Six Degrees Of La Jolla
They say that everybody is connected to everybody else in a mere six steps. We put that theory to the test and showed Warwick’s bookstore owner Nancy Stone that not only is she connected to Academy Award-winner Gregory Peck, but a lot of fascinating people create the community bonds in between.

1. Nancy Stone
Owner and operator of Warwick’s bookstore in La Jolla is 44-year-old Nancy Stone. Holding a doctorate degree in anthropology this great granddaughter of W.T. Warwick grew up in the family business fully recognizing the power of human and cultural relativity. "My great grandfather drove west and relocated his 1896 stationary store from Minnesota to California in the 1930s. In fact my entire family worked in the store including my grandmother, Louise Warwick, who worked with my parents until she retired at 97," explains Stone. In 1996, just a year after receiving her doctorate. Stone became the fourth generation to operate Warwick’s. "I have a very deep attachment to the store and to the community," she says. "Over the years, the store has developed a life force of its own due to our loyal customers." Warwick’s reputation for bringing to town prominent authors makes the bookstore a rare La Jolla asset. Anne Rice, Brian Selznick, Hilary Clinton, and Senator John McCain are just a few names who have penned their signatures. Attending a Warwick’s signing or browsing the bookstores is something many local residents thoroughly enjoy, including longtime regular, Carol Hasson.

2. Carol Hasson
For 15 years Hasson — married with a 13-year-old son, two grown stepdaughters, and three step grandchildren — was a reporter for KFMB/Local 8 News in San Diego. At 20, Hasson worked as a correspondent for the New York Times but moved into broadcasting, eventually working as a national editor of ABC News, where she had major responsibility for the coverage of the Iran Hostage Crisis, the John Lennon murder, and the shooting of President Ronald Reagan. Over the years she won numerous awards, including four Emmys and four Golden Mikes. Currently she is president of the Friends of the La Jolla Library, one of the oldest branches in San Diego. "It is a big thrill for me to be part of this particular library," says Hasson. "As a reporter I covered the 1989 groundbreaking ceremony and remember seeing Dr. Seuss. At the end of 2001, I joined the Friends of the La Jolla Library board and was able to watch a dedicated group of citizens develop the newly expanded Florence Riford Library Center. In 2004, in my role as president I signed off the Center to the City of San Diego." Under Hasson’s leadership the Florence Riford Library Center has become a popular venue for arts and cultural events.

3. William Garth, Jr.
On March 27, 2004, local residents crowded around Draper Street in La Jolla waiting eagerly to be the first to enter the newly expanded Florence Riford Library Center. William Garth, Jr. would have been proud and happy of the expansion that included the new Garth Reading Level, built in his and his parents’ honor. Before Garth, Jr.’s death at age 83, he had been a civic and business leader who served as director and president of the La Jolla Historical Society and founded Boy Scout Troop 595 at Scripps Elementary School. As a boy, Garth, Jr. enjoyed the world brought to him from the pages and pictures of books and the big screen. "Back then we couldn’t afford to buy books," says his sister, Harle Montgomery, "so our lives centered on the movies and the local library."

4. Harle Garth Montgomery
Philanthropist Harle Montgomery’s $1 million helped make the Florence Riford Library Center expansion project become a reality. Montgomery, a supporter of the library for many years, made her contribution to the Garth Reading Level in the name of her parents and brother, William, with whom she first came to La Jolla in the 1920s. "[The donation] was a perfect way to make a statement of gratitude to my parents for bringing me to such a beautiful place to grow up," she says. In 1947 after her first husband, Tom Dammann, was recruited to help in the development of the La Jolla Playhouse, then at the La Jolla High auditorium, Montgomery found herself mingling amongst the stars of Hollywood’s stage and screen. Her love and support of the creative arts has forever continued. Together with her second husband, Kenneth, they sponsored many activities including the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival.

5. Tom Dammann
Gregory Peck and Mel Ferrer (Audrey Hepburn’s first husband) met journalist Tom Dammann in Hollywood where they recruited him to help with the opening of the La Jolla Playhouse, conceived as a summer showcase of two-week performances. Staged at La Jolla High School, the first season began July 8, 1947, with Dame May Whitty re-creating her original London role in Emlyn Williams’ Night Must Fall. Dammann became the publicist and resident manager of the La Jolla Playhouse in 1947, helping to implement the vision of founding actors Peck, Ferrer, Dorothy McGuire, Joseph Cotten, and Jennifer Jones. "He was everyone’s Man Friday," says Harle Montgomery. "He wrote programs, interviewed actors, and promoted the plays. At the end of the night, he would mingle with the cast at La Valencia Hotel." Dammann spent about ten summers at the La Jolla Playhouse and returned yearly with his second wife, Sara Gay Dammann, to visit friends and family. He attended the 50th anniversary of the La Jolla Playhouse in 1997, joining Peck, Ferrer, and other celebrities. Before retiring as a journalist in the mid-1980s, Dammann contributed pieces to newspapers and several national magazines, including Sports Illustrated, Travel & Leisure, Time, and Life.

6. Gregory Peck
Born Eldred Peck on April 5, 1916 in La Jolla, California, Peck lived on Fay Avenue with his mother, Bernice (Bunny) Ayres, and father, Gregory (Doc), a druggist. At age five, his parents divorced and Peck was sent to live with his grandmother, Kate Ayres, at 7826 Herschel Street, and later at 4508 Exchange Place. After attending San Diego State University, he earned admission to the University of California, Berkeley where he developed an interest in acting. After graduating with a BA degree in English, Peck dropped the name "Eldred" and headed to New York to study at the Neighborhood Playhouse and made his Broadway debut in 1942. Peck moved on to become a most distinguished screen actor who founded the La Jolla Playhouse in 1947 with fellow rising stars Dorothy McGuire and Mel Ferrer. ""We all came from a background of summer theater," he said in Welton Jones’ 1998 Union Tribune interview. "It was challenging, fun, and seemed like the thing to do and La Jolla seemed the right place to do it." The shows were cast and rehearsed in the company’s Los Angeles office, then sent to La Jolla. "We showed up mainly for dress rehearsal and opening night, playing the role of producers. Then, after the celebration at the Whaling Bar, I usually had to drive back to be on the set early the next morning."
— Ingrid Hoffmeister, photography by Vincent Knakal and courtesy of the La Jolla Historical Society