University of Southern California - El Rodeo Yearbook

“George Laveroni was born in Grove- land, California, a small village in the hills near Stockton, in 1894. Grover Cleve- land was President, Populism was the movement of the day, and William Jen- nings Bryant was campaigning for " Free Silver. " In Los Angeles the houses on Bunker Hill were examples of the latest in architecture. When Laveroni was seven years old, just becoming aware of the mountains to the east of his home, a President was killed by a mad assassin. In 1915, while Laveroni was celebrating his 21st birthday in the mountains he had learned to love, America, in a peace- loving mood, vacillated over the war in Europe and revolution was growing roots in Russia. Laveroni was 35, in 1929, when the hopes of the ' twenties crashed with a roar. In 1941, when he turned 47 and began to feel a little less distance in his legs, the echoes of that roar exploded across the world. Laveroni was 51, and getting short of breath, before the noise ended. Suddenly, surprisingly, he was old. 1963 found him at 69, and in Dallas, a President was killed by a mad assassin. Today Laveroni is 77. Now he only sees the high country when somebody drives him up to Tuolumne Meadows. He figures now that he ' ll stay in Grove- land, in his small, green-shaded cottage, until years and presidents and wars no longer matter. George Laveroni has never seen USC. But just as USC is not all books and foot- ball, neither is his mind limited to the turnips growing huge in his back yard. He looks out his front window at the people going by, and at the past. He reads the paper and he talks — to the old, his friends; to the middle aged, his children; and to the young, whom he meets on the street. And he sits in his darkened living room and says, with a touch of envy: " They ' re pretty smart, 1 tell you. These kids are going to change this damn universe. " This book is dedicated to that hope. Among other years, A year for hope UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 1971 ”