Few people publish their autobiographies when they’re 90. But that’s exactly what John B. Kilroy Sr. is doing.
And Kilroy has quite a story to tell. The son of a couple that met in the Klondike gold rush, Kilroy decided to apply what he learned as an inspector at Douglas Aircraft Co. during World War II to a new construction venture. Eventually, that venture turned into Kilroy Realty Corp., the West L.A. powerhouse, and Kilroy became one of L.A.’s biggest postwar real estate moguls.
But Kilroy’s first love was sailing and he parlayed that into a spectacular career as an amateur champion. Sailing with son John Jr. in his yacht named Kialoa (Hawaiian for “tall beautiful lady” and “long white canoe”), the duo set records for some of the toughest sailing runs in the world – including the 630-mile race from Sydney, Australia, to Hobart, Tasmania.
Much of that is chronicled in the autobiography, fittingly titled, “Kialoa: Dare to Win in Business, in Sailing, in Life.” The book is due for release this summer by boutique publisher Seapoint Books, a unit of Smith/Kerr Associates in Kittery Point, Maine.
“I wanted to impart some of thrill and the technology behind yacht racing,” Kilroy said last week. “It’s a sport where a tenth of a knot in speed makes all the difference between winning a race and falling two or even three miles behind.”
For such an avowed sea worshipper, Kilroy was a landlubber last week when it came to celebrating his 90th birthday May 1. He and his family and friends gathered for three days at the luxurious Ojai Valley Inn.
“I had such fun there, especially on the golf course,” he said.
Longer Drive
As the new leader of the electronic discovery practice at Stroz Friedberg LLC, Tom Barnett constantly faces new challenges in the ever-changing business of handling electronic information used in legal cases.
But one he may have underestimated is an old one: L.A. traffic.
Barnett had the luxury of working from his Camarillo home at his last job for Mountain View’s Stratify Inc., but now he’s dealing with a commute to Century City that averages about an hour and a half each way. The 51-year-old is a pioneer in the e-discovery field whose work has taken him from startups in Seattle to white-shoe law firms in New York, but he said this is by far his longest drive to work.
He’s decided it’s a good time to get a new car. He and his wife currently lease a Nissan Altima and own a 2003 Volvo.
“I have family from Vermont and still have sort of an off-road mentality. I’m looking at the Toyota FJ Cruiser, maybe so I can drive through some L.A. mudslides or something,” he said.
“My old commute was down the hall from my bedroom,” he said with a laugh. “I guess you couldn’t say I’m adjusting well.”
Staff reporters Howard Fine and Alfred Lee contributed to this column. Page 3 is compiled by Editor Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at [email protected].
