Here’s a riddle for you:  You’re in a room with a California surfer, a certified windsurfing instructor, an

amateur magician, a teenage television actor, a psychologist, a sociologist, a former director of a group of residences for developmentally challenged individuals, a behavior modification specialist, a pawn shop owner/operator, a jeweler to the stars, an avid motorcyclist, and a professional bubble gum scraper!

So, other than yourself, how many people are in that room with you?

Don’t bother counting commas in that first paragraph; the answer is one!  You’re standing in that room with none other then LA#1 member and membership officer Russ Z.  And, boy, it sure is crowded!

Russ has collected careers like a philatelist collects stamps.  Not too bad for a local boy born in Hollywood and raised in Beverly Hills, and one who spent all his spare time in the water surfing and sailing catamarans and on the beach ogling girls.  All was not play, though, as Russ also began developing a work ethic early in life:

“My first job,” he says, “was at Baskin-Robbins when I was 12 years old.  My job was to come in once a week and scrape bubble gum from the ground that people had spit out from their bubble gum ice cream.  I was paid in milk shakes.”

Russ also hired out to entertain as a magician at birthday parties, and once landed a part in the television series C.H.i.P.’s.  And school kept young Russ pretty busy, too.

“When I was in grade school,” he recalls, “I used to get chauffeured to school in a purple limousine owned by Elvis Presley.  I once beat up [now actor and comedian] Pauly Shore in high school, too, but you probably don’t want to mention that!”

Over time, though, Russ was able to leverage his formerly passive-aggressive behavior into skills and activities that greatly benefited many of the less fortunate of our society.  He left the beach scene and went to college, eventually earning degrees in psychology and sociology.  From there he began a career in helping the mentally disadvantaged in earnest.

“I used to run group homes in Boston,” Russ explains, “for people with mental retardation, Down’s Syndrome and Autism.  I also help write legislation for the state of Massachusetts to benefit people with developmental disabilities.”  Russ was also extensively involved in programs operated by United Cerebral Palsy in both Boston and Los Angeles.  He is counted among the pioneers of supported living programs for people with a variety of mental disabilities yet who are able to contribute to their own life support outside institutional arenas.

But since his roots were really here in California, Russ eventually made his way back to the Golden State, continuing for a while to work for that charity.  This appointment lasted long enough for him to have the amazing foresight to hire as his assistant Jessica Z. who is not only his wife of 13 years now, but also a member of LA#1!

Russ soon realized that the salary offered by his current employer didn’t match the substantially greater cost of living in California and he eventually accepted an offer from his father to join the family jewelry business in Long Beach.

“So my full time job today is being a jeweler,” he adds.  Russ practices his craft at a popular estate jewelry store in Santa Monica.  “That store is very well known and many of our customers are ‘A-list’ celebrities.  I also own one of the largest pawn shops [in another city] in California.”

Quite a contrast, isn’t it?  And his list of A-list celebrities, all of whom he’s met either growing up in Beverly Hills or working as a jeweler, includes more than 70 instantly recognizable names.  It starts with “A” for Arnold (as in Schwartznegger) and runs all the way to “Z” for Moon Unit and Dweazel Zappa!  His list of celebrity acquaintances is straight out of the most comprehensive Hollywood “Who’s who”!

But Russ isn’t a Hollywood prude himself in the least.  As an example, he cites his first humble motorcycling experience as a kid: “When I was 14 years old I got my first motorcycle,” he recalls.  “I used to ride it around Newport Beach with flip-flops, no shirt and no helmet.”  Another bike, a Honda 750, served him well in college, too.

Then he got married and the bikes disappeared!  “I gave up riding for about 15 years,” he explains, “until I bought a 2004 Road King!”  Back in the saddle, Russ quickly moved to an ’05 Heritage (which he still has) and his latest steed, a 2007 Road Glide which sports a custom paint job worth almost as much as the bike!

During these formative years, Russ was able to visit virtually every state in the union.  He proudly counts riding his bikes and spending time with Jessica (the order of importance to be determined later) as his hobbies and interests today.  It should be noted that Jessica loves to ride with her man and is often seen riding pillion with him on Chapter rides.

Good thing, too, since Russ says that the rest of his family isn’t too happy about his two-wheeled hobby.  “My family (he has two brothers) hates that I ride,” he says, “but they have no control over my activities.  I’m a big boy and make my own decisions…”

With two gorgeous bikes in the garage and a gorgeous wife in the house, Russ at some point figured he needed a way to show ‘em off!  He had the good luck to run into our very own Mike D. at Bartels’ while bike shopping.  Mike’s always congenial arm-twisting convinced Russ not only to buy that Road Glide but to join LA#1, too.

Now Russ is a big shot with the Chapter (our Membership Officer) and has a very important and serious responsibility, proactively recruiting fresh blood into our Chapter.  He says he’s up to the challenge and has some great ideas, too.  Russ certainly knows all the good things our Chapter has to offer, ‘cause he’s one of them!