Opinion: Arnold Hano Hits a Home Run

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Arnold Hano was a co-founder of Village Laguna. Courtesy of Bonnie Hano

By Bob Borthwick

On Arnold Hano’s last trip to the plate he hit a grand-slam home run. On Saturday, a standing-room-only crowd of well over 250 admirers filled to capacity the Neighborhood Congregational Church Bridge Hall and adjacent courtyard. He died at age 99 on Oct. 24, 2021. The Celebration of Life was held March 12 shortly after March 2, which would have been his 100th birthday.

Coincidentally, all of Arnold’s human rights passions filled the Hall with the “Piece-ful Protest” art exhibit that is currently on display. Timing is everything! Thanks to artist Allyson Allen for her beautiful and meaningful work.

Coming from near and far, fans of Arnold streamed into the room. Former planning commissioners Roger McErlane and Jeff Powers travelled from the northern California towns of Petaluma and Aptos, respectively. Among the sizable live stream YouTube audience were former mayor Bob Gentry watching from Hawaii and former mayor Sally Bellerue viewing from Colorado. Former mayors Dan Kenney and Ann Christoph, present mayor Sue Kempf, and former councilmember Verna Rollinger attended in person. It was a true Laguna Celebration of Life to honor a man who was so important not only to Laguna Beach (such as his leadership role in creating the building height limit and founding Village Laguna to preserve the village atmosphere), but also to the legions of people around the country who love Arnold for other reasons, too:

For aspiring writers and baseball fans who treasure his classic book “A Day in the Bleachers”, an epic account of baseball from a fan’s perspective. This book is ranked as one of the finest sports stories of the twentieth century by literary experts.

For Latino professional baseball players from the 1950’s and 1960’s who were being discriminated against by unfair pay and housing policies. Arnold gave them voice by his powerful and effective articles in SPORT magazine, a prominent nationwide periodical during those years. The emotional “Thank you Arnold” testimonials from some of those famous Hall of Fame Latino players were part of the outstanding documentary short film by Jon Leonoudakis that was shown.

For the environmentalists, he helped save Mineral King [near Sequoia National Park] from development, and the Grand Canyon from dams, by his passionate writings.
For the children of a remote village Costa Rica, who Arnold and Bonnie served as part of their work in the Peace Corps. Arnold was 70 years old when they signed up. They left their comfortable home in Laguna to to re-build a small school, and then stayed in the village over six years to help teach the kids. As moderator Toni Iseman said, “Who does this?”
For the underserved and oppressed in our country and around the world, Arnold was a strong advocate. And if non-violent activism was required, he did that too. He was not ashamed to be called an activist.

Closer to home, friends of Arnold’s have heard the “Barber Shop“ story. After moving to Laguna in the 1950’s, he learned that Black residents were not allowed to get a haircut in town. They had to drive to Santa Ana. Arnold’s son, Stephen Hano, had a Black friend from Laguna named Elye Pitts who lived downtown on Ocean Avenue. They were both 18 in 1962. Arnold devised a plan that Stephen and his friend Elye would enter a barbershop together, and if the barber refused or harassed Elye, then Stephen would be there as a witness. The barbers quickly realized that they would have the legal wrath of Stephen’s father to deal with, and the ban on cutting a Black person’s hair went away. Elye, who went on to earn a doctorate from Stanford University and a distinguished career, was at the celebration on Saturday and spoke of the barbershop story during the open mic session. Boyhood pals Stephen and Elye, the barbershop duo, were reunited at the celebration at age 78. It was amazing.

Throughout this remarkable life it was clear that Arnold’s wife Bonnie, just as witty and smart, was an essential part of all these accomplishments and dedication to important causes. We were blessed to have Bonnie with us at the ceremony, along with her son Stephen, his wife Suzan, and their daughter Chelsea.

The featured speakers at the event were all successful and accomplished professionals: former Laguna Beach mayors Neil Fitzpatrick, Toni Iseman, and Bob Whalen, Gary Lefebvre read a speech penned by Gentry, local writer Jean Hastings Ardell, and businessman Larry Ulvestad. Each gave their own personal stories about Arnold in their own ways. What each speaker held in common were the gifts of wit, wisdom, strength, and leadership that Arnold provided to them by his example. Without question, our town of Laguna Beach, and the world, is a better place because Arnold Hano lived amongst us.

Over the past three months I have had the honor and privilege to help Bonnie plan this celebration for her beloved Arnold. We had a great team of committee members and helpers, including Anne Johnson, Trudy Josephson, Anne Caenn, Verna Rollinger, and many others too numerous to list, all who were essential to organizing the event. And of course our talented Ed Merrilees at the piano. As Toni Iseman said: “This is a day we will all remember.” I think Toni spoke for us all.

Bob is a Laguna Beach resident and landscape architect.

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