The FourStory Interview: Angelo and Marilyn Vassos
by Jim Washburn
It’s human nature to want to crow a bit when you’ve done something good. As Lenny Bruce once said, the only anonymous givers are the Lone Ranger and the guy who gave your sister the clap. Yet I’ve found there are any number of people who do more than their bit to make our world a better place, yet never trumpet their achievements.
Two such people are the couple of Angelo and Marilyn Vassos. I’ve known Angelo since he was my high school physics teacher in 1971. Though he and Marilyn were active in protesting the Vietnam War then, I didn’t much know of it, because he kept politics out of the classroom. But if it was an issue that touched on science, such as the environment, we sure heard about it. He also encouraged students to protest the South Coast Plaza shopping center’s practice of leaving its aggravating high-frequency burglar alarm systems on during business hours, since he saw that as a clear misuse of science.
I’ve kept in touch through the years, as they’ve protested various wars, Central American incursions and such. Now in their 70s, they’re not just activists, they’re more active than most folks, always off bicycling the West Coast or touring Egypt or France.
Despite the decades I’ve known them, it’s only recently through mutual friends that I’ve heard of some of their other efforts. For example, if the Los Angeles Police Department is a little more mindful these days of citizens’ rights to peaceful assembly and free speech, that’s a result of the couple and the ACLU suing the LAPD after the two were wrongfully arrested at a teacher’s rally in the 1990s.
I’ve also only just recently learned that a prime reason why the City of Irvine is such a local leader in low-income housing is because the Vassoses and others sued the Irvine Company in the 1970s to compel them to build such housing.
We talked with the couple recently in the Irvine condo they’ve lived in since 1966.
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jim@fourstory.org
Comments
If only there were more like them. They are real role models.
2008-12-25 by Therese Ballet Lynn
What a pleasure, Jim. Brings back good memories.
2008-12-15 by Evelyn ColeTurrill