US Army National Guard Major General Peter Gravett tells the story of how important education was to his family. His parents grew up in the segregated south and moved to the LA Harbor Area to give their children a better life. Gravett is one of twelve children and he and eleven of of his siblings attended college (one passed away). Gravett grew up in two housing projects in San Pedro and rose from those humble beginnings to getting a post-grad degrees from USC and Harvard — and to the rank of major general in the Army National Guard. He was the first African-American in the 225 year history of the guard to become a division commander. Quite and inspirational gentleman!
John Bagakis tells the story of getting to celebrate two consecutive major soccer championships, first with the unlikely victory by Greece at the 2004 European Cup and then two years later the 2006 World Cup championship won by Italy — a victory that meant so much to him that he gave away free pizzas at Big Nick’s, the restaurant he manages.
In honor of Labor Day, Stories of LA Harbor Area: For Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow (SOLAHA) is paying tribute to the late Dave Arian, esteemed local labor/union leader, who was part of SOLAHA Volume I.
Florence Kleinjan reveals how a nun rebellion opened the door for her to convince her parents to allow her to transfer from Mary Star to San Pedro High School — and the culture shock she felt when arriving at the much larger public school, including the requirement of showering with her female classmates after gym class.
AltaSea CEO Tim McOsker recalls warm memories of growing up in the South Shores section of San Pedro, especially riding bikes with his friends in the summertime and sneaking into Marineland — a foreshadowing of his role at AltaSea!
San Pedro hair and make up artist Perri Ross Veganes shares her warm memories of growing up on Catalina Island with fun adventures such as surfing the backside of the island, abalone diving with her dad, and riding the Catalina Steamship in winter.
