At around 1944, during my teen years, my parents moved into an erzats "Spanish" house in West Hollywood. It was located at 1200 N. Doheny Drive, and sat more or less part way towards the bottom of a low, typical Southern California hill. The backyard of the house moved up-slope and ended at a short chain-link fence. Beyond the fence the hill moved sharply upward and was covered with the ubiquitous succulent "ice plant" much favored by local developers who planted it in extravagant quantities in order to quickly hide the scars of their brutal gouging and flattening. There was a pad at the top of the rise, and a typical ranch house, swimming pool and all. Living in that house were Ronnie Reagan, his then wife Jane Wyman, and their kids. All very "Leave it to Beaver."
And one day...
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