It’s a Whale of a Trip, but Hungarian Sculptor Has Left His Art in Los Angeles

What he’d like more than anything else is to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps. Easier said than done. His feet seem big enough; it’s the wallet that’s undersized.

Grandpa was a sculptor. Alexander (Sandor) Finta studied with Rodin, emigrated from Hungary in 1923 and wandered westward, fetching up as house artist for 20th Century Fox. The studio couldn’t contain him. Settling in Los Angeles, Finta went on to worldwide renown, executing sculptures and bronze reliefs of notables from Walt Whitman and Gen. U. S. Grant to Gladys Vanderbilt and Jesus Christ--works that still are displayed in Europe, South America and New York’s Met.

Grandson Sandor Finta, 34 (a namesake by way of the patriarch’s first wife, who never left Hungary), came here 18 months ago, commissioned by Michael Lewis of Westwood to sculpt “Ascension” for his garden. “While working, Sandor did the tourist bit,” says Jeannette Berczi, a friend from Pacific Palisades. “He was at the beach when he saw the whales migrating. He thought it would make a beautiful piece (the whale’s tail as it enters the water). He did ‘Autumn Migration’ in Georgian rather than Italian marble. That’s all he could afford; he bought it with his living money. It is lovely.”

Visa expired, Finta returned to Budapest, “still dreaming of California.” He’d love the whale piece to grace the Reagan Presidential Library “as a reminder of how cooperation between nations can save people as well as whales,” Berczi says. Someone, she says, would have to buy it, then donate it. With the proceeds, Finta would follow grandpa to Los Angeles.

“He’s not looking to be Michelangelo,” Berczi says, “not even Picasso. Grandfather, though, who made something special of himself in California--well, he’s kind of a God figure.”

Long Beach Entrepreneur Finds There Is Money in Romance

Eileen Latty is just naturally romantic. She is also busy.

Even as a full-time accountant, she refused to let packed schedules crowd out creative dates with Bob Buchheim, an aerospace engineer. It worked, and even after Eileen was married to Bob, the romance continued. “When our friends expressed delight at the creative ways we emphasized romance each month,” she says, “we began to design romantic events for weddings, anniversaries, birthdays. . . .”

Latty no longer is an accountant; she is an entrepreneur. For those of lesser imagination, Latty Marketing of Long Beach now produces “Celebrate Romance,” a box of suggestions for romantic adventures, including timetable, invitation cards, dress and menu suggestions, music tapes and appropriate props like twin pillowcases.

The first “episode,” titled “French Rabbit,” centered about a treasure hunt leading to a rendezvous, then a romantic dinner (home, restaurant or a favorite hotel, depending on inclination and budget). Second “episode,” just out, is called “A Formal Affair” and includes, as one alternative, a golf-cart tour to an al-fresco rendezvous complete with serenading violins and de rigueur male dress of tuxedo tops over golf shorts.

Episodes in the planning are “Shanghai Adventure,” “The Cat and Mouse,” “Afternoon Delight,” while at least one newspaper has quoted husband Bob as saying that Latty is so busy she hasn’t had much time for her own romance. “Bob swears he never said it,” Latty insists, “but it’s done great things for him, with a lot of women lining up to help him out. . . .”