Three San Diego chefs talk, Olympic swimmer Mike Stamm

The town's biggest moocher, Padre John D'Acquisto up close, black powerhouse George Walker Smith, private eye Joe Breedlove

Author

Publish Date

March 20, 2022

Dionysis and Georgia Stathoulis: "I met Georgia in a Greek coffee shop. I drank so much coffee every day, coffee, coffee, coffee, that she took pity and married me.” (David Covey)

Chef salad

‘‘I can still smell the stock pot working, maybe sixty quarts of it. During the early Thirties, we had no refrigerator. We preserved food with salt and curing, and in the mine on one side of the mountain we kept things cold. Walking into that mine there were homemade sausages, smoked hams, fresh sauerkraut."

By Eleanor Widmer, Aug. 10, 1978 Read full article

John D'Acquisto: “I'd be out on the mound during a game and I’d throw a pitch that would make me wince." (Vince Compagnone)

Let's see that fastball again

“I'd be out on the mound during a game and I’d throw a pitch that would make me wince. Someone would come over to ask if everything was all right, and I’d just stand there and say. ‘Sure.’ “I finally told the management about it. and they thought I was joking. They thought it was all up in my head.”

Give praise to the Lord and your problems to the Reverend

His views on education were similar to those of Booker T. Washington, the century’s first black leader, who favored improved, segregated education with an emphasis on vocational training. Smith's 1967 re-election platform included calls for “an intensive re-emphasis on occupational education.”

By Paul Krueger and Richard Louv, March 9, 1978 Read full article

Breedlove: "He would charge somebody $25,000 for something that we could do for $5000.” (Robert Burroughs)

Jay J. and Me

Joe Breedlove no longer hovers attentively at Jay J. Armes’ side. He no longer guards the world’s most famous private detective, whose hands were blown off as a child, the legendary figure who claims he’s never had an unsolved case and who took $25,000 from San Diegans who wanted him to hunt down the murderer and molester of Aleta Sue Grosenbach.

By Jeannette DeWyze, May 4, 1978 Read full article

He was a sophomore in college when he competed in the Olympics, and any commercial endorsements would have left him ineligible for his remaining two years of college swimming. (David Covey)

Old swimmers never sink

“We had guys who would break American records.” One of the standouts was Mark Spitz. “I was pretty intrigued by Spitz. As a freshman, though, I only saw him at workouts — he more or less associated with the older swimmers on the team. I got to know him a little better after the Olympic trials in 1972."

By Gordon Smith, Sept. 21, 1978 Read full article

San Diego's ultimate freeloader

“Whaddya know! The Insurance Underwriters of America are in town this week. Dinner banquet in Mission Valley. Oughta be good for a steak and some good booze. I’m tired of cheap wine. Gives me a headache. Got a pen? I oughta make a note of this.”

By Sue Garson, Sept. 14, 1978 Read full article