons in 1990 and 1991, was an instant sensation. Who killed Laura Palmer? That question consumed the attention of a curious nation. It was a family affair for Frost, as the show he co-created also starred his father as the kindly Dr. Hayward. The remake, 25 years later, brought back many of the original actors for a limited series on Showtime that took the series to even deeper and darker places, to the delight of millions of fans.

We talk about many subjects, including Frost's engrossing sports books, "The Greatest Game Ever Played," and "Game Six," about the incredibly exciting game between the Cincinnati Reds and Boston Red Sox in the 1975 World Series. Frost is also involved with the conservation efforts in Ojai, having been roped in through his friend, John Broesamle, who helped found both the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy and the Ojai Valley Defense Fund, on which board Frost sits.

We did not get around to talking about spitball pitchers, how his golf game has been going or the Japanese conquest of Manchuria.

Given the news of the day, we reached out to Bill Gilbreth, the prominent attorney who served both as a prosecutor during the Watergate hearings, and as a defense attorney for several organized crime figures. Talk about "intersectionality." We also talk about sending federal Border Patrol troops into Portland and other cities, the showdown between protestors, mayors and President Trump.

Bill grew up in the Fresno area where he was an often-truant student who dropped out of high school to ride the rails and also attempted to join Castro's revolution in Cuba. When presented an opportunity to complete his education, he made the most of it, eventually graduating from Harvard Law School after a stint as a physicist at Lawrence Livermore Laboratories. He remembers most fondly his years working in the office of the 2nd District of New York federal court under the aegis of the legendary Bob Morgenthau. He also still maintains a close friendship with former fellow colleague, Lawrence Tribe, who still teaches at Harvard and who is among America's foremost public intellectuals.

We also talk about the lessons of the past, particularly the pivotal post-pandemic election of 1920, Abraham Lincoln's evolving attitudes toward slavery and equality, and whether Lincoln or FDR was our best president. Bill has also been studying the key astronomers in the Copernican Revolution such as Tycho Brahe and Galileo. Einstein comes up, as well, who was a poor student but used connections to get a job at the Swiss patent office, where he spent his off-time creating the field of physics as we know it today. In 1905, he published four papers that changed the world forever, including the general theory of relativity and photoelectric effects that won him the Nobel Prize.

That's not to mention many other jobs Bill Gilbreth has had, including being past president of the Rotary Club of Ojai. Bill is also such a dedicated yoga practitioner that he can go directly from a crow pose into a headstand.

We did not talk about the 3rd Punic War, the advent of 5G or the KKK.