Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Shooting Star, part 7: my correspondence with passenger Lyle Overby


The entire “Fuentes/Shooting Star” saga can be found here.

For the rest of the series, see Shooting Star

March 12:
Mr. Overby:

I'm a local blogger with an interest in Orange County history. I've been working on a story about the sinking of the "Shooting Star" in 1974--the yacht that disappeared along with Ronald Caspers and nine others. 
This morning, I spoke with Wayne Clark, who once wrote two fine articles about the disaster (for Orange County Illustrated, late in 1974), and he said that he recalled that someone on the trip got off the boat--perhaps during the refueling stop at Tortoise Bay--before it sank. At first he couldn't recall the person's name. Just now he emailed that he remembered that it was you. 
Is that correct? Were you among the crew of the Shooting Star from June 9 until, I suppose, June 13, 1974? 
Thanks for any light you can cast on this sad episode.

     Roy Bauer,  949 xxx xxxx
March 13:
Roy, 
Click on graphic to enlarge
First of all, I have to ask who are you besides a blogger? These folks that lost their lives were not strangers to me and I don't want to be part of further desecrating theirnames for curiosity. What is your interest in this old story? 
I was on the Shooting Star, but I got off the ship at Cabo San Lucas and did not make the troubled trip from Cabo to Guerrero Negro - the last time the the Shooting Star was seen. There are a whole lot of old news stories that chronicle the tale quite well, including probably the best two of all "The Last Voyage of the Shooting Star - Part 1 and 2" by the very Wayne Clark that referred you to me. 
The boat was not sabotaged as many conspiracy types speculate. It was a pleasure boat taken out into heavy weather without the proper high seas survival equipment needed to make the journey in a cabin cruiser (Shooting Star was 65 feet in length).
There isn't that much more to add. 
     LYLE OVERBY
March 13:
Mr. Overby: 
I am a professor of philosophy at Irvine Valley College, and I have been blogging (Dissent the Blog) since 2005.      
Though our blog focuses on items of interest to the college community, it also occasionally delves into Orange County history in general--e.g.,       
A century-old "History of Orange County": towns called Celery and Delhi and a women's club aiming for "sober, Christian citizenship"  (Feb. 16)
Recently, I blogged about the sinking of the “Shooting Star” and was contacted by the daughters of one of the victims of the sinking (John Klein), who encouraged any efforts on my part to learn more about the disaster.    
For instance, we would love to learn more about what the Klein brothers (John and Tim) were doing in La Paz. All that we have learned thus far is that at least one of them was acting as a “caretaker” of the boat, and that he had been serving in that capacity probably since April. I’ve also learned that the Shooting Star was taken out for a four-day fishing trip in early May. Were you on that trip? Reportedly, the June trip was planned at that time.    
Did you know the three Klein brothers, including Tommy?      
Anything you might tell us about them would be greatly appreciated.      
We were under the impression that the “crew” of the SS flew from LAX to La Paz and then took a chartered plane to Cabo. Had you been with the Kleins in La Paz prior to the arrival of the others?       
I’ve read that Ron Caspers’ executive aide, Tom Fuentes, was supposed to join the others for the trip (from Cabo), but did not ultimately do so. Is that correct? Was he among those who flew down? Why did he not join the others as first planned?      
Any information you might provide would be greatly appreciated. 
--Roy
SEE Part 8

Note: Mr. Overby, like Tom Fuentes, Tommy Klein, and Wayne Clark, served as an executive aide to a member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors in the 1970s. Note: the upshot of the above: there was no "11th passenger."

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

B Von Traven a conspiracy type? No way.

Sherry Klein said...

I'm looking forward to his future correspondence with you if any.

Anonymous said...

Roy/B Von Traven is the furthest guy from a conspiracy type that you'll ever find, Mr. Overby. He's a careful thinker, fair-minded, and utterly honest. I hope that you'll reply to him.

Roy Bauer said...

Fear not! Mr. Overby did reply, and he did so without hostility. See part 8.

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...