CLIQUES

They drove into Studio City one rainy night last December, more than 200 strong, from Lynwood and Long Beach, Manhattan Beach and Malibu. They were, for the most part, men and women in their late middle years or older, differing in appearance, dress, social status and economic circumstances. The men, however, all had one thing in common. Each was an alumnus of Boys High School of Brooklyn, N.Y.

They had come together for the annual dinner meeting of the West Coast Chapter of Boys High School, and to honor one of their own, Max Roach, class of ‘42, composer, jazz drummer, arranger and teacher. It was good to see how a Brooklyn boy had come up in the world.

But hardly exceptional. Every year for the past 27 years, Boys High alums have gathered in Los Angeles to honor an exceptional alumnus, including actor Edward Everett Horton (who didn’t graduate), legal wizard Louis Nizer (class of ‘19), writer Clifton Fadiman (‘20), Los Angeles Times bridge columnist Alfred Sheinwold (‘27), “Bonanza” producer David Dortort (‘32), musical comedy star Alfred Drake (‘32) and comedian-producer Alan King (another non-graduate). The organizer of the yearly gathering is Los Angeles book publicist Irwin Zucker (‘44), who has so far been unsuccessful in attracting some of the school’s most illustrious alumni, including novelist Norman Mailer. Sadly, Zucker admits that the celebrity roster of Boys High graduates--the school closed in 1974--thinned out in later years. Brooklyn, he says, “ain’t what she used to be.”