The
Current
NEWPORT BEACH & COSTA MESA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER
AN EDITION OF
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 30, 20 1 3
OCREGISTER.COM/CURRENT
New technology allows anyone to preserve the past.
Newport lifeguards in the early 1 930s. New tools make it easier to preserve the memories of such early Newport-Mesa inhabitants.
COURTESY
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EVERYDAY HISTORIANS O
ral history is something of a put history in the hands of just about anyone: family tradition for Nora Lehman. nuns, lifeguards, public defenders, and probHer late father-in-law ably your neighbor. helped craft an oral history of “Never has oral history been so accesthe Bay Area. Now the 86-year-old sible,” said Cliff Kuhn, executive direcNewport Beach resident is intent on tor of the national Oral History Associtelling the history of the Orange Counation. It’s hard to get numbers on the ty Museum of Art. practice, he said, because it has spread NICOLE SHINE “I don’t think there have been many beyond universities and museums. REGISTER WRITER museums started by 13 women,” she Smartphones and digital recorders said of the Newport Beach museum’s have fueled its popularity. origin. This new breed of oral historian sometimes Lehman is part of a growing trend that has starts after a primer from experts. Others go
RECORD YOUR OWN STORY Orange County residents can make a reservation to record a story by calling StoryCorps’ 24-hour, tollfree reservation line at 800-850-4406 or by visiting storycorps.org. StoryCorps will record interviews at a mobile booth outside the California African American Museum from Oct. 23 to Nov. 1 6. The museum is located at 600 State Drive in Los Angeles.
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MOTIVATED TO WRITE Author Zadie Smith to speak in Newport. Zadie Smith, internationally acclaimed novelist and short story writer, benefited from a stroke of luck few other writers do when her debut novel in 2000, “White Teeth,” won accolades when she was 23 years old. Since then, Smith has pubAARON lished three ORLOWSKI more novels – inREGISTER cluding 2012’s WRITER “NW” – and a short story collection, a book on writing and a collection of essays. Today, she will speak at Newport Central Library as part of a West Coast lecture tour. Smith has had to answer the central question of her lecture – why write? – for herself in a manner different from most aspiring young wordsmiths. After achieving early success, she needed a
reason other than pursuing accolades to get up each morning and put pen to paper. “Writing is all that mattered then,” she said in an interview. “I’ve been economically free. If you’re going to be given freedom, then it’s a big responsibility to do something interesting with it.” Today, Smith will help answer that question for others while talking about the art of writing. Writing as a kind of work and as an artistic expression allows the maker to control a product from beginning to end. “It’s something to do with the idea of having your own end product,” Smith said. “That’s quite an unusual experience these days to be able to see the end of your actions.”
MORE INSIDE In an interview, Smith discusses how she makes her writing real. Page 8
Father and son find peace in running David Burnell’s time with his autistic son has helped both. You may have seen them running along the road. They go right down Adams Avenue in Costa Mesa before peeling off onto the river trail. The grandpa hauls the 4-yearold boy in a cart behind his bike while the father, gray haired and WILLIAM sweating, speeds D’URSO along beside REGISTER WRITER them. The three, all in complicit silence and forward motion. Maybe you have seen the child smiling as he rides along in the cart with his helmet on, his teddy bears stuffed beside him, and the signs on the cart that say things like “Daddy’s NYC Pit Crew.” The
CHRISTINE COTTER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
David Burnell and son Logan celebrate after a training run. David is training for the New York City Marathon, to be held Sunday.
boy laughs sometimes, handing up water to his dad each time they halt at a stoplight. You might’ve even seen the man smile back and give his boy a high-five. Maybe the man is smiling because he remembers what the doctors said, how after a slew of
surgeries – five to his knees, two on his back and one to his Achilles tendon – he would never run again. Or perhaps he’s smiling because he’s got a spot in the New York City Marathon this S E E R U N N I N G ● PA G E 1 0
INSIDE TODAY’S CURRENT OFFICES SEARCHED
A SCARY CONDITION
Local, federal officials search Newport Beach offices in what they say concerns white-collar crime. SEE STORY ON PAGE 3
Part of Halloween’s lure is the mystery of not knowing, a local guest columnist and psychologist writes. SEE STORY ON PAGE 7 KEN STEINHARDT, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
UCI HONORS LOCAL COACH UC Irvine names its new academic center, which is opening today, after legendary local coach Al Irwin. SEE STORY ON PAGE 1 0
THOMAS SULLENS, THE REGISTER