A Tribute to Dick Johnson

Tales of the Watermen

A Tribute to Dick Johnson

1949 to 2001

By Dale Ghere

As I get older it is easier to look back and recognize specific occurrences that caused the path of my life to alter. Some people have lives that are well planned, but for most of us life seems to unfold through a series of unplanned events. It is only in reflection that I finally recognize that a specific chance encounter, an event sometimes so subtle as to be of no apparent value, caused my life to be permanently altered.

Dick Johnson did not plan on becoming a major influence on the lives of people in Laguna, it just sort of happened through a series of events that caused his path to change from the one he had planned.

Dick grew up in Pomona where he was born in 1949. Dick loved the outdoors, particularly hiking in the Sierras. He was a good athlete and academic student. When he went to Redlands University he planned on playing football and earning a degree in biology. He thought that after lifeguarding a few years he would become a doctor. But the displeasure of doing lab experiments on living animals caused him to quickly look for another major. He eventually completed a Master’s Degree in pottery. Dick finally became a specialist in ancient Japanese chemistry and techniques for glazing pots. From this point in his life he believed that he would become a professional potter.

Much of what molded Dick’s life started when his parents bought a house near Victoria Beach in the early 1960’s. They all thought that Laguna would simply be a great vacation spot. They had no idea that the choice of location would give Dick the opportunity to start a private lifeguard department for Orange County beaches or to become a world famous designer for skimboard art.

Even though Dick grew up in Pomona it was not uncommon to see him on the beach all summer and many weekends throughout the school year. Although he loved football and wrestling he became a strong swimmer through the YMCA program in Pomona. On the beach he came under the influence of Jack Lincke, the guard at Victoria. Because of Jack’s encouragement Dick joined the junior lifeguard program in 1966. Dick was the oldest junior lifeguard on my roster and one of the better swimmers. It frustrated me to have a young person with his talent and desire who would be too old to want to be in the junior guard program and too young to meet the city’s age requirement to be a lifeguard the following summer. I faced this problem every summer. Boys only wanted to be junior guards up to about 15. I normally lost them when they turned 16. The city would not allow boys under the age of 18 to be hired as a lifeguard. I used Dick as my prime example to finally justify changing the age limit to16. Because of Dick and others like him, in 1969 the Rookie Program for training young lifeguards for Laguna Beach was started.

Dick became a lifeguard for Laguna Beach in 1968. Dick was affectionately referred to as “Big Red” by other guards. He was a great leader, a sincere friend and a fierce competitor. Dick quickly became a waterman’s waterman. Barrel-chested and strong, he was confident and capable in every way when he was in the water. He was the kind of person that makes other lifeguards breathe a sigh of relief when he shows up to a mixture of turmoil and trouble. More than one person owes their life to Dick.

Dick had no idea that 1978 would be the year that generated another event that would eventually alter the path of his life once again. Proposition 13 was passed. This caused the County of Orange to drop the beach lifeguard service it offered on all county beaches. This meant that an alternative contractor would be sought to provide that service. The county staff contacted San Clemente and Laguna Beach Lifeguard Departments and asked for a bid to cover all of the county beaches. When Dick and Jim Stauffer heard about this opportunity they decided to start a private lifeguard service called Lifeguard International. They won the contract and together provided lifeguard service for South Laguna and all other Orange County beaches for 11 years. They sold the company in 1981. This same company continues to provide lifeguard service for all Orange County beaches and harbors (including South Laguna), many of the private beaches and the City of Seal Beach.

One of the families that the Johnson family grew to know well at Victoria Beach was the Haines family. At the age of twelve Dick would not have guessed that in 1972 he would marry Jo Haines. And who would have guessed that her brother, Tex, would some day develop a business called Victoria Skimboards. Tex started his business in 1975. By 1984 Japan was the biggest customer of custom skimboards. When Tex needed help with designing art work for his boards Dick was the logical person to turn to for advice. Several things came together to influence the designs that became show pieces of skimboard art. First was Dick’s love of 17^th and 18^th century Japanese glazes. He had traveled to the South Pacific and Japan to study specialized glazing chemistry and techniques. Dick’s employment by Harry Lawrence at Warren Imports was also an influence. Warren Imports, now soon to close, has always specialized in Oriental art. This gave Dick the opportunity to study the extensive library of Japanese art that is available in the Lawrence library. With all of this influence it is easy to understand why so much of skimboard art shows a direct relationship with Japanese design.

In November of 2001 Dick died of a heart attack while running in the hills behind Top of the World. Here is a memory that is shared by his sister, Karen.

“Dick isn’t gone. He’s here in our stories of him, in the gestures we make, in the laughter we share, in the family we are. I’m proud to tell people stories about my brother. I will share my stories, I will spin my tales and I will keep alive the moveable feast that is my brother. My memories of Dick are like a banquet, so many things to choose from and so many things to savor. I will return to those memories again and again, selecting my favorite tales to enjoy and to share. It will be Thanksgiving every day because I knew a man named Dick Johnson, my brother and my friend.”

The next time you go the beach look around for signs of the influence that Dick left behind for all of us to enjoy. Look for a lifeguard doing a good job, look for someone giving a helping hand, listen for a word of encouragement, look for a unique skimboard design, watch the Rookies at work on Main Beach and remember one of the greats who shared his life with so many here in Laguna.

Acknowledgements: Jo Johnson, Fletcher Johnson, Tex Haines, John Gill and Kai Bond.