Don Cantrell:

Rear Adm. James Seely, (USN-Ret.), Harbor High swimmer in 1950,

recently said the longer he lives, the smaller the world seems to get.

One of his naval connects came in the past when he bumped into officer

John Fowler, a swift ’45 tailback at Harbor High and also one who once

played prep basketball with NBA Hall of Famer George Yardley. Seely was a

much-honored jet fighter for years.

His list is too long to reflect on all the names.

He relayed once that one of his cousins had become a close friend of a

lovely lady whose father, Tom Morris, was a former star college football

player, a grid mate of the late Sen. Barry Goldwater at Arizona and an

old friend of the late Marion Morrison, who eventually became known as

cowboy star John Wayne after USC football days.

Morris, a four-year fullback at Arizona, subsequently shifted to

California, married a lovely lady who was a move actress and Goldwyn

Girl. In time, she introduced some of her Hollywood friends at parties,

including John Wayne and they all became friends.

Morris and his family moved to Balboa Island in the late forties from

South Pasadena.

After one of his two daughters, Ann, entered Harbor High, the school

started drawing wide attention since its ’49 football team was winning

games by impressive scores.

The Morris couple became admirers of the team and followed the Sailors

through the entire season. In fact, once Morris invited some Tar gridders

to a Rams game in Los Angeles and showed them a grand time.

Goldwater entered the local scene years later when became a summer

resident of the Balboa Bay Club. Wayne left Los Angeles and moved to

Newport Beach after building a classy home in the harbor.

Another small world scene came together some years ago when three

people connected with Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, helped pull ample funds

into a fund barrel for college athletic programs. The three were John

Madden, former Oakland Raider grid chief; Ted Trompeter, Class of ’50 at

Harbor High and one-time Pacific Coast Conference light heavyweight

boxing champion and his daughter, Jeanette Trompeter, now an Iowa TV

anchorwoman.

It was the annual John Madden charity fund for Cal Poly and proved to

be outstanding. Ted even helped wash Madden’s tour bus outside, which

earned a big smile from the former Raider mentor.

Initially, it appeared that Jeanette, co-chairman for the fund drive,

would direct things with no family help. She laughed, however, to say

that once she mentioned the event to her dad, he was ready to travel to

San Luis Obispo.

Trompeter, who has long had a fond recall of playing football for Al

Irwin at Newport, once attracted a spread of publicity for his talent and

skills at some top rodeos in the West. With a grin, he had occasion to

tell this corner, “I’m a cowboy.”

No doubt he had a strong recall from the early days over cowboy movie

names like Wayne, Gene Autry, Tom Tully, Roy Rogers and Tom Mix.

In time, the Trompeter memory bank helped spark another small world

picture around the harbor when this corner came to meet veteran actor

Tully, who was well-acquainted with horses and the rodeo world through

his Hollywood work over the years.

The late Tully, who lived on Lido Isle, was friends with Wayne, Andy

Devine and Humphrey Bogart, who once owned a yacht near Balboa Island.

Bogart was always a prince around the harbor area kids who chose to

paddle by his yacht and exchange good cheer. He loved them.

Tully’s biggest rise in films came with Bogart when they took roles in

“The Caine Mutiny.” In fact, Tully was nominated for an academy award for

best supporting actor. Someone once told Bogart, “Boy, Tully sure had a

great part.”

Bogart exclaimed, “Tully didn’t have a part. He made the part.”

Born in Durango, Colo., Tully was the son of a political figure in

Colorado and his first bid for the show business came in New York when he

took the radio lead role for “Gangbusters.”