I used to cover business in my earlier days and always enjoyed finding angles to cover at the Farmers Market, both because it's interesting and, well, it allowed me to eat at The Gumbo Pot and Bob's Donuts while I was reporting. Every now and then, stories will still float my way, courtesy of the always pleasant Sydney Weisman and David Hamlin.

A few weeks back, Sydney suggested I check out Shine Gallery, the new memorabilia store near Mr. Marcel's and The Banana Leaf. I gave my usual line about needing a Valley connection and she told me that Bernie Shine used to work in Encino. He was a lawyer. Gosh, that's all I needed.

So Mr. Baker and I headed down and gave it a look. Lots of neat stuff and Mr. Shine is quite a character, so I banged out this story, which ran in today's paper. I also asked him for a remembrance of his favorite case, to post here, and he sent me this:

When I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, Arnolds Park was a thriving summer amusement center on the shores of Lake Okoboji, Iowa. I spent a great deal of time there and worked in one of the souvenir shops as well as in a local haberdashery. Several Gypsy families operated a wide variety of carnival concessions and games at the park. All of these people were very nice to me when I was a kid, and I have fond memories of each of them. Whenever I passed one gypsy fortune teller’s stand, she would usually call me over and gratuitously read my palm. She was exotically beautiful, extraordinarily kind, and highly intuitive. I was even invited to celebrations at the local Gypsy camp, which I eagerly attended. They were gracious, hospitable, and joyful. It was there, mid-century in mid-America that I was first exposed Gypsy culture, and there I learned the falsehood of stereotyping.

By 1974 I was a young attorney in Los Angeles, and in 1978 I had my own practice. I was surprised when I started receiving calls from Gypsy families in enclaves from Texas to California who had either known me as a kid or had relatives who had known me, and found me again in another time, place and venue. One would refer another and over my years of active practice I had the privilege of representing several Gypsy clients in civil cases. I liked them and they trusted me. I can say without reservation, they were among the best clients I ever had. Most were loyal, highly responsive and good natured, listened to my advice and consul, and did not fabricate or exaggerate testimony. I have had a wide variety of clients over the years of practice . . . doctors, lawyers, and a multitude of other professionals . . . but I must admit a special fondness for the Gypsy clients who remembered me as the kid they once knew in Iowa.

I'd already learned a lot about him, but that was another interesting twist. You meet all kinds of interesting cats on this beat, that's for sure. It's nice to write about one who hasn't shot, stabbed or defrauded someone, every now and then.