An Ode to Captain Jackson By Palos Verdes Native, Writer and Contributor Kirsten Hurst

I grew up in Rolling Hills, and lived there through most of the 1950s, 60s and 70s.

The longer I have lived and have had more life experiences to compare it to, I realize how blessed I was to have grown up on the Palos Verdes Peninsula when I did. Now I know that I grew up in a “real life Shangri-La”. It was a beautiful place, but what made it really special was the people.

We had a neighbor in Rolling Hills whose name was Captain Jackson. He had a large flat lot at the corner of Portugese Bend Road and our street, Running Brand Road. Captain and Mrs. Jackson generously shared that lot with our neighborhood for years.

This story is an ode to Captain Jackson, and people like him who never had a “not in my backyard” property mentality.” He could have easily fenced off the lot, kept the neighborhood from using it. We did everything on that lot from riding our horses to playing baseball, riding our bikes, setting up bike jumps, played kick the can, and built forts. We ate fruit off their fruit trees,….and still, no gate ever went up to fence us out.

Captain Jackson’s lot was truly a “field of dreams” that probably played a big part in spawning some world class dressage legacies, both riders and judges. One neighbor, Pam (Noble) Gaian, lived right across the street from Captain Jackson’s field, with her family, including her daughter Heidi. A block away lived Betsy Raines and her family which included her daughter Kathleen.

Both Pam Gaian and Betsy Raines were among the founding members of the Palos Verdes chapter of the California Dressage Society. Both of their daughters are very accomplished riders. Two blocks away lived another neighbor and accomplished rider, Barbie Hartwig. Needless to say, accomplished riders practice a lot/the field was in constant use.

I’ve found myself thinking about Captain and Mrs. Jackson over the years with gratitude and a greater appreciation of them. We live in such a litigous world today,…today people can’t afford to be “Captain Jacksons” or simply don’t want to take the risks or be inconvenienced. Captain and Mrs. Jackson were taking risks back but they were willing to do so and it brought the neighborhood together many times over the years.

The gratitude that fills my heart for it all, is such a gift in my old age.

I think Captain Jackson is smiling somewhere having “an ode” written about him.

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