OPINIONOPINIONMountain View News Saturday, September 26, 2026 1010 OPINIONOPINIONMountain View News Saturday, September 26, 2026 1010 
MOUNTAIN 

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Susan Henderson 

PASADENA CITY 
EDITOR 

Dean Lee 

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Patricia Colonello 
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John Aveny 

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Peter Lamendola 

CONTRIBUTORS 

Lori A. Harris 
Michele Kidd 
Stuart Tolchin 
Harvey HydeAudrey SwansonMeghan MalooleyMary Lou CaldwellKevin McGuire 
Chris Leclerc 
Dinah Chong WatkinsHoward HaysPaul CarpenterKim Clymer-KelleyChristopher NyergesPeter Dills 
Rich Johnson 
Lori Ann Harris 
Rev. James SnyderKatie HopkinsDeanne Davis 
Despina ArouzmanJeff Brown 
Marc Garlett 
Keely TotenDan Golden 
Rebecca WrightHail Hamilton 
Joan Schmidt 
LaQuetta Shamblee 

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PUT THE LIGHTS ON

STUART TOLCHIN 


COURAGE AND BRAVERY 

Last week I wrote about Fear. This week I want to create an 
article about courage and bravery. Currently, between myown doctors’ appointments, my wife and I spend every dayat the hospital with my son. This has been going on for overtwo months now and providing an accurate description ofhis medical problem is kind of tough for me to do. For quitea while he felt tired and needed to rest, we brought him intoKaiser and an endoscopy was performed. An endoscopy

is a diagnostic tool that searches internal organs like the intestines, stomach,
bladder, and kidneys for medical problems. We brought my son home, and hestill felt lousy and we took him back to Kaiser Pasadena where it was immediatelyrecommended that he be taken to Kaiser Baldwin Park. Immediately, he wastransported by ambulance, with me along, to Baldwin Park Hospital. At Baldwin 
Park another endoscopy was performed after which the problems were greatlymagnified. Directly after the second endoscopy my son became completelydysfunctional. He could not talk, or get out of bed, and could barely move his 
arms. Now months later his condition has improved but not much. It was 
determined that he was over-medicated and after the medication was reduced 
-amazingly, he could speak to us and tell us he was terrified and in agony. This 
situation continued for many weeks during which time he was transferred fromthe Hospital to the Monte Vista Skilled Nursing Facility. 

At the facility a urine sample was recommended and after much time obtained.
Immediately after the sample was analyzed we were told that he had to be takento the ER at Baldwin Park right away. At the Hospital my wife and I were told thatmy son’s life was in danger, and emergency surgery had to be performed as soonas possible. Today we were informed that there continues to be unexplainable 
bile leakage. My son remains in the hospital and I am very, very confusedabout what will happen next. I think I probably have described much of thisbackground in recent previous articles but remind you that I am also sufferingfrom the beginnings of memory loss. 

Please stick with me. For my own attempts to retain what is left of my sanity I have 
determined to continue writing these weekly articles and hope that the Editor 
continues to publish them. The other pages of the Moutain Views News containall sorts of information about Fairs and Halloween Celebrations. Interesting 
newly opened restaurants are mentioned and jokes are provided. There are 
even attempts at political discussions and predictions regarding the upcomingmidterm elections. What more could you ask for? It won’t hurt you to take a few 
minutes and read my less than celebratory article. Show some Courage. 

In fact, COURAGE is what I intended this article to be about. At the Hospital Inotice pregnant women and hear the familiar sounds of Rock a Bye Baby whenthere is an actual birth in the hospital. What Courage it takes to start a family 
currently. At the hospital today I read the latest issue of The Week Magazine.
Page eleven describes young men falling behind women in nearly every part oflife. “In academic performance, boys lag well behind girls in elementary school,
high school, and college, where female undergraduates now outnumber theirmale peers roughly 2 to 1.” Men have fewer friends and are three times as likelyto suffer “deaths of despair” from alcohol or drugs, or by suicide. 

Things are not so great for women either. The same article describes that despiteperforming better at school and work, young women are also struggling. Men 
are more likely to commit suicide-but women are more likely to attempt it. 
Internationally the magazine on Page 15 the magazine describes the conceivableend of liberal democracy in Germany where young men no longer hide theirsinging of Hitler Youth songs, and they cheer and applaud when joking aboutmurdering political opponents. 

Enough of this!! It takes COURAGE to go on living and I want and believe that my son will recover and that he and I and my wife and youand I will have many happy days in front of us. I want to believe that there is 
some positive reason for me to create this article and for you to struggle to makesense of it. I will do my best to play golf tomorrow morning and will appreciatethe efforts of my partner to suffer along with my ineptitude. We must all do our 
best. That is what has maintained the existence of our species for centuries and,
yes, AI is a threat, but humanity will somehow meet that threat. 

It is 81 years since the Hiroshima bombing and treaties and diplomacy have 
allowed us all to survive. I believe we will continue to do and encourage you to 
enjoy your life. 

HOWARD Hays As I See It 

RICH JOHNSON 


WORKING TITLES 
A “working title” is often what we might call a “work in progress”. Literally,
the term is defined as a temporary name given to a project, product or anycreative work while it is in development. It’s not always the case but theworking title often becomes the final title. 

Side note: For those of you vying to write my biography, since I have spent 

the better part of my life trying to control my weight, I would prefer whenif you write my biography, I hope you entitle it “Under Tall” instead of “Overweight”. 

In Hollywood, a working title is sometimes used intentionally to hide what is really goingon. When filmmaker Peter Jackson made the film “Lord of the Rings”, he used to the 
working title “Changing Seasons” to keep the 800 million “Lord of the Rings” fans fromstorming the studios during production. Obviously, after a book or movie is completed,
clever wordsmiths will try to find a title that sizzles. It’s not always the creator who changesthe title. The publishers or producers whether it be book or film, will pick a title that will“sell the sizzle”. 

Since film makers don’t want undesired attention until their ducks are in a row, they oftenuse obscure meaningless titles. “Return of the Jedi” during production was titled “BlueHarvest”, “Planet Ice” was the placeholder name for “Titanic”. 

Tolstoy wanted a cheerful title, so “All’s Well that Ends Well”, was the title for the first 
printing of his book, later renamed “War and Peace”. Author William Golding’s firstnovel was on the trash heap. No interest. Some clever person suggested changing the title“Strangers From Within”, to “Lord of the Flies”, and it became a classic. 

F. Scott Fitzgerald had several names for his classic “The Great Gatsby”. He toyed withthe following names: “On the Road to West Egg”, “Among Ash-Heaps and Millionaires”,
“Under the Red, White and Blue”, “Gold-Hatted Gatsby” and “The High Bouncing Lover”.
George Orwell’s publisher didn’t think Orwell’s book would sell if they stuck with theoriginal book title “The Last Man In Europe”, so they changed it to “1984”. Good move.
John Steinbeck was a better book writer than a book title writer. How many of you like hisclassic book , “Something That Happened”. Oh excuse me, you might like it better underthe name “Of Mice and Men”. “Prometheus Unchained” was retitled “Frankenstein”. 
Believe it or not, the original title of the movie “Pretty Woman” was simply “3000”. The 
number “3000” referenced how much “Vivian” would be paid for her week of work. Thewonderful movie “Field of Dreams”, was taken from a novel written by W. P. Kinsella”
named “Shoeless Joe” which the author objected to but the publishers made the finaldecision. The author wanted to call his book “The Dream Field”. 

“That ‘70s Show” was originally titled “Teenage Wasteland”. The romantic comedy “WhileYou Were Sleeping” was originally entitled “Coma Guy”. This movie was a big bump forSandra Bullock as Demi Moore, Meg Ryan and Julia Roberts turned down the lead role.
One of the most successful tv series of all time was “Friends”. It ran for 10 seasons with a 
total of 236 episodes. The original working title for the long running series was “InsomniaCafé”. “Six of One” and “Friends Like Us” were other series title options. 

And finally, the TV series “Lost” was originally titled “Nowhere”. And that where I find 
myself. If you find me, please let me know. 

Not that I am going anywhere, but I wanted to say to those of you who enjoy my column…
thank you! Tis a pleasure to attempt to entertain you. And as I have said ad nauseum,
my goal is to equip you with interesting little bits of information you might use to add“schmaltz” to your conversations and communications with friends and, yes, even enemies.
Add richness and texture to those around you. 

Have a good week. P. S. My birthday is actually on Halloween. My band will be performingat Nano Café on Halloween evening 6:30 – 9:30. Love to see you there. Many people wearcostumes. Not mandatory. If you want to come, the restaurant is at 322 W. Sierra MadreBlvd, Sierra Madre. For reservations, call Wednesday through Saturday evening after5:00pm. (626) 325-3334Enjoy your week! 


“Students really worked their butts off to get those results.” – Kennedy Cole,
high school senior and political director of Sarasota Next Gen Democrats, onlast month’s elections in Florida 

Dropping a guest off downtown last Saturday night, driving up

Alameda I saw the side of the Metropolitan Detention Center all lit 

up. A projected image announced an anti-ICE protest - right then,

right there. Just a handful of participants; an echo of the thousands of

protesters with hundreds of arrests earlier this year (the vast majority

of whatever charges later thrown out). But as individuals, they wereevery bit as dedicated and determined as those in the massive protests months ago.
They were making it clear that as long as ICE threatened our communities, these 
protests would continue. 

The day before, 6,400 showed up linking arms around the Kennedy Center in 
Washington, D.C. President Trump insisted his name be memorialized at the Centeralong with that of our 35th president. Now, regardless of court rulings, he’s threatened 
to demolish it if he can’t get his way. He says the only way to attract sufficient fundingfor remediations to forestall demolition is for his name to be emblazoned along withKennedy’s. 

Never mind that funding for the Center only became an issue once Trump replaced itsgoverning board with his own picks, which then made Trump their chairman. And 
never mind that last year’s Big Beautiful Bill specifically allocated $257 million for theCenter. Trump simply ignores that Congressionally-allocated funding; accepting itwould remove whatever rationale behind his threat to demolish the Center. Aware 
how the White House East Wing was bulldozed before anyone had time to stop it,
protesters are dedicated and determined to prevent the same thing from happeningwith the Kennedy Center. 

With ongoing activism on so many fronts, I was particularly struck by the dedicationand determination shown in Florida; students leading the fight to take back controlover their education. 

This goes back to President Biden’s term, when groups like Moms for Liberty tookadvantage of the stoked atmosphere of fear and distrust coming out of Covid, alongwith all that crap about “critical race theory” and fear of Black Lives Matter, to imposetheir own curriculum on the schools. From 2021 through 2023, these groups saw tothe banning of nearly 6 million books nationwide, 40% of them in Florida – targetingmainly those dealing with race, gender and LGBTQ issues. 

Following up on his “Stop WOKE Act” and “Don’t Say Gay” from the year before,
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis touted the Florida State Board of Education’s new policystandards for 2023. Addressing history and racial issues, students would learn thatslavery was bad – but there were also benefits in learning useful skills. There were race 
riots, like the 1920 Ocoee Massacre where more than 30 Blacks were killed trying to 
vote -but Black people committed violent acts, too. No more Advanced Placement 
courses in African American studies in high schools. Children in grade school wouldlearn from Prager U Kids videos, where feminism is described as a “mean-spirited,
small minded and oppressive philosophy”. Acknowledgement of anything other thanstrictly hetero male/female is banned in order to “protect” kids. 

Floridians, dedicated and determined, took action. The results were clear in last 
month’s elections. The LGBTQ support group Equality Florida announced, “primaryvoters in Florida delivered a seismic message: fire Moms for Liberty, get politics outof our classrooms, protect every student, respect every family, and meet hate head-
on with bold, unapologetic champions.” The group’s Executive Director Joe Saundersnoted that “Communities are fighting back against book bans, curriculum censorship,
and the whitewashing of history” and how “Every win was made possible by the peoplewho showed up, organized their communities, knocked doors, made calls and refusedto give up on the Florida we know is possible”. 

Sarasota Next Gen Democrats, whose political director is quoted above, was foundedlast year by Sebastian Martinez – now 22. He became politically active at 16, andtells The Guardian how “I really wanted to see young people not just get involved inorganizing, but to become part of the party”. For this effort, there was canvassing,
door knocking, phone calls, packing school board meetings and reaching out to otherorganizations – like partnering with a retired women’s group in sending out 7,000 
hand-written postcards. And then, according to Martinez, becoming a “get-out-thevote 
machine”. 

But as Sarasota Next Gen Dems executive board member and high school seniorJordany Del Rosario-Arcadia cautions, “It’s important to follow through, not just belike, ‘Oh, OK, we won. Like that’s it, we’re done’ - because there’s still so much to bedone.” 

These dedicated and determined efforts paid off. Not long ago, they were packing 

For those dedicated and determined, we’ll be gathering for another nationwide No

school board meetings protesting measures affirming cooperation with ICE. Now, 

Kings protest on Saturday, October 17. Between 9:30am and noon at Kersting Court

they’re celebrating a new majority in these school boards affirming inclusion for all in 

here in Sierra Madre; in Pasadena on Colorado Blvd. at Fair Oaks from 11am to 1pm.

the community. Local news outlet Suncoast Searchlight calls it a “stunning reversal for 

Because there’s still so much to be done

a school board that had become nationally synonymous with conservative backlash toLGBTQ+ inclusion and the Black Lives Matter movement.” 

Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com