Surfing legend Gidget homeless after Palisades fire
After the first Gadgets movie was released in 1959, Hollywood released several sequels.
“Ash has grown up.” “Gidget is going to Rome.” “Gidget is getting married.” And so on.
Half a century later, the real-life surfer-girl heroine—who was the basis for a nonfiction book and a series of fictional films—is not eager to make a sequel.
But she was going to get one anyway. Today it might be called: “Gadget Homelessness.” But in the long run, it seems more likely that it will end up being: “Gidget: Queen of the Coast Again.”
Kathy Zuckerman with her surfboard at Surfers Beach, Malibu, circa 1959.
(Courtesy of Kathy Zuckerman)
The female surfing pioneer of the 1950s, who rose to prominence at Malibu's Surfers Beach and elsewhere, lost her Pacific Palisades home of about 60 years to last week's wildfires 's home.
Kathy “Gidget” Corner Zuckerman and her husband, Yiddish scholar Marvin Zuckerman, have moved safely into a temporary rental home in Santa Monica. With the help of their two sons, they are planning their next move.
Not to worry, America's original gadget like Gnome Girl seems to be approaching her new reality with all the grit and optimism that made the character she inspired become an American icon in the 1960s and star in movies and TV The show is based on Sandra Dee and Sally Fields.
“At my age, imagine: the house is gone, the neighborhood is gone, the community is gone,” Zuckerman said. “But most importantly, the Duke's family and the surfing community are united. I'm so grateful.”
Duke's is a Malibu restaurant that survived the Palisades wildfire. Located at the base of Las Flores Canyon, this landmark Pacific Coast Highway restaurant is named after Hawaiian surfing legend Duke Kahanamoku. For several years, the company hired Zuckerman as an “Aloha Ambassador.” She chats with customers, points to photos of herself surfing as a teenager, and tries to imbue the place with an “aloha” spirit.
Zuckerman said the owner of the Duke's property contacted her shortly after the fire brought her home, not far from Marks Elementary School. They let her know they would welcome her back to work once they reopened, and she continued working even though she was decades past standard retirement age.
On Sunday, Zuckerman and her husband sat in Palisades Park atop a cliff in Santa Monica, enjoying the warm California sunshine. On Monday, she got her nails done, another strategy for staying “bright and happy” in the face of loss.
She also heard from some of surfing's biggest names, such as famed film producer Jack McCoy and Randy Rarick, who helped found the early professional surf leagues. Another friend from the surfing community offered to give her a computer. John Leininger, the original creator of South Bay surfing in the 1950s and a longtime surf shop owner, came to Santa Monica to deliver clothes to his fellow surf pioneer and her husband.
Because of that and her family's support, Zuckerman said she's not afraid of the future.
“Through all these phone calls, I re-entered a world that I had left so long ago,” she said. “That community was incredible to me.”