Michael Stein:  

Hello Class of 1979! The reunion was quite fun and it was wonderful getting to chat with a number of my old high school buddies. While it is still difficult to believe that 30 years have passed since our CHS days, there's no denying it as my "now" and "then" photographs prove! Just for fun, I went on-line to refresh my memory about some of the major events of 1979 OTHER than the commencement exercises for Calabasas High School's first graduating class. Here are a couple of interesting items: * Famous people born in 1979: Brandy, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Kate Hudson, Norah Jones, Heath Ledger, Lamar Odom. * Famous people who died in 1979: Conrad Hilton, Nelson Rockefeller, John Wayne, Vivian Vance and Mamie Eisenhower. * Average cost for 1 gallon of gas: 85.9 cents (BOY have times changed!) * Best Song of the Year: Just the Way You Are (Billy Joel); Best Movie of the Year: Kramer v. Kramer (Dustin Hoffman's first best actor Academy Award) * Political happenings: Margaret Thatcher becomes Great Britain's first female Prime Minister, Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin sign Egypt-Israel peace accord, 42 year old Sadaam Hussein becomes President of Iraq, the Soviet Union invades Afghanistan. Plenty of things were happening right here at home in Calabasas. Even this many years later, I still think so fondly of our days at CHS and joining Classmates.com has brought back so many memories. Learning the new class rotations, lunch in Room H-7 (remember the first cafeteria which also served as the first theater for school plays and the site for school dances?!), playing sports teams from 4 year high schools and getting trounced and trying to come up with the school's alma mater. I specifically remember a school assembly for all 8th graders (presided over by future first principal Al Acton) on the field at A.E. Wright Middle School -- the topic? Voting on the mascot and school colors for the soon to be completed new high school. Although Coyotes and brown and gold were the winners, do you remember what the runner-ups were? Cavaliers and green and white (Don't ask me why I remember that). I think we made the right choice. I was particularly happy that CHS opened when it did since the campus was literally less than a mile and a half from my house in Calabasas (where my parents still live) which was far more convenient than the prospect of taking a bus all the way out to Agoura High School off of Chesbro Road. I usually walked to school, accompanied by Barrie Bass (who lived up the street from my house) , Steve White and Mike Daniels (who lived just around the corner) and Ken Fryk (who lived literally adjacent to the school). Of course, once I had my driver's license, despite how close school was, I could usually be seen in my silver, 1965 Ford mustang, often pulling up with Barbara Tullo (now Powers) in the passenger seat. I was blessed with many friends at CHS -- Steve, Mike, Ken, Barrie, Vicki Berns, Carolyn Crandall and Sue Gartland just to name a few. Breaking in a new school was of course challenging but it was also quite a bit of fun. We knew that the traditions the school would enjoy for years began with us. I played on the baseball and basketball teams briefly but found my niche I think on the speech and debate team (big surprise considering what I now do for a living). Many of you probably remember me doing the morning announcements over the loud speaker (my first real speaking gig!). I was also blessed with some very fine teachers. Ann Fagan nurtured my love of reading. Steve Totheroh, George Blackmon and Bruce Wilkoff set into motion my life long interest in government and politics. Doug Pollock helped me develop the ability to write with the almost daily snap essays we were required to write in his Advanced Composition class. Jim Vidakovich's Radio and TV class helped with public speaking, something I use every day in court or meeting with clients. Yet, it was arguably in Helen Pesavento's class that I learned the skill that perhaps has been the most important since our CHS days -- the ability to type! Those 4 years just flew by and soon, we were sitting together in caps and gowns (after being made to walk down the incredibly long walkway from the upper field to the football field!) and I had the good fortune to be one of the graduation speakers on that very special day. I vividly remember the mixture of emotions I was feeling. Of course, elated to be a high school graduate, nervous about the ability to successfully tackle college and frankly, quite sad at the realization that this would be the last time I would see many of the people who I had grown up with. After a short layover at Pierce College (I needed a less intimidating intro to the whole college thing), I proudly became a UCLA Bruin. It was there that I first encountered a truly majestic campus (one can't see a photograph of Royce Hall and not think UCLA), a rich collegiate history and tradition, political activists (there would be many more awaiting my arrival in Berkeley a few years later!) and the sense that life was now moving into high gear. I'll admit I was more than a little nervous the first day I sat in one of those large lecture halls but the education I had received at CHS quickly showed me that with a lot of hard work, I could manage the complexities of college. My long standing distaste of anything USC became particularly pronounced during this time, so much so that even today when I hear that "other school's" fight song, I literally cringe (is it just me or does their band repeatedly play the same boring song over and over?). Sadly, Westwood was very different then. Although I haven't been back to the village in years, I know its fallen on hard times. Back then, Friday and Saturday nights ensured that the streets would be brimming with people looking to be one of the first to see the release of a new movie. People watching was almost as entertaining as going to a movie. Hamburger Hamlet right there in the village offered a great place to eat but for those of us on a tighter budget, motoring down Westwood Boulevard to Pico was easy and it meant enjoying the best burger in town (still) at the Apple Pan. Donning another graduation robe in 1983 and receiving my college diploma made me so proud but I knew I had some more things to do. After working full time at the Santa Monica Superior Court as a Deputy Clerk from January until August, 1984, virtually all of my worldly possessions were packed in suitcases in the back of my parents' car as we motored north to Berkeley for me to start my studies at Boalt Hall Law School at the University of California, Berkeley. I really had no choice -- Mr. Fraisse insisted that I become an attorney! I spent 3 wonderful years in the Bay Area and fell in love with San Francisco and Berkeley. Having lived at home and commuted while attending UCLA, law school was my first experience living on my own and fending for myself. I was 22, had never lived anywhere but Southern California and hadn't the foggiest idea how to do laundry (I would quickly learn). Fortunately, contrary to the horror stories I hear from many of my colleagues about how miserable they were in law school, I loved it, due in no small measure to the beauty and serenity of the Cal campus and the Bay Area in general. I have the distinct memory on more than one occasion of gathering with friends on the roof of our dorm to relax and take in the sun slowly slipping out of sight behind the majestic Golden Gate bridge. After sunset, the eerie sight of the tower on Alcatraz Island casting its circular beam of l...Expand for more