Guest Column
VIEW FROM THE PIER
By Herman Sillas
Along with fishing, I enjoy listening to pier pals, some of which you have met through this column. Many are seniors and their daily pier stroll is as important to them as brushing their teeth in the morning.
Pier pals have great histories. I’m more interested in their stories than I am in fishing. One of the most fascinating stories is that of Don Hamilton. But first be aware that on the pier, we learn people’s first name but seldom their last. If folks have the same first name, we give one of them a label like, "Blind Jim" or "Liquor Store John." Although several Dons stroll the pier, Don Hamilton is called by his full name. I didn’t know why. I surmised he was knowledgeable about tennis because folks deferred to his opinion on the subject. Someone mentioned he had been inducted into the Pacific Athletic Hall of Fame. I later learned he and his team mates at the College of the Pacific had won the California Collegiate Athletic Association Title in 1950 and were ranked third in the nation that year.
At that time, I was a high school sophomore learning tennis. It was during this period that I learned of Pancho Gonzales, Jack Kramer, and other tennis stars. I now recall that I heard Don Hamilton’s name. Only recently did I connect Don at the pier to Don Hamilton of national ranking. Then everything clicked. That’s why everyone deferred to his tennis opinions.
Don turned pro in 1953. He did some traveling with Kramer’s pro tour but decided his real talent was to get others to play tennis. Don as a teenager had apprenticed with Perry T. Jones of the Southern California Tennis Association.
Using that experience, Don began directing and producing tennis tournaments at lavish facilities. He brought together celebrities and professional tennis players. His fame for celebrities’ tennis tournaments spread nation wide and even internationally. Among his clients were Clint Eastwood, Bill Cosby, Carl Reiner, and Merv Griffin to name but a few. Don produced and directed tournaments even in Monte Carlo. His guests included the rich and famous. Name any celebrity from Frank Albert to Efram Zimbalist and they were there.
Don has more stories about celebrities than McDonalds has hamburgers. Among my favorites is the time when Errol Flynn offered 16-year-old Don, who was earning fifty cents an hour as a ball-boy, ten bucks to get the name and phone number of a woman sitting in a box seat. Don told the young lady that Errol Flynn wanted her name and number. "She couldn’t find a pencil and paper quick enough to write it down," Don recalls.
At sixteen, he attended a private tennis match between Pauline Betz, the Women’s National Champion and Gussie Moran, of laced panties fame. Moran was spotted three games per set in a three out of five match. Moran’s boyfriend had money on Moran and was covering all bets for Betz. Don was appointed as a lineman and prayed there would be no close calls. He remembers Bugsy Segal was present and betting. Betz won the match, Moran was in tears, and her ticked off boyfriend handed over a wad of money to the winning bettors. Both Betz and Moran would have lost their amateur status if tennis officials had learned of the match.
Don has been offered as much as $25,000 by magazine reporters to tell damaging stories about celebrities. Don turns them down. I even offered him fresh fish and he wouldn’t budge.
How about a celebrity fishing tournament on the pier where we match celebrities with us anglers? Celebrities would have a lot of time to meet the public, because we don’t get much action out here. That is why I like Don’s stories and that’s the view from the pier.
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(Herman Sillas, a San Clemente resident and L.A. attorney, can be found most weekend mornings fishing at the San Clemente pier.)
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