Dengue Fever Shares Musical Journey

by Patricia Lamkin
Originally published in Asia the Journal for Culture and Commerce, April 4, 2008. Photo courtesy Tracy Blackburn.


Dengue Fever’s Cambodian rock is looming large these days. This rising alternative L.A. band has been touring, getting on film soundtracks and was recently featured on NPR. But the real fascination is their multi-faceted music, and its biggest influence: the sounds of 60's Cambodian pop singers Ros Sereysothea and Sinn Sisamouth, and their Khmer spins on Western rock favorites.

After the takeover by the communist Khmer Rouge in 1975, Ros and Sinn, along with many other Cambodian musicians were tragically murdered or died in labor camps. The bloody Pol Pot regime left an estimated 1.5 million people dead; music was banned and many recordings destroyed. Cambodia's musical traditions were virtually lost.

In the moving documentary, “Sleep Walking Through the Mekong,” director John Pirozzi traces Dengue Fever’s 2005 musical pilgrimage to Cambodia, where they honored the music they had come to love so well, by letting the people of Cambodia hear it again. Band members Ethan Holtzman, Zac Holtzman, David Ralicke, and Senon Williams attended a recent screening at the Echo Park Film Center, to talk about their musical influences, and Cambodian adventure.

“The whole film was shot in 10 days, and it was this intense experience because we were doing so much every day,” said Willliams, the band’s bassist. “The word spread that we were there, and the Cambodian culture is real warm, so for us it was just exciting, and like open arms.” “It was like making an elaborate home movie,” said farfisa player Ethan Holtzman.

It was during a six-month backpacking trip through Southeast Asia in the 90’s, that Holtzman first heard Khmer pop music. He loved it. When he got back to L.A., he and his guitarist brother Zac decided to form a band based on Ros and Sinn’s musical style. They contacted their longtime friend, Williams to sit in on auditions for the lead singer. Williams, too, had visited Cambodia, back in 1995. “I got this panicked phone call from Zac saying, 'oh man, we've got all these singers lined up, can you play bass?'” Williams recalled. “And the funny thing was that I knew the tunes already. I had collected stacks of tapes. Next thing you know, I'm sitting in, and next thing you know, I'm in.”

The singer who won the audition was native Cambodian Chhom Nimol, whose lilting voice had made her a regular performer for the Cambodian King and Queen back home. She also had musical ties to Sinn Sisamouth: her father had performed with the “King of Khmer Music” himself.

Like their Cambodian mentors, Dengue Fever has taken the traditional vocal and melodic elements of Khmer brought in by Chhom, and fused it with 60's American surf music, R&B and the haunting distortions of psychedelic rock. To this mix they add a hodge-podge of international and 60's styles. "We're all into 60's,” said sax player Ralicke, “Ethiopian music as well,” he said. The songs are written mostly in English, translated by Chhoml and a Cambodian musician in Washington D.C. they found on the Internet who speaks fluent English. “We'll send him English lyrics and then he'll translate them into Khmer,” Williams said, “and then Nimol will chop those up again, and there you have it - a song.”

As the Cambodian audiences in the film heard their old familiar songs, they joyfully sang along, “We played everything over there,” said Williams, “but I think it was the old Cambodian stuff that folks really reacted to.” Ralicke helped put this into perspective. “It's like the equivalent of our Beatles songs, you know,” he said. According to the documentary, the music is ingrained in Cambodian culture, and represents a time for the people when life was good and prosperous.

The devastation left by the Khmer Rouge is freshly felt in the film, as the band explores the city of Phnom Penh, and visits a music school devoted to preserving Cambodian musical traditions and dances. The school was located in a ghetto apartment building. “It was basically a gutted building where it was just packed,” said Williams. “People were cooking in the hallways, and we go into this room, and it's all these little kids that are singing amazingly,” he said. “I don't know if the movie fully captures what it was like at [the school],” said Ralicke, “because they performed for a while for us, before we did anything. It was pretty overwhelming. They were exceptional,” he said.

The film also shows the band playing with some of the surviving music masters of Cambodia. With the DVD release of the film will come a soundtrack album. “Not all the master musicians we played with are in the film,” said Williams, “there's going to be a lot more of our collaborations with them on the soundtrack.”

Now the band is gearing up for a European summer festival tour to promote their latest album, Venus on Earth. Each song is like a wonderful 60’s “flashback.” The droning guitar and farfisa organ of “Seeing Hands” is reminiscent of the Doors, with echoes of Henry Mancini in the guitar and sax combo of “Sober Driver.” The toe-tapping duet between Chhom and Zac Holtzman in “Tiger Phone Card,” conjures pleasant images of Frankie and Annette singing in a beach party film.

An audience member remarked about a Cambodian man in the film who said Dengue Fever should play in all the different provinces. “He was saying how it was very important for their county, and it's very healing,” said Zac Holtzman, “and we're trying to act on that - that was one of the most important lines in the whole film,” he said.

For more information on Dengue Fever’s upcoming tours, or screenings at Echo Park Film Center, visit: http://www.myspace.com/denguefevermusic, and
http://www.echoparkfilmcenter.org/

Handicapped Actor Follows His Dream

by Patricia Lamkin
Originally published in Asia the Journal of Culture and Commerce, February 15, 2008.

Kama (Joseph Kim) and Keiko (Sachiko Hayashi) comfort Namiye (Mari Ueda) in East West Players premiere of "Voices from Okinawa," by Jon Shirota. Photo by Michael Lamont.

East West Players (EWP) has announced the World Premiere production of “Voices From Okinawa,” starring Joseph Kim, an accomplished actor who also happens to be hard of hearing. This will mark Kim’s first major role on stage.

Artistic Director Tim Dang was first exposed to Kim’s talent from his work in the workshop reading of “Voices from Okinawa” back in March, 2007, and was aware of his impairment during casting. "It was never a factor in the [casting] process,” said Dang. “He is a strong actor who plays the role extremely well and that is what matters. Because it was never an issue to him, it was never an issue with us."

Kim portrays the complex character Kama Hutchins, an American of one quarter Okanawan descent. “The character goes back to Okinawa to discover his Asian roots,” said Kim. “He's proud to be Asian, but his knowledge of his culture and [American-Okinawan] relations is just surface deep.” As Kama learns more about the Okinawa people, he is able to mediate between the two cultures. “This is exactly what happened to me when I went back to Korea. Even my aunt in the play is similar to my aunt back in Korea, whom I lived with. She is suffering from Alzheimer’s now and this play is dedicated to her.”

For Kim, who has been 40% deaf in both ears since birth, the experience with EWP has been, “amazing and professional,” he said. “Tim Dang is a master at the craft of directing, and I think this in part is due to the fact that he was also trained as an actor. The best directors were all actors,” he said, citing Elia Kazan as a famous example. In working with directors, Kim has learned that despite any preconceptions they may have about his disability, "if I make good strong choices from the beginning they'll know what I am capable of."

Kim doesn’t feel his hearing entitles him to special treatment. Letting people know about it is more out of courtesy to them. “I know from experience that it helps others to know that I’m not ignoring them if my back is turned to them when they speak to me,” he said. “I simply can't hear them and if they know this in advance their feelings don't get hurt.”

Despite the challenges, Kim has learned to work with his handicap as an actor, and knows he must raise the bar in what he brings to the stage. “I HAVE to pay attention more onstage due to my impairment,” he said. “This is just a reality.” For example, if he can’t hear his fellow actors, “I have to read lips or just follow the basic flow so I know when to come in with my line,” he said. “[But] I think it's made me a better actor and more grateful of the faculties I do have.”

Kim did not always pursue his dream of acting. He started out as a movie columnist and editor for the International Herald Tribune/Joonang Ilbo Newspaper based in Seoul, Korea. But he soon found out that journalism was not his true calling. “There is a book called ‘The Artist's Way’ that discusses the issue of ‘the career of our dreams’ vs. ‘the shadow career,’” he said. “When we're afraid to go into the career we ‘really’ want, we instead go into a career that mirrors our dream job, which is called the ‘shadow career.’ In my case, acting was my dream job, but I was too scared to go into it due to the lack of financial security. So instead I chose the next best thing, which was to write a movie column,” he said. But the monotony of rushing to meet one deadline after another only made Kim miserable. “Plus, I was terrible at writing,” he said.

It wasn’t until Kim joined a local theatre production of Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap," that he realized how much he wanted to be an actor. “While onstage I felt an excitement that was so absent in my ‘shadow career’ of journalism. I quit the next day and moved back to the states to start training,” he said. Since then Kim has appeared on ABC’s Golden Globe nominated drama "Brothers and Sisters" and CBS’s Emmy Award winning soap, "The Young and the Restless."

Kim attributes much of his success to powerful role models in his life, especially a white-haired cop named George Hardman, who was his childhood karate teacher. “One day he pulled me aside and told me, ‘Joey, you're a good kid and you're damn good. Don't let anyone ever tell you that you’re not,’” Kim said. “Probably the most proud I've ever felt in my life. His encouragement gave me self-confidence,” he said, “but he also put me in my place when I got out of line. Self-confidence with humility are like peanut butter and jelly.”

Despite a Master of Fine Arts degree in acting from UCLA School of Theatre, Film & Television, Kim has strong feelings about graduate study for actors. For aspiring actors, he recommends a more nitty-gritty approach: “Acting has to be learned on your feet,” he said. “[Graduate school] is like having a ‘shadow career.’ Instead of taking the plunge and becoming a poor actor, we take the softer road and spend 3 years in a make-believe bubble.” Meanwhile those who took the other route, “already have 3 years more experience in networking, getting an agent/manager and booking jobs,” he said. “Real work and a side acting class provide the groundwork you need to get up and running.”

For Kim, those classes were with Los Angeles teachers Salome Jens and Lesly Kahn. Salome Jens, who studied under Lee Strasberg, is member of the Actor's Studio and, “a regular Broadway headliner,” he said. “Lesly Kahn is probably the most successful teacher in Hollywood today. Both of these women have been role models, and like my cop karate teacher instrumental in all my successes,” he said.

And for those who are disabled, who have a particular goal or dream they wish to pursue, Kim has some powerful advice: “I'd tell them the same thing a D.C. cop told a shy, angry kid so many years ago... ‘You're perfect just the way you are, don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise.’ Sometimes just hearing that we are is all we need to strive for greatness.”

“Voices from Okinawa” runs from February 13th to March 9th, 2008 at the David Henry Hwang Theater at the Union Center for the Arts, 120 Judge John Aiso St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. EWP holds an American Sign Language-interpreted performance for every production. The ASL-interpreted performance of Voices from Okinawa will be held, Sunday, March 2nd, 2008. Tickets are $20 for deaf and hard of hearing patrons. For tickets call East West Players at (213) 625-7000 or visit www.eastwestplayers.org.

Kama (Joseph Kim) and Keiko (Sachiko Hayashi) waltz as the students spy on them. Photo by Michael Lamont.

Dawn’s Light: The Journey of Gordon Hirabayashi

Theatre Review by Patricia Lamkin
Originally published by Asia the Journal of Culture and Commerce, November 15th, 2007.
Photos of actor Ryun Yu by Michael Lamont

“Dawn’s Light: The Journey of Gordon Hirabayashi” now playing at the East West Players, is a moving, and often humorous one-man show which chronicles the true story of one Japanese American’s enduring fight for his constitutional rights.

With the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, an hysterical and fearful nation declares personal war on its Japanese citizens. First curfews are imposed. 24 year-old Gordon Hirabayashi is an American born citizen, and a fiercely patriotic student at Washington State University in Seattle when the upheaval begins. Deeply offended by this blatant racial profiling, one evening Gordon defies the curfew, staying at the library with his friends to study. Then the order comes that all persons of Japanese descent on the west coast must quickly liquidate their businesses and properties, and report to prison camps. Gordon refuses to go, citing that this request is contrary to his constitutional rights as an American citizen, in which he is granted the right to “secure the blessings of liberty,” and that no American can be imprisoned without due process. Charged with breaking curfew and refusing the camp order, Gordon is thrown in jail.

With faith in the protections of the Constitution, Gordon takes his battle all the way to the Supreme Court, which to his disbelief, unanimously sides in favor of the Government, upholding the military had just cause for its actions. Gordon is convicted and sentenced to serve two consecutive 90 day sentences.

One of the most poetic moments of the play is when Gordon requests to serve his term in an Arizona facility because it is semi-outdoors. His request is granted, but since there are no funds allocated to transport him there, he offers to pay his own travel expenses. And so he is actually released, freely hitchhiking and sleeping under the stars to enjoy the beauty of his America on his way to serve an unjust prison sentence.

Some 40 years later new evidence is found showing that the military threat from Japanese Americans did not justify imprisonment, The report had been illegally concealed from the Supreme Court proceedings. The landmark case is reopened in 1987, and overturned. The endurance of the American and human spirit even when all odds are against it is finally proven a worthwhile fight.

Based on actual letters written by Gordon that she found archived at the University of Washington, actor/playwright Jeanne Sakata effectively shapes the story, which spans Gordon’s lifetime, and interviewed the man himself twice for his personal recollections. Ryun Yu portrays Gordon, showing his disillusionment, alienation and steadfast conviction to his ideals with depth and humanity. As Gordon, Yu narrates, delightfully shifting into various other characters with believability and humor. The minimalist staging and projections designed by Maiko Nezu compliment Yu’s performance. Projections of the flag and preamble of the Constitution help bring Gordon’s experiences into the present, as we struggle with our current administration’s controversial decisions in Iraq.

“Dawn’s Light: The Journey of Gordon Hirabayashi” runs through December 2nd, with performances at 8 pm Wednesdays through Saturdays and 2 pm Sundays. For ticket information, contact (213) 625-7000 or eastwestplayers

"Flower Drum" Author Embarks on New Project

By Patricia Lamkin
Photo of C.Y. Lee courtesy of Lilee Chang Ma
Originally published by Asia the Journal of Culture and Commerce, November 2, 2007.

I met the remarkable C.Y. Lee earlier this fall at a picnic for the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights. In an estate garden once owned by the Barrymores, the Royal Family of American Theater, the 90 year old Lee energetically shared how he came to write “The Flower Drum Song,” the best-selling novel that went on to become a Rodgers and Hammerstein hit Broadway musical, and revival by David Henry Hwang.

In that nostalgic setting it was as though theater history were coming alive among the lush greenery and tall lilies. Everyone at our table eagerly leaned in as Lee relayed how his writing career took a strange turn after an agent named Anne Elmo saw his play at Yale.

“She threw water on me!” he laughed, but he did not mean it literally. “She shook my hand and said, ‘never write another play!’ I asked her why she even wanted to see me, and she said ‘I saw a little sparkle in your play, and I thought you could be a good writer.’” The agent explained that plays with Chinese themes aren’t performed in the U.S., and that if he started writing short stories and novels, she could find a market for him.

“After that I never wrote a play,” he recalled, taking Elmo’s advice. “At the time immigration was trying to deport me because my student visa had expired. So, I committed a so-called crime: I took a job,” he laughed. “I went to San Francisco and worked as a reporter, everyday waiting for immigration to call me.” Someone finally did call. “Officer, I’m all packed,” said Lee answering the phone. “I’m not an immigration officer,” the man on the phone protested, “I’m the editor of Writer’s Digest. You won the first prize of our short-short story contest.” The prize was $750. And since Ellery Queen magazine had bought the reprint rights, Lee was to receive twice this amount.

Immigration then awarded Lee five more years in the U.S. and an application for citizen ship. Lee used the time to write his famous first novel, and it was San Francisco’s Chinatown that fed his muse. Not long after, Joseph Fields adapted the novel for Rodger’s and Hammerstein, for which Lee still enjoys royalties.

Twelve novels and as many short stories later, Lee has returned to playwriting, adapting his stories for the stage. Like “Flower Drum Song,” he continues to write about the Chinese American experience. In the comedy “House Guest from Xinjiang,” for example, a young Muslim Chinese student is hosted in the U.S by the Christian family of a California State professor. “To have a Muslim girl living in her home, there are cultural differences,” says Lee. “These are humorous differences, with a serious theme.” Lee is hopeful that a Cal State workshop will lead to a professional production at the Luckman Arts Center.

In addition, Lee has established The Bright Moon Performing Arts Institute in Los Angeles to promote the development of Chinese modern music and theatre. It is based on an organization founded 80 years ago in China by Lee’s musician brother Lee Jinhui. Lee is busy writing the Chinese libretto for “Peach Blossom River,” a modern day musical based on a song by his brother. “We changed the location to the San Gabriel Valley,” says Lee. “Peach Blossom River” is slated to premiere at Bright Moon next year, in cooperation with the American Chinese Performing Arts Theater in El Monte. Bright Moon will also offer courses for youth in dance and music.

Lee encourages new talent. For “Lady of Joy,” a musical adapted from his period novel “The Days of the Tong Wars,” Lee found an American born Chinese who is a singer/dancer to be the composer, and a lyricist who happens to be a physician. “I don’t care whether they’re a physician or not, a singer-dancer or not, as long as they’re talented,” says Lee.

Lee is also working on a Chinese translation of Joseph Fields “Flower Drum Song.” “We’re going to cast here, get the two plays in shape, and then we can have productions in Shanghai and Beijing and tour.” Except for its translation, the original Joseph Fields/Rodgers and Hammerstein production script already exists. “They even tell you how to direct it. God bless the three of them – they all are in heaven. Of the ‘Flower Drum Song,’ I’m probably the only one still living,” says Lee. His secret to longevity is simple. “I always say I’m sixty nine,” he laughs. “When you’re old your heart is not old. Mine is not old. And also: keep busy. It’s when you’re doing nothing that you decline - physically and mentally decline very fast. So I keep swimming, ballroom dancing, and working: writing – constantly writing.”

Birds: Where the Locals Flock

Birds Rotisserie Chicken Café & Bar
Food Review for losangeles.planjam.com

By Patricia Lamkin

Located at the foot of the Hollywood Hills on Franklin Avenue, Birds is perched in the middle of a unique block between Tamarind and Bronson Streets, where Hollywood wannabes and stars alike flock to the sunny sidewalk cafés to hang out, talk industry, and see-or-be seen. Bird’s diverse and delicious menu is a one of the draws that keeps the locals landing. The featured entrée is rotisserie chicken, glazed in an original marinade and served with your choice of sides (steamed veggies, BBQ beans, roasted potatoes, cole slaw, Spanish rice, etc.). But if you’re not a big eater, they also have lighter fare in the form of California fusion “roll-up” sandwiches, chicken tacos, and their famous curly Q fries. Beef lovers will enjoy the old-fashioned burgers and sloppy joes. For even lighter eaters, salads come in half order sizes, (Caesar, Chinese Chicken, Mediterranean, etc.) and even these are meal-size portions.

While the other restaurants and shops on this block exude a young Hollywood vibe, Birds is hip retro: it’s name an homage to Alfred Hitchcock’s famous horror film “The Birds,” with décor that features giant photos and posters of the suspense master showing off his whimsical reserve and portly charm. Like the cinematic world of Hitchcock, the atmosphere inside Birds is dark, but only in terms of the lighting. The music is upbeat and the friendly wait staff provides excellent service.

After dining at Birds, there is plenty to see or do in just one short block. The Daily Planet newsstand and novelty shop, the Bourgeois Pig Café, the Tamarind Theatre (featuring the Upright Citizens Brigade), Harmony Gallery, and Counterpoint Records and Books are among the cool places here to check out.

Whether you want the “comfort food” of a full on BBQ chicken meal, or fresh lavash “roll-up” sandwiches with a California spin, Birds of Hollywood offers an affordable selection for a variety of tastes, in a breezy, off-the-beaten path locale.

Birds
Rotisserie Chicken Café & Bar
5925 Franklin Ave.
Hollywood, CA
(323) 465-0175
www.birdshollywood.com

Hours
Open daily 11:45am to 11pm

What Goes Up, Must Come to Something

Published in Backstage West – June 14th

By Patricia Lamkin

It’s every actor’s worst fear: the mouth goes dry, the hands get clammy and--worst of all-the mind goes blank. The dreaded “actor’s nightmare.” If it happens in a show there are fellow actors to save the day. But what if it happens at an audition?


It was time again for the South Eastern Theatre Conference (SETC) preliminary auditions held at Hinds Jr. College in Jackson, Mississippi. In addition to a monologue, I decided to do a song, “As Time Goes By,” by Herman Hupfeld. The day before the audition, I found out that a girl from my acting class with the time slot before mine was doing the same song. Songs are often repeated at regional auditions, but back to back? I went through my sheet music for alternatives. “The Street Where You Live” from My Fair Lady? Tired and I did it last year. “Food Glorious Food” from Oliver? No, I’m petite and they’d only cast me as a kid. I had to use something I knew, had the sheet music for, and was in my key.

Then I got what I thought was a brilliant idea: since my classmate was starting with the intro, I’ll start with the bridge. I ran though it with the pianist, and it sounded pretty good: “Moonlight and love songs never out of date/Hearts full of passion jealousy and hate/Woman needs man and man must have his mate/That no one can deny.” I would finish with the last verse.

In theory it was a good plan. After all, I wasn’t changing songs. The trouble was, up until then I had been working solely on the prologue and first verse. That didn’t mean I knew the rest, no matter how many times I had seen Casablanca!

My moment to shine came. The monologue went great (a selection from Strindberg’s Ghost Sonata), the pianist vamped, and I started to sing. The first line came out okay, and then…well, I “went up”-- the words went right out of my head, gone off to Never-Never Land. I thought, “If I just keep singing, the words will come back!” They didn’t. What came out was pure nonsense that went something like: “Moonlight and love songs never out of date/People la-la-la…that we hate/Woman and man going on a date/ That’s the la-la-la.” I pretty much la-la-ed the rest, and somehow managed to sing the last line exactly right. Go figure!

It was difficult to show my face back in my audition class - many of my classmates had been to the audition - but I did. People were nice, said it was cute, but I just wanted to bag my head. I didn’t know what to say.

The experience got me thinking about what happens when we “go up.” At the time, Shirley MacLaine was in the news with her latest paranormal memoir. To be funny, I started telling people I had had an out-of-body experience. I played with this idea and wrote a comic monologue in which a Beverly Hills woman goes up in the middle of her audition, and then proceeds to tell the judges where she went: “I was summoned to a high mountain in Peru by my Guru Baba Zwingli-Bahingli (‘Barb’ to her friends), only to find that all she wanted was my recipe for Transcendental Tofu Pot Pie,” etc.

I tested the new monologue out in class and actually got some laughs! After grad school, I used that same monologue to get an acting job at the Philadelphia Zoo that lasted three and a half years. Even though I was still acting, I wrote and developed several plays for the Zoo’s Treehouse Troupe, in addition to three commissioned plays for other area museums, an award-winning one act, and several workshop productions.

That terrible nightmare audition not only got me an acting job, it got me started writing plays. But more importantly, it taught me that life experiences can be an endless source of creative fodder. Thankfully, the worst ones can be the most inspiring!

Designing an Estate Plan: Area Lawyers Discuss Accountability and Philanthropy

For The Design Magazine of the Beverly Hills Courier, August issue

by Patricia Lamkin

Wills, revocable trusts, estate taxes…for most people the very thought of estate planning is fraught with dread. Who wants to face that ugly beast? Not only does it mean coming to grips with our own mortality, but making tough decisions about our property, or who should run the family business. Even more difficult, we must arbitrate these decisions while considering what is best for those we love, and the kind of legacy we want to leave.






Right, Virginia Robinson (in framed photo) willed her manor to the Los Angeles County in 1977 for the public to enjoy. Photograph by Randolph Scott.







Simply put, estate planning is a process in which one decides how, when and to whom their assets will be managed, administered and transferred in the event they become incapacitated or die. For affluent families this process can be complex. “Wealthy people need to make plans that will protect their children and future generations. They need to provide a structure to manage and grow their estate as well as minimize estate taxes,” says Beverly Hills estate planning attorney George I. Nagler. “Every individual has individual concerns,” adds John R. Morris, estate-planning specialist of Morris and Smith in Arcadia. “Certainly one of the most common concerns is the desire to minimize the amount of estate taxes paid.”

The Taxman

In ancient Greece, when someone died, it was customary to place coins on their eyes as payment to the boatman Charon to ferry them across the river Styx to the Land of the Dead. Nowadays, it takes more than a couple of coins to navigate the turbulent waters of estate taxes. As George Harrison cheekily warns us in the Beatles song “Taxman”:

And my advice for those who die,
Declare the pennies on your eyes!
Cause I’m the Taxman,
Yeah, I’m the taxman!

Unless there is an instrument such as a trust in place to defer the date of payment, estate taxes must be paid by your heirs upon your death. If your heirs don’t have the money to pay these taxes, most likely they will have to liquidate assets in order to do so. Needless to say, estate taxes are a “grave” concern for the wealthy.

People will go to great lengths to avoid burdening their families with estate taxes. A famous Los Angeles artist, for example, destroyed several of her works before alarmed friends convinced her to donate her collection to a university. But her fears were not unfounded: the value of her art collection would be taxable upon her death. And art appreciates: the greater the value, the higher the tax.

During his bid for the 2000 Presidential election, Steve Forbes, owner of Forbes magazine, advocated an end to the death tax declaring, “No taxation without respiration!” The IRS, however, does not ascribe to this catchy and well-meaning platform. With the coming election in 2008, it is likely the tax laws will change, but no guarantee the death tax is going away.

“There’s a real hypocritical sales pitch phone business about the estate tax that’s very angering,” says attorney Paul R. Kanin who runs a private firm in Beverly Hills. “People had been told it was to be repealed. A lot of people had made plans presuming it would be repealed. It goes away one year and then it comes back like a malignant cancer,” he says. Indeed the laws governing estate tax are downright strange. This year the first $2,000,000 of your assets are excluded from federal estate tax. In 2009 this will increase to $3,500,000. But if you are lucky enough to die in 2010, regardless of your wealth, you won’t owe any estate tax. That year death tax takes a “holiday”!

Though every situation is different, there are ways to reduce estate tax including, “the use of life insurance in irrevocable trusts, splitting up the ownership of assets and even developing a gift program during the parent's lifetime,” says Nagler.

A Sense of Accountability

There is a growing concern among the wealthy that too much emphasis is put on dodging the death tax instead of doing something meaningful with the money kept; that too often wealth is transferred without accountability; that money gifted to children is more often than not spent rather than invested. “This is an eminently valid concern,” says Morris, “since studies have shown that lump sum inheritances are often very quickly diminished by the recipient.”

To address this issue, estate planners suggest creating frameworks and criteria for gifting to instill a sense of accountability and responsibility in children by postponing their receipt of the money. “I had one client who had young children,” explains Nagler. “He provided that his children would receive their share of the estate when they reached age 40. Until then, they first would be encouraged to complete their education. Then, they would receive an annual bonus equal to 50% of what they earned each year. This way he hoped that each child would be encouraged to develop his earning potential by receiving the annual bonus amounts.”

Their Motivation

But developing the earning potential of a child is not the only goal. “I have a situation where through propinquity, luck and good investing, the kids trusts, while they are still young and college age, are worth an excess of 100 million dollars,” says Kanin, “and then the parents woke up one day and said, ‘wait that trust says they’ll get it all real soon, we need to preempt that because that will destroy their lives and take away their motivation.’”

Kanin cites his own life as an example. “If I had a lot of money when I came out of law school, would I have worked the weekends, the nights, and driven myself nuts and graded exams for a dollar fifty each? Somebody would want me to get a tax return done, I’d say ‘let me do it I could use another hundred dollars.’ I was willing to do whatever it took, to work, to find work...If I had a cushion, I would have just limited it to pleasant cases and nice people, and I probably would have never become much of a lawyer. Part of what gets you there is the struggle, the process.”

Attorney Sally Mihlon agrees. “Too often, children of wealth are protected from the harsh realities of existence. Their needs are supplied without their ever having to make hard ethical and moral choices.” Mihlon is Managing Attorney of Sally Mihlon and Associates, an estate, trust and tax law firm in Pasadena.




Left, Sally Mihlon of Sally Mihlon and Associates. Photo by Janell Mithani of Pasadena.


Role Modeling

But how can parents educate their children in good money management, investment planning, and philanthropy so that money will be used wisely and not spent frivolously?

“Children learn by example,” says Mihlon. “Parents can demonstrate how rewarding it is to make a difference in the lives of others by personal involvement in what one of our clients called in his estate plan ‘good works.’ This is more than just writing a check along with the monthly bills. It requires conduct enabling a child to develop a unique view of life, to learn tolerance and to care about the welfare of others.”



Right, Sally Mihlon takes the time to listen attentively to her own role model, her father David Summers, who has since passed away. Photo by Janell Mithani of Pasadena.


And parents need to remember, “that the skills and genetics and drives of the creators and accumulators of wealth is often times very different than their children,” adds Kanin.

And this scenario is not uncommon. If a child doesn’t want to run the family business, and wants to become a teacher, for example, the parents “should not make that child feel like a failure, or feel like they are less,” Kanin advises. Likewise the child should not feel he has to prove something to the parents in order to feel valued. “Too often the measure stick of success becomes either a money yard-stick or beating out the parents, both of which are not healthy,” says Kanin.

Mihlon suggests getting the kids out of their protective bubble, because there’s a tendency for advantaged teens to separate themselves from the their less advantaged peers. “Some private schools require ‘community service’ activities as part of their curriculum. This is a good start,” she says. “Only through direct personal involvement can young people develop a philosophy and world view which recognizes their own good fortune, while also giving back to the system from which their riches arose.”

Charity Begins at Home

It is easy to make judgments on the wealthy, and presume their philanthropy is motivated by tax write offs, but this is far from true. “Philanthropy is facilitated by tax benefits but is not the well spring of the desire,” says Kanin. “In other words, in a 45% death tax bracket, every dollar to charity reduces taxes by 45 cents BUT it also means 55 cents less for the beneficiaries. There are some techniques involving charities for tax savings, however, they still require a charitable intent. ‘Charity begins at home’…it is a persons values, goals, and sometimes ego that dictates charitable giving.”

Causes of Intense Interest

A good way to begin creating your legacy is to consider what you hope to accomplish with your wealth, and explore what causes interest you and your children. There are excellent non-profit organizations for this, such as the Jewish Community Foundation, which offers consulting services and information on charitable annuities and trusts, as well as the California Community Foundation.

“One need look no further than Bill and Melinda Gates, Princess Diana and the entire Kennedy clan for role models of hands-on giving, public service and awareness of the suffering of others,” says Mihlon. “The legacy of these individuals will continue for generations. All have personally furthered causes of intense interest to them.”

Planning Now

“The biggest mistake is to postpone making an estate plan because people expect the estate tax law to change,” says Nagler, which is why he says that estate planning should be revisited at least every five years, or when tax laws and life circumstances change. “Failing to plan is the functional equivalent of planning to fail,” says Morris.

It is important to select a lawyer who facilitates individualized planning. You may also want to consult a CPA, bank trust officer, or other related professional. Get referrals from friends, check professional certifications, experience, and make sure no one is trying to sell you unnecessary products like annuities or insurance packages. Most lawyers provide free consultations. This is your chance to interview a few and then pick the best candidate.

It’s not just about what color roses you want at your funeral, or who gets stuck with that ugly wedding china; it’s not even just about money. It’s about giving something meaningful to your children, a life value, and a legacy – which is how you’ll be remembered. Wouldn’t you rather get your “assets” in gear now, so they’ll have nice things to say at your memorial?