Honorable mention: “Lifeguard tribute to Kevin Sousa.” photo by Duke Noor “Toby gets a real life.” story by Deborah Paul
But the youthful life at the beach still tugs by Deborah Paul Circa 1976, I won the Easy Reader Anniversary Contest with the article “How to Make it in Manhattan Beach.” The story was about a semi-fictionalized episode in the lives of two 21-year-old flight attendants who moved to North Manhattan Beach from back east. Confounded by all the tan, fit, beautiful people and the laid back lifestyle, the duo didn’t have a clue how to become part of this eclectic coastal community. Eventually, they figured it out by spending much of their hard earned airline salaries on an apartment close to the water and fused into the lifestyle by giddy osmosis. For a young person high on life there was no other place to live than the beach. Sadly, the real Carol in the story passed away at the age of 27 from Lymphoma sarcoma, with me — the Toby in the story — holding my best friend in my arms as she exhaled her last tortured breath. But Carol lived her short life well. She certainly figured out how to make it in Manhattan Beach. She was stunning looking, kind and physically fit right up to the time we discovered a benign tumor under her arm. She remained a flight attendant for American Airlines until…
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