UPDATE ON NAMESAKE: Clarence Neale lent his name to Neale's Hollow on Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, since he was the one who developed it. Now 82, he still lives independently in Saratoga, nearby his namesake complex, as do two of his offspring.
Neale owned the first antique shop in the Village. It was called The Barn, and before his use of it as an antique shop, it housed the last blacksmith shop in the Village. It was torn down in the late '40s, reports Neale's daughter, Dianna Espinosa, who now owns Neale's Hollow, along with her brothers Doug and Dan Neale. They call themselves 3D Properties.
Clarence Neale survived Pearl Harbor. He was in the Navy and stationed on the USS Honolulu, which was hit but the bomb never detonated. After his Naval stint, he opened The Barn. He also ran Saratoga Transfer, a moving company, which was an arm of his antique business.
There was always a donkey parked next to the creek where The Barn was located, Espinosa recalls. And The Barn was in approximately the same area as the present Neale's Hollow. After The Barn was destroyed, the business became Neale's Antiques, and then Neale and Sons Appraisals.
Clarence Neale was a very active, very vocal member of the community. He was called the Gray Fox by his cronies, because he grayed at an early age. One of the mainstays of the Saratoga Lions Club, he served as its president sometime in the '60s.
He's kept in touch with his Navy buddies through the years, but most of his local compadres from Lions Club days have either moved or died. The son who worked at the store was Doug. Today he continues as an antique appraiser, and he is locally renowned for his auctioneering skills. Though he still does appraisals, he no longer does any auctioneering.
Dan Neale, the other son, worked for PG&E and now lives in Oregon. Their mother, Laura, who also worked at the shop, died 10 years ago.
Daughter Dianna is the manager of the Foothill Club's bookings. Occupying the Neale's Hollow complex today are an attorney's office, a Linda Mood-Bell school for autistic children, a health center food store called Lite for Life, a nail shop and a limousine service.
NEW MYSTERY: The Madd Mountain Murders is the newest book from the pen (actually computer, probably) of Saratogan Lana Waite and should be in bookstores any moment now. Her website is www.waiteweb.com and her books can be ordered there. Waite will talk about Madd Mountain on March 19 at 1 p.m. at the Saratoga library.
The Madd Mountain Murders takes place at Tall Trees Lodge, where Maren has come to help her uncle run the hotel after his wife breaks her leg. Two bodies later she finds herself trying to solve the murders with the help of Titus, a wizened old prospector.
A cave, a sod hideaway, a bell tower and a hidden old mine all play a part. Sounds like it could be Santa Cruz Mountains, but it's based more on the Tahoe area. It's a cozy read, says its author, character-driven with no graphic sex or gratuitous violence.
The publisher is InfinityPublishing.com, a print-on-demand company. Infinity allows unsold books to be returned for full refund, making it more appealing to bookstores.
Waite describes herself as a late bloomer, having been writing for 20 years before her first mystery, Buried in Burrywood, was published last year. It was featured on BookBrowse.com, the website of another Saratogan, Davina Morgan-Witts, where it was chosen a Favorite Book of 2003.
Waite dedicated her first book to Tony Hillerman and the Cabrillo Suspense Writers Conference in the Santa Cruz Mountains. She is a member of the SistersInCrime mystery writers Bay Area chapter, as are fellow Saratogan Sal Towse and Loretta Scott Miller of Los Gatos.
PARODY PLAYERS: Jillian Lawson of Saratoga and Taylor Karl of Los Gatos are two of the cast members of the Peninsula Youth Theatre's Once Upon a Mattress presented March 1321 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. Jillian plays the jester. Tickets are $16 and $13.
The box office is 650.903.6000. Once Upon is a musical parody of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Princess and the Pea.
MEMOIRISTS: Members of the Saratoga Senior Center Memoir class will read from their writings on March 31 at the luncheon meeting of the center. Sharing their stories will be Jane Stewart, Amanda Squires, Barbara Mendenhall, Max Van Rhee and Charlotte Vukelich.
Others are Ginny Johnson, Evelyn Johnson, Verda Keenan, Jim Oggerino and Cecila Fritzell. Louise Webb is the memoir class leader. Lunch reservation number is 408.868.1257. Call by March 29. The class meets the first and third Friday of the month at 10:15 a.m.
IRISH SIZZLE: Saratogan Beverly Myers' Sizzling Seniors will strut their Irish spirit at a St. Paddy's Day lunch 11:30 a.m. March 17 at the Los Gatos Neighborhood Center. For lunch reservations call 408.354.0707.
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By Mary Ann Cook