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VILLAGE NEWS LA JOLLA
LA JOLLA’S PREFERRED SOURCE FOR LOCAL NEWS
THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2011
San Diego Community Newspaper Group
858-775-2014
DRE#01197544 DRE#01071814
www.SDNEWS.com Volume 16, Number 39
BY MARIKO LAMB | VILLAGE NEWS Citations issued to Eric Bizzigotti and Dan Byrnes in February for seal harassment at La Jolla’s Children’s Pool have been dismissed by both city and federal courts, according to a representative from the Fisheries Office for Law Enforcement. A citation was issued to Bizzigotti after he and his son were playing catch at the Children’s Pool on Feb. 20 and their foam football fell into an area occupied by seals. Upon Bizzigotti’s attempts to retrieve the ball, approximately 40 seals scattered into the water. Video footage of the incident was caught on tape by seal activist Andrea Hahn and sent to federal authorities at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). One week later, NOAA agent Michelle Zetwo issued a $500 citation to Bizzigotti for violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, a federal law that prohibits the harassment of marine mammals, including acts that are likely to disturb a marine mammal’s natural behavior.
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THECOURT BY KENDRA HARTMANN | VILLAGE NEWS
A Family Tradition of Real Estate Success
Citation dismissals leave seal activists questioning enforcement
King A mentor and musician, ‘Mr. La Jolla’ is a local legend
Scott Appleby & Kerry ApplebyPayne
SEE SEALS, Page 5
A LI FE LIVE D
La Jolla loses famed scribe of the social scene, Burl Stiff
“This is a wonderful place to learn about
BY VINCENT ANDRUNAS | VILLAGE NEWS
life. Through the game, you can learn about how to have a passion for anything, not just basketball. Mikey [pictured above] brings us all together and tries to teach the young kids how to be an adult.”
Mike Lazar has been called “Mr. La Jolla.” He’s been called a “second father,” a “legend” and the “silent mayor” of La Jolla. He’s been called a lot of things that can’t be printed as well, but that’s par for the course on the basketball courts of the La Jolla Recreation Center. Lazar has been a fixture on the courts for 24 years, and you’d be hard pressed to find a regular player there who doesn’t have something to say about him. At 72, Lazar has energy to be envied by any twenty-something. He almost never stops talking and is constantly offering advice about relationships, business or a tricky jump shot. He doesn’t censor himself for his audience’s benefit and he won’t hesitate to tell a dirty joke or rattle off a few expletives, an oddly refreshing quality. Lazar sat down with me recently to talk about his years mentoring — or, “mentoring and tormenting,” as he said — scores of young people in La Jolla. Known as “Old Mike,” “Mikey” or “Riles” (due to his striking resemblance to Miami Heat coach Pat Riley), Lazar has no shortage of stories in his repertoire — and no shortage of fans willing to share how he touched their lives. “When I was about 10 years old, I’d go down [to the rec center] and he’d always be there. He was always real nice to all the kids,” said La Jolla attorney Zach Dostart, 29. “He’s always looking out for everybody. He’s like an institution here.” Hart Woolery, who has lived in La Jolla for 12 years and started playing regularly on the courts about eight years ago, said the game is never boring when Lazar is around. “We’re always guaranteed some entertainment when he plays,” he said. “He’s got some strong opinions and he’s honest. He’s so passionate, and he’s such a character, on and off the court.”
Lazar certainly exudes passion, and not just for basketball. We sat on the patio of Bistro Pazzo on Ivanhoe Avenue while Lazar enthusiastically recounted his life story. JON SCHROEDER, 24 Born in Yugoslavia, he LA JOLLA REC CENTER REGULAR came to the U.S. when he was 12 and started working immediately to help support his mother and sister. He didn’t know a word of English, he said, but he was able to find work on farms and in slaughterhouses in New York and New Jersey. The lion’s share of grief he’s seen in his life doesn’t show through his bubbly personality, and he prefers not to talk about his past much. In the 1960s and 1970s, Lazar made a name for himself in the music industry as a bassist and traveled the country playing with various groups. He made his living on the stages of lounges and nightclubs in an era where “if you thought you had a talent, you just went and did it, and you could be successful.” As he told the story of his past, we were constantly interrupted by passersby who greeted him, often with chiding remarks or a sharp-tongued joke. At one point, Lazar stopped mid-sentence to ask a middle-aged man passing by why he hadn’t been out on the basketball courts lately. When the man said he had a knee injury, Lazar let him off the hook. As soon as the man was gone, Lazar turned back to me. “Yeah, when I get older I’ll quit, too,” he said with a wink. Lazar is aware of his age only in terms of an arbitrary number. He had a massive heart attack a year and a half ago, but he insists his heart is “stronger than before,” and it certainly doesn’t stop him SEE LAZAR, Page 4
For 33 years, habitués of the social circuit saw the same familiar figure hovering just inside the entrance of significant area events, watching the arrivals, speaking with chairpersons and taking notes about what was happening, who was there and what the best-dressed among them were wearing. That man was Burl Stiff, known to generations of San Diegans as a chronicler of social La Jollan Burl Stiff, former longtime fundraising events society columnist for the San Diego throughout the area. He Union-Tribune, passed away recently. often travelled to his secVINCENT ANDRUNAS | Village News ond-most-favorite city, New York, sometimes writing about the activities of prominent San Diegans visiting there. His columns — often three or four per week — ran regularly in the San Diego Union and Union-Tribune from July 19, 1976 until May 2009, when the publication’s new owners began making major changes. His contract was not renewed, and he wrote just seven more columns (about particularly significant social events), the last appearing on April 4, 2010. Born James Burl Stiff III in Fort Worth, Texas in 1927, he graduated from North Texas State University in 1947 and SEE BURL, Page 5