[Banning]

Gary or 'Ol Man Gary as we used to call him always got lots of harrassment from the cops. That's because he was older, he was there every night, and he knew lots of the lore of Mulholland which made him interesting to talk to. The cops thought he was some kind of ringleader, we assumed he was Charlie's liason.

Both were wrong. He didn't know Charlie except for seeing him on Mulholland and maybe exchanging a few words. Never a ringleader, Gary has always been the great spectator. He never organized races or took bets or anything like that. He just loved Mulholland likes he still does to this day. A long time ago, he just drove one day from his High School in the Valley up to Mulholland Drive. It was love at first sight. He found the peace, quiet, and beautiful nature there unresistable. I totally understand this, having lived there since birth myself.

He found great places to park where he could read whatever he wanted to, alone and in peace. Later he met the racers and liked to hang out with others as a social thing. He is very knowledgable about the law and was helpful in certain situations.
Nothing has changed for him, he still hangs out on Mulholland but in a different spot. Gary is part of Mulholland lore himself. When something happens on Mul, he usually knows about it first. Just a couple of months ago, he called me telling me that a Porsche had crashed badly near my house and that the driver was yelling about a pothole or something. It was early morning. This was close to Marlon Brandos driveway he said.

The next day I was passing by that spot and saw a two foot by three foot piece of the road missing at the outer edge of what we call Sideways. This is the hard, off camber turn that is a left for you if you are going west; just a couple turns west of European Straight. The poor Porsche probably dropped the right rear wheel into the large pothole while hanging it out, no wonder it flipped over and almost went down the cliff. Ouch!

I don't know how you'all feel about the potholes but it's getting rediculous on Mulholland. They keep patching but not resurfacing. They are probably worried that if the road gets new asphalt, it will be Le Mans up there on Mulholland. But it's too dangerous now, maybe at 2:00 am on a weeknight it might work, maybe. However I cannot recommend it anymore............I miss the old days just like the rest of you.