Tom Ball / Kenny Sultan

Palisadian Post Online
February 27, 2003

Author Remembers His Palisades Youth
By Laurel Busby
News Editor

While stuck in an airport for six hours with nothing to do, Tom Ball decided to write a book.
The Santa Barbara resident began channeling a 10-year-old boy who lived in a town based on Pacific Palisades, where Ball grew up in the 1950s and '60s.
"I was sitting there and this little kid was dictating," said Ball, whose family lived near the current Palisades High campus. "I was sort of the stenographer."
The young narrator has a funny way of looking at the world, and although the book includes the exploits of childhood, it also features a child's view of the sometimes strange world of adults, so it's not a book intended for children.
"It's not for kids," Ball said. "It's for old farts who might get a kick out of some of the memories."
Ball will sign his lighthearted novel, "The Marty Graw," at Village Books (1049 Swarthmore) on March 6 at 7:30 p.m. For Palisadians who grew up in the town in the same period as Ball, his novel may offer an off-kilter glimpse at the Palisades as it once was.
Although the town isn't mentioned by name, Ball said his book features some of its past and present locales like Mayfair Market, the Bay Theatre and Marquez School as well as some interesting characters he knew in his childhood. Of course, if a portrayal of a place or person was humorously critical in any way, Ball changed the names. He also created a completely fictional family for the main character.
Ball described the book as "full of the stupid things kids do." When Ball ran out of his own childhood memories, he asked friends about silly events from their childhoods. One silly Palisades event that he remembers well occurred at Mayfair Market, which has since become Gelson's.
About 1960, the market held an Easter egg hunt inside the store. The eggs were hidden throughout the market, and children mobbed the place, pulling items off shelves and throwing food. "It was like an earthquake hit the place," Ball said. "Management was screaming at us to stop and we didn't." That was the last time Mayfair Market ever held an Easter egg hunt.
The Bay Theatre, which is now Norris Hardware, also holds fond memories for him. The spot was a fun place for kids, who frequently sneaked in the back doors and threw popcorn at each other. Once, during an intense moment in the movie "The Birds," Ball's friend released a real bird into the theater and a number of teenage girls started screaming.
In his book, Ball describes a free and hectic kids' show at the theater at which he won a special raffle prize: a one-gallon bottle of Green Formula Grow-All Lawn Fertilizer, donated by a local nursery. "Can you imagine how thrilled I was?" Ball said.
Even though some mischievous times were part of his childhood, Ball remembers that in most cases, kids didn't get away with bad behavior. "It was a good place to grow up," he said. "Everyone looked out for each other. Even if you could fool your mother, there were all these other mothers watching out. It was like you had all these cops."
As a teen, Ball, who makes a living as a musician, began his career path by joining various garage bands. The bands often played at the youth center that later morphed into the YMCA or at the Woman's Club, which then hosted teen dances.
"We played terrible music, but we would make five bucks each," he said. "We thought we were stars."
At the time, he remembers that the Hot Dog Show was the main hangout for high school students. On Sunset across from the Bay Theatre, the Hot Dog Show was "painted in garish pink and white stripes. All the hot dogs were named. There was 'The Mutt' (mustard, relish & onions) for 35 cents; other more elaborate dogs were 'The Husky' and 'The Beagle.'" ... [It was] the first place to go on a Friday or Saturday night to meet friends and figure out what else to do or whose parties to crash."
Ball, 52, left the Palisades when he was 19 years old, a year after he graduated from Palisades High in 1968. His parents, Jim and Lolita, stayed in the Palisades until the mid-1970s, and his older brother Steve graduated from PaliHi in 1965.
After graduation, Ball first "majored in draft deferment" at Santa Monica College for a few years. He also spent time traveling around the world, but he continued playing music. For example, he was in the Yerba Buena Blues Band, which was composed of other kids from the Palisades and Brentwood.
He now is part of a duo with Kenny Sultan, with whom he has recorded eight records. Ball plays harmonica, sings and plays guitar with Sultan, but he also frequently plays harmonica for other musicians recording in Santa Barbara. He has played at shows all over the United States, including a gig with another former Palisadian, Bonnie Raitt.
Currently he has no plans to write another novel because music is his true love. "I'm content to bend sound waves," said Ball, who specializes in blues and bluegrass music.

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