Fun times with Chuck

I've known Charles since 1978 when we were 16 years old. Our circle knew him as Chuck. so from here on out will refer to him as Chuck. I met Chuck because he went to the same school as some neighbor boys and he came around to the neighborhood. I quickly learned he was genuine, unapologetically himself, and had a laugh that could light up any room. Soon thereafter, a group of friends from various sources developed in which music was the glue. MTV was making its debut and was constantly in the background. We toted our vinyl albums to whoever's house we were hanging out at. Before long, we were constant concert goers seeing acts at The Long Beach Arena, camping out in front of the arena for wristbands to get the best chance for good seat tickets. A highlight concert was The California World Music Festival at The Los Angeles Coliseum in '79 with acts like Ted Nugent, Cheap Trick, REO Speedwagon, The Outlaws, Toto, Mahogan Rush. and The Fabuious Poodles. In more recent years, after a couple of concerts in LA, we would all pile into the car, and Chuck would yell out, "Does anyone wants to go to Pinks (Hotdog shack)?!" We all exclaimed, "YEAH"! I forget how many times he saw Alice Cooper, but it was way in the double digits! It's no surprise that his last text to me was: OMG! I hope you're watching Iggy Pop right now. Other classic memories from our teen years were of our group piling into various cars and heading to the Los Altos Drive-in to see Cheech & Chong movies. These various cars included Kyle's Impala, Eric Sundell's white VW bug aka as the Marshmallow Supreme, and my mom's green '64 Dodge Dart affectionately dubbed the Pickle Express. Some nights we would just cruise the neighborhood with the KMET playing Led Zeppelin's Dazed and Confused or Brown Sugar by The Rolling Stones. In 1979, after Pink Floyd's The Wall came out, Chuck honored our friend Kitty and I with a spray-painted message on a white wall that was located across from Wilson High School. The message read, "Pink Floyd, The Wall - Hi Kitty and Anne" on the wall across from our nic school. Chuck loved Margaret and his family fiercely. I always enjoyed hearing about trips they took, family visits, sport events they attended, Coachella experiences, and all the haunts they worked or experienced as guests. I will miss our conversations: in person or 1-2-hour phone chats. I'll always think of Chuck whenever I hear the song Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd - he loved that song. And now..."PLAY FREEBIRD"! Anne "Mathewson" Esparza June 20, 2026