Great Expectations : In Food and Fashion, Politics and Polemics: Here Are a Few Guesses on What Lies Ahead in the New Year

RAY BRADBURY, science-fiction author

I’m starting my own political party called the road runners. It will run down the middle of the road between the damn fools on both sides.

PAT SCHROEDER, Colorado congresswoman

In the presidential election, all the Democratic candidates will be disqualified. So George Bush will run unopposed, but he’ll lose.

GEORGE CAYWOOD, executive director, Union Rescue Mission

This year we’ll begin to see the growth of the critical homeless problem of the 1990s, which will be women with children.

ROGER M. MAHONY, archbishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Los Angeles

When the period of registration ends for undocumented immigrants, we are going to have remaining behind a significant remnant of undocumented population. To say that deportation is going to solve that problem is simply unrealistic.

HERB GOLDBERG, psychologist author of “The Hazards of Being Male”

I think there’ll be a trend toward men pulling away from relationships. Women went through a period of anger, defensiveness and wariness. I think now we’re entering a period where the counterpart is happening to men.

JACKIE COLLINS, novelist

I think there’ll be a return to great romantic involvement as opposed to one-night stands. And when they need random sex, they’ll pick up one of my books.

FAITH POPCORN, New York marketing consultant

What’s in in 1988: integrity, concern about the environment, having children, staying home, home cooking. What’s out: yuppies, childlessness, eating out, nouvelle cuisine, Burberry trench coats and BMWs.

WOLFGANG PUCK, owner-chef at Spago

My prediction for 1988? My wife will be pregnant (by me, of course).

BRUCE VILANCH, comedy writer

I can safely predict a sex scandal involving me, Jim Bakker and Gary Hart.

JOE FRANK, KCRW-FM radio personality

A church built in the honor of the theory of evolution will be attended by a congregation of animals. Millions of people will be overcome by the compulsion to wander.

Someone will pay for a railroad ticket with a canceled postage stamp. People will reorganize the books in their libraries according to color.

And we will discover that our real mission on Earth is to nourish microscopic bacilli parasites.

SMOOT HULL, director of guest services at the Stock Exchange club

The headline reads “(Cha Cha Cha owner) Mario Tamayo marries (gossip columnist) Ann Crawford,” and it’s on the front page of the National Enquirer, and the quote is “Famous restaurateur serves L.A.’s most famous dish.”

JUDSON HALE, editor, The Old Farmer’s Almanac

In undergarments, a larger segment of the population will start using girdles again. Sales will increase because the U.S. population is aging, the new stretch materials are more comfortable and it’s easier to hide fat than it is to lose it.

GILDA MARX, designer of exercise clothes

People will go on wearing fitness clothes everywhere, and the tight, form-fitted, body-conscious fashions that came out of the exercise rooms in the past will be as popular a look as ever. But people over 40 will want to wear fuller, blousier, softer clothes because their waistlines are expanding.

JOHN MAGUIRE, president, Claremont University Center and Graduate School

The No. 1 agenda item in 1988 is how are we going to bring the wholesale immigrant population into the mainstream? How are we going to empower a work force that lacks sufficient skills?

RICHARD DUARDO, artist

One sure thing is that Mensa will officially certify Prince a genius. Of course, 1988 being a political year will find Madison Avenue packagers serving up the same homogenous Twinkies in a cute foiled-wrap, two-party system. This will allow continuance of democracy in principle. Che Guevara will be resurrected as a new dormitory pinup, joining the illustrious ranks of Michael Jackson and Donna Rice. Che, however, will refuse to peddle Coca-Cola or blue jeans on moral grounds.

EARVIN (MAGIC) JOHNSON, Lakers guard

The Lakers will become the first team since 1968-69 to win consecutive world championships. We recently lost six games out of nine, but we were only losing by a few points. When we get into sync with each other and start to play our best, we’ll be fine.

TOM LASORDA, Dodgers manager

The Dodgers, with their new player acquisitions, will win the National League championship. While we’re winning, you’ll see fewer home runs and better pitching because the rule makers have enlarged the strike zone, raising it from the letters on the front of the uniform to the armpits.

PIERO SELVAGGIO, chef at Valentino and Primi

The Cajun and Creole cooking trends will probably die out, if they haven’t already, along with the Caribbean cuisine, which was dead before it even started. There will be a return to clean, healthy and stylish-looking food.

MARIO TAMAYO, co-owner of Cha Cha Cha

Caribbean food will be stronger than ever, not just in L.A., but around the country and the world. Also, more types of Latin cuisines will be explored and discovered.

MICHAEL HECHT, chairman and CEO of Broadway Southern California stores.

You’ll see a continued emphasis on quality and fashion and value rather than sales.

JERRY McGEE, president of Ogilvy & Mather/Los Angeles

I think you’ll see the demise of electronic toys in the $100-plus category. I think the consumer is overspent and the toys haven’t lived up to their expectations.

TIMOTHY LEARY, former drug guru

As we approach the year 2000, we’ll develop a major case of what has historically been called millennial madness with a lot of bizarro behavior and flakiness. As a reaction, we’ll have an enormous return to common sense and pragmatism.

ALLEE WILLIS, multimedia artist and songwriter

I think it’s totally the year to let go because who can predict who is going to be around?

WARREN CHRISTOPHER, chairman, O’Melveny & Myers law firm

Los Angeles will be in the ascendancy in 1988 because increasingly the best and the brightest will be drawn here by the diversified economy. The California presidential primary, which is usually too late to make a difference, could play a major role in the Democratic nomination because of the absence of any dominant candidate at this point.

KENNETH HAHN, L.A. County supervisor

For the Democrats in 1988, Jesse Jackson will get a big vote in Los Angeles, win the California primary and win the Presidential election.

BRUCE MARDER, chef-owner of Rebecca’s and the West Beach Cafe

Restaurants will become more simple to fit American tastes. Delicatessens will be very big in 1988. Also, all sorts of virgin olive oils will be discovered and used more.

SILVIO de MORI, chef at Tuttobene

In 1988 there will be a strong emphasis on healthy food. Also, there will be less and less Italian food.

RAY REMY, president, L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce

The region is very quickly going to be one with no majority population. The ratio among Hispanic, white, Asian and black is changing. It is crucial that the leadership of those groups work together for the benefit of the community.

BILL ROBERTSON, executive secretary-treasurer, L.A. County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

I think the union membership is getting fed up with making concessions and they’re going to fight back. Many of them are hard put to maintain a decent standard of living, and that shakes people up.

BOB MACKIE, costume designer turned ready-to-wear designer

Show business isn’t where the fashion market is now. We won’t see as much of that song-and-dance type of woman anymore, like Mitzi Gaynor, Juliet Prowse and Cher, with the big acts and lots of costumes. To stand there and sing you can wear an evening dress. You don’t need flamboyant stage fashions.

JOSE EBER, hair stylist

Hair fashion will be a repeat of 1987. Very feminine, very sexy, not boyish or androgynous. Clothes will be the same way.

DANNY VILLANUEVA, general manager, KMEX-TV

I think this is the year that it’s going to hit us like a bucket of cold water that we’re going to have to make some harsh decisions regarding our infrastructure in Los Angeles.

CASH OSHMAN, owner and creator of the L.A. Party Bus

People who go to clubs aren’t picking each other up as much as they used to because of AIDS and they’re talking more, so I think the clubs will have to start creating adventures rather than just a party atmosphere. Art will be part of that adventure in many clubs and will grow in many parts of life.

ISAIAH ZELDIN, rabbi, Stephen S. Wise Temple

That religions should be embarking on a course of authoritarianism as we enter 1988 is very disquieting to me. The Roman Catholic Church doesn’t tolerate dissent, the Ayatollah wants to read everybody who differs from him out of history, and Orthodox Jews, especially in Israel, would like to write off a sizable group of Jews who differ from Orthodox thinking.

MICHAEL McCARTY, chef-owner of Michael’s Restaurant

1988 is the year when the New American cuisine will be solidified and recognized worldwide as a fine form of dining. Also known as “Nouvelle” or locally as “California” cuisine, New American includes any or a combination of the five major cuisines as practiced in America: French, Italian, Oriental, Latin and old American (such as Cajun, New England, etc.).

CLIVE DAVID, party and special event planner

As some economists predict hard times ahead, people will play harder and entertain more. They always have when the chips are down. It’s the only form of self expression that’s created originally.

JAMES ZUMBERGE, USC president

We are going to return to more of the traditional education offering more of what are normally called the liberal arts. I think the professional schools are finding out that they have been too narrow in their focus. They are graduating students who don’t have a broad enough educational base to move to the highest levels in their fields.

ANNE COLE, beachwear designer

If it’s not new, it isn’t going to count. It won’t be business as usual in 1988, because whenever business is lousy, which it has been, you have to offer newness and inventiveness, something the customer can’t live without. At the same time, people will look for top quality and value when they buy, as well as sense of humor.

THIERRY MUGLER, Paris designer

Skirts will be long again. But more than that, pants will be back in fashion. Sometimes bell bottoms, sometimes very narrow ones. Shorts will be big instead of short skirts. I think people will buy less but want the best quality. I don’t believe in cheap, fun clothes any more.

RICHARD KOSHALEK, director, Museum of Contemporary Art

What’s going to continue is an interest in new contexts for artists’ work outside the traditional exhibition spaces you associate with museums or exhibitions. For example, you will find artists developing city parks and landmarks and helping to solve pedestrian traffic problems.

LEE GOLDBERG and WILLIAM RABKIN, television writers

Our prediction is that in their quest for hot new concepts, the Fox Broadcasting Network (which just announced it is bringing back “Charlie’s Angels”) will replace the “Tracey Ullman Show” with the “Lawrence Welk Variety Hour,” drop the “Wilton North Report” in favor of the “Return of Mike Douglas” and add Buddy Ebsen to the cast of “21 Jump Street.”