If you have driven along the San Pedro waterfront or walked along the waterfront promenade you have passed this bench. I passed it myself hundreds of time before I discovered the story of the family that left their name on our waterfront.

MUSIC is this special woman’s language. Annette has been surrounded by music since her mother called her to the piano at the age of five. From the moment she began taking lessons it became obvious to those around her that she had a special gift.

You might well ask, what’s with the title? There’s nothing remarkable (or scientific) about women speaking. If you watch Giada, Ina, Paula or Rachel on the Food Network you will notice that they all have the gift of gab. While entertaining us, at the same time they are creating fabulous dishes. Women are multifaceted multitaskers.

My father, Ralph Jester, met the Vanderlip family in the early 1920s while a student at Yale University, and while Narcissa Vanderlip was a student at Vassar College. Narcissa was the eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank A. Vanderlip. During these years, Jester visited Mr. and Mrs. Vanderlip at their home, Beechwood, in Scarborough, New York. Jester recalls a visit to Beechwood where he first saw architectural models that the planner, Jacques Greber, had made for Mr. Vanderlip.

We are now up to 1949. The Neighborhood Church was still meeting at Malaga Cove School, with services held in the auditorium and Sunday School classes in the classrooms. Post-war Palos Verdes was growing by leaps and bounds with returning servicemen starting families and building a lot of 2-3 bedroom 1200-1800 square foot houses generally in Palos Verdes Estates