Thursday, October 16, 2003 5:21 PM
Now that the devastating late October fires that charred over 700,000 acres and claimed 20 lives are over, it gives one pause to know how lucky most of us are to have been spared that tragedy. One of those counting her blessings is our executive director, Diana Ljungaeus, who owns a stately manor with her husband Frank Megna in a Chatsworth neighborhood dominated by properties that include horse stables. At one point, while the fires raged, Diana’s neighborhood had flames approaching from three sides. Fortunately, her area was spared but
not before terrifying the horses. It was terrible to hear them crying,” says Diana who explained that they weren’t simply neigh- ing. “But thank God it’s over. It’s over.”
The first time I visited Diana’s home it was to attend her wedding to Frank. It was a lovely affair that I witnessed with press club pals Jill Stewart, former New Times LA editor Rick Barrs and the late
Marneye Oppenheim, love of Rick’s life. Memories of sneaking cigs with Marneye and cracking each other up are still fresh in my mind. It’s impossible to forget such a gentle soul like
Marneye and I know we all still miss her.
Speaking of wed- dings, I had the pleas- ure of attending the nuptials reception for Tulsa Kinney and Charles Rappleye at the tony Traxx restau- rant at Union Station November 2. “We got married at the Little White Wedding Chapel on the Strip,” says Charlie. “Joan Collins was married there, which marriage I can’t say, as was Mary Tyler Moore.” Tulsa is a designer at the LA Weekly and taught computer design at LA Community College until the last round of budget cuts. Charlie, the former news editor and staff writer for the Weekly, is now working on a book and is scribing the wickedly insightful “Uncommon Sense” column for the LosAngeles CityBeat and ValleyBeat newspapers. Accompanying Charlie was his handsome six foot four son Dexter who towered above everybody though his brother Kelly, 11, is catching up fast. Around seventy people regaled the newlyweds as copi- ous amounts of wine and champagne flowed. Seen in the crowd were current and former Weekly stalwarts includ- ing newsroom coordinator Christine Pelisek, who looked adorable with her powder blue eye shadow, and staff writer Sara Catania who was her typically cool self. Other Weekly wags included Jim Crogan, Dave Cogan and the irascible Sam Gideon Anson. Weekly and CityBeat photo ace, Ted Soqui, looked quite content with a stunning red- head, Melissa Faust, on his arm. Lurking about was the goateed Mark Cromer, press club member and reporter for the Daily Journal. Mark is one of my favorite writers. He has a fiercely funny, non-nonsense approach to jour- nalism and takes a mean pic. Pics of him, I should clari- fy — my best-loved shot of Mark is one in which he is wildly swinging around a Glock handgun in the Mojave Desert! Word to the wise – don’t mess with this madman!
Also in attendance were the Weekly’s John Seeley, who wore a Route 66 vest in honor of Tulsa, and Michael Simmons who warbled some incoherent ditty in saluta- tion of Charlie. One choice lyric: “Who exposes piggies when they lie, who speaks for gangbangers when they get shot and die. It’s you boy, you’re going to make it after all.” Keep the day job, Michael.
I espied Howard Blume with his two lovely daughters, Rebekah, 10, and Hannah, 6, in tow. “I’ve always believed that one should have a child’s name that is a palindrome,” quipped Howard. Standing with him was Dean Kuipers and his four-year-old son Spenser. Dean is the rockin’ deputy editor of CityBeat and ValleyBeat and helmed several impor- tant cover stories on the Rocketdyne/ Ahmanson Ranch issue this year. Now that mega-bank Washington Mutual has sold the land to the state to create a new 2,960 acre park, congrats go to Dean, CityBeat and ValleyBeat editor, Steve Appleford, Ventura County editor, Hillary Johnson and Pasadena editor, Kevin Urich for so thoroughly covering the 17-year-old battle over the ranch. LA Weekly news editor, Alan Mittelstaedt deserves cred- it for breaking the story last year and former VC Reporter editor (and now my occasional writing part- ner), Sharon McKenna, deserves kudos in blowing the story wide open.
So even with all the bad news of late, we can all still be happy over Tulsa and Charlie’s nuptials and the best wedding gift of all – a new state park. So kick me some
god (or bad) news or I’ll have to come looking for you!
