Sunday, November 14, 2004

Carmen Retires

Carmelo's retiring and some of us are going to be on hand to see him off. You are all invited.

Here's the mini-press release:

"Carmen Lodise spent 20 years in Isla Vista, 1972-92. He was part of the community building movement of that era and a leader in the three campaigns for Isla Vista Cityhood. During the period, he was elected to the Isla Vista Community Counil (1972) and the Isla Vista Park Board (1976-80). He was the publisher of the Isla Vista Free Press, the town's longest-lasting weekly newspaper (1987-89), and his history of Isla Vista can be found at:
www.islavistahistory.com

"Carmen will be moving to a village on the Pacific Coast of Mexico shortly after New Years.

"People are invited to bring memorabilia of their experience in Isla Vista. Finals are nearly over on Dec. 10, so there should be plenty of on-street parking available."

4 comments:

  1. I'm an undergrad at UCSB, and I stumbled across Lodise's islavistahistory.com a year or so ago and was glued to my computer screen until I had read all of it. I find it amazing how little most of the folks in this community seem to know or care about its history. The most you usually hear is the occasional brief mention of the riots, such as the one in this Daily Nexus piece, which was probably lost upon many of its readers.
    I may stop by and say hello, meet you folks while I have the chance.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for commenting. There has been a conscious effort on the part of the UCSB administration to bury its past when it comes to the 1969-71 period. It is no accident or natural evolutionary flow that has resulted in UCSB students lack of knowledge about the riots and University complicity in the Vietnam war, support of apartheid, etc. Of course, students also have become less political since the Reagan years, so not all blame can be heaped upon the mighty UC... I hope to see you at Carmen's retirement. ~ malcolm

    ReplyDelete
  3. Carmen, you can't leave without telling us how much you got for the postage stamps!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I met Carmen Lodise at a wedding in SDO, August 2005.
    My! Such a good looking guy! A cross between Anthony Quinn, with touches of James Coburn thrown in.
    He had the air of one who's been around, done a lot of things that mattered, (and a few rascally stuff on the side.)
    Reading the site on Isla Vista, I'm impressed. Carmen, you deserve a good long, happy retirement.

    ReplyDelete