BACKGROUND

Just prior to coming back to Laguna in 1969, Lance had been living on Kawella Bay on the North Shore of Oahu. The beauty of Kawella Bay was that the string of vacation cottages were only used in the summer time, so most of the year the Bay was uninhabited. Besides Lance and Cantrell, the only other year-round residents were Jackie Baxter who lived to the left of Kawella Point, the band who took up residency at Kahulu Point, surfboard shaper Bosco Burns, and next door neighbors, Stu and Vicki.

Entering the small private community situated back from the beach, there was a large foreboding “NO TRESPASSING” sign just behind the windowless shack Lance and Cantrell rented for fifty dollars a month. The sign was rather stark and offensive to the eye and totally incongruous with the lush flora of large Banyon trees and coconut palms. If you knew Cantrell at all, you knew he wouldn't be able to keep his paintbrushes off the sign. Talent oozed out of every pore of his body. After he and Lance got their hands on it, the beautifully painted sign with tropical flowers became a great icebreaker with neighbors and trespassing tourists, alike.

Likewise, Lance and Cantrell's shack sported brightly colored banners and flags that they painted. Erecting a large paisley pavilion tent on the beach next to the colorful hammock strung between the palm trees and the catamaran, their house became the fun place to be on the North Shore; lots of surfers, hippies, and pretty girls coming by to party and lay on the beach.

Suzie Bradley was a friend from the Mainland who came to visit Lance at Kawella Bay. Suzie was Miss USA in 1967 for a split second. When the original winner won Miss Universe, Suzie, the first runner up, took over the crown. She refused, however, and the honor went to the second runner up. That's the first time in Miss USA history that a second runner up took over the title.

Lance always had a thing for Suzie, but their timing was off more than on. The first time he met her, his knees went weak. It was a really intense experience. Long, dark hair, petite, Suzie was a very beautiful magnetic young woman. Lance would have jumped at the chance to hook up with her in Hawaii, but she showed up on the arm of a guitarist from Laguna Beach.

Lance and Cantrell had bigger problems on the horizon. One day the sign went missing and the property manager, Mr. Stender, basically accused Lance and Cantrell of stealing it. Normally not a big deal, it was just a sign. The boys even offered to paint a replacement sign, thinking it would diffuse the obvious bug up Stender’s butt. Then they learned that the other residents and leaseholders were invited to a policy meeting where the evil property manager admitted he was trying to rid the bay of the “undesirables.”

The leaseholders didn't have a problem with Lance and Cantrell. They thought the guys breathed life back into their small community that had been missing for years. But that didn’t stop Stender.

A few months later, their landlady, Mrs. Cokett stopped by visibly upset and agitated. Avoiding eye contact, she started apologizing like crazy as she divulged Stender's plan. She liked having the two young men there, especially when the rent was due. They also kept vandals away. Apologizing profusely, and almost in tears, she said that Stender gave her an ultimatum. In order for her family to stay, which they had leased the property for generations, Lance and Cantrell had to cut their hair.

With a dumbfounded look on his face, Lance doubled over with laughter. He couldn't believe Stender's gripe was all about the length of their hair. Putting his arm around Mrs. Cokett's shoulder, he told her she didn’t have a thing to worry about. He and Cantrell had already decided it would be easier to get work in Honolulu if they cut their hair.

Complying with Stender's demands angered the man even more and put him on the warpath. The two longhaired hippies had worn out their welcome. To avoid the hassle, Lance reluctantly left his little paradise and returned home.

Back in Laguna in the Fall of 1969, Lance was invited to stay with his friend, Mike Haley and his wife, Sherrie in their beautiful home on Thurston, high above the city. The young couple owned a bikini shop on the Island in Newport Beach called Leopard Spots. Mike was also a very talented surfer, as was his brother Jack, who was a long time lifeguard in Los Angeles and had his own surfboard company.

Sherrie Novak Haley was a beautiful, curvaceous blonde who loved the limelight. She was the girl in a bathing suit at surf contests who wore a sash across her chest and gave out trophies and kisses on the cheek, total knockout. Lance met Sherrie way before Haley, spotting her playing flamenco guitar near the campus at Long Beach State, and singing Malaguena Salerosa with a perfect Spanish accent. As gorgeous and talented as she was, they had never been more than just good friends.

Immediately, upon moving in with the Haleys, Lance felt tension building between the pair. Haley studied spiritual development with the Brotherhood of the White Temple, a religious group in Colorado. He always had a spiritual side, but this group made him even more curious about God and the Bible. Mike would go on and on about his learnings, telling everyone he came in contact with. Unfortunately, Sherrie had no patience for it. To break the tension, they took off for Hawaii, leaving Lance to watch the house.

Through the grapevine, Lance heard that Suzie Bradley was back in Southern California. He somehow wrangled her phone number and asked her out on a date. Instant chemistry. Suzie was working in a nursing home. She had given up her crown a couple of years earlier because she was engaged to Bobby Walker at the time, a known speed freak hanging around Laguna, and Miss USA couldn’t be married. Probably a good thing, she just wasn’t ready for that kind of responsibility.

Around the same time, Haley showed up at the Thurston house without Sherrie. Tensions continued over on Oahu and Sherrie ran off with Juan Shelton, a surfer about five years her junior. Haley was devastated.

Ordinarily, Haley was quite organized, systematic, and directed with a wry sense of humor to distract from his proactive philosophical intensity. Now he was totally raging, unable to focus on any one thought. His adrenalin level had gotten out of control.

Lance and Suzie tried to calm him down one night and help him vent his rage. After several hours they were exhausted and turned in. They went into their room, Haley into his. A bit of time went by before they realized something was desperately wrong. Lance had spent a lot of time in expanded states, psychic exploring. He got to a point where he could feel energies beyond walls. Haley’s desperation could no longer be ignored.

Barging into Haley's room, Lance shouted out his name. There, in the middle of the bedroom, Haley was kneeling on the floor, a hari kari knife cradled in his hands, pointed at his stomach. Trained since high school in martial arts, Haley had collected a samurai sword and a hari kari knife. His trance broken, Haley's eyes widened as he looked up at his concerned friend. Lance walked over and motioned to take the knife away. “What the crap?” Lance chided Haley. “Are you out of your mind?”

Haley succumbed, willingly gave up the knife, and collapsed.

Amongst all the chaos, Lance was falling hard for Suzie. He'd never experienced such strong feelings toward a woman. Unfortunately, Suzie was confused. Witnessing the gravity of Haley and Sherrie's marital problems only intensified her opinion of marriage; oppressive. Besides, she liked having people take care of her. She didn't want to be on her own. On the other hand, Lance was an escape from her father. In the end, Lance won the coin toss and the two got married in December 1969 at the American Catholic Church on Park Avenue in Laguna.

Right off the bat, married life went sour for the newlyweds. Suzie didn't want to lift a finger when it came to household chores and cooking. If he was busy working on a paying commission, shouldn't she want to clean up after dinner? Suzie didn’t see it that way, and only two months after their nuptials, she announced, “We’re not married anymore," and moved out.

Haley and Lance were now in the same boat. Each of their wives ran off, one with a younger boyfriend, the other with a girlfriend to Sausalito. Sherrie eventually came back to the Thurston house to pick up her furniture, which left Lance and Haley sitting in an empty living room, trying to come up with ways to pay the rent and buy a couch.

Haley suggested that maybe Lance could get a job painting the movie title and credits for a movie Mike Hynson was making. This was the real deal, a surf movie that Jimi Hendrix would be scoring.

Over dinner at a Mexican restaurant in La Jolla, Hynson introduced Haley and Lance to Michael Jeffery, Jimi Hendrix' manager. British, very proper, with a medium build and height, Jeffery looked strikingly similar to the movie character, Austin Powers.

Pulling out his portfolio, Lance could see Jeffery's excitement over his work. Lance imagined himself in Maui with the gang, creating artwork and surfing. But in the middle of his fantasy, he realized that Jeffery was asking him to go to New York City, not the Islands. His proposal had nothing to do with the movie. Jimi wanted a mural of outer space painted in his Electric Lady Recording Studio in Greenwich Village. Vast moments passed before Lance pulled himself out of the sun and off the beach to finally give Jeffery an answer, “Well, yes, I guess I ought to do that.”