The Paper - February 16, 2017

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February 16, 2017

Volume 47 - No. 07

by Friedrich Gomez

It was August of 2012 when I first met the legendary KFMB TV-8 newsman and local celebrity, Larry Himmel, while he was on assignment here in North San Diego County covering another story I had just written, this time on San Marcos Walmart greeter, Carl Johnston aka “Mr. Marvelous.” In my storyline I had created the nickname “Mr. Marvelous” and sent Himmel a copy of the story after it was published. Himmel read it, liked it, and brought his TV-8 News camera crew inside the Walmart store premises to film his segment for later broadcast that same evening. (Himmel’s news segment, titled “The Greeter with Meter” can still be viewed online today.)

Larry Himmel was a man I long admired. Less than thirty seconds into our conversation at Walmart, Himmel leaned in and asked me point blank: “Hey Friedrich, whatever happened to the Toothpick Man of Escondido – how’s he

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doing?”

Himmel was referring to a cover story I had written for THE PAPER (August 18, 2011 issue). I had sent him a copy of THE PAPER about “The Toothpick Man of Escondido” and Himmel was so moved by the pathos and gut-wrenching storyline that he did a follow-up newscast on him (which can, also, still be viewed online today). The deepest impression I came away with after meeting my longtime San Diego idol, Larry Himmel, is that he genuinely cared about the people he filmed. These people were never just another job assignment for him. He persisted in wanting to know their whereabouts and cared deeply on how they were doing. He had already filmed a segment on “The Toothpick Man of Escondido,” but yet, he still wanted to be caught-up on him. The Toothpick Man storyline on tragedy and redemption moved him deeply and he chose not to

Obituaries Memorials Area Services Page 12

forget him. And he didn’t.

Less than two years and two months after he asked me to bring him up-todate on the status of Escondido’s Toothpick Man, Larry Himmel would pass away. I cried deeply. You didn’t have to meet Larry Himmel to love him. That’s the extraordinary power he seemed to possess – to connect with people on a most profound, grassroots level and to continually care about them. He told me: “You’re my wingman, Friedrich – you write it and I’ll film it.” Sadly, I had only written two stories which he followed-up with a newscast. I had planned to write more and to continue to send him hardcopies. It never happened.

I know most of our readership today missed the original story of Escondido’s Toothpick Man. And for the very few who may have read it back in 2011, this is a new, updated report which brings

you to this current time and year, 2017.

There were many unresolved issues and questions back then when the story first broke in THE PAPER. Today, with the passage of time, those unanswered questions can now be answered as we get current on catching-up with the celebrated Toothpick Man in 2017. Those previously unanswered questions which Larry Himmel yearned to know – are now answered here. So, this one is for you, dear friend, Larry Himmel, who always deeply cared for his fellow human beings. Herewith is the entire story, now brought to a closure.

And as Glinda the Good Witch says in “The Wizard of Oz,” – “It’s always best to start at the beginning.”

I had heard sporadic rumors of a legendary man who constructed unbelievable three dimensional sculptures out of simple toothpicks and glue. A rare indi-

The Toothpick Man of Escondido Continued on Page 2


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