Returning to the Nudists, and Other Loose Ends

It’s not quite spring yet. The vernal equinox doesn’t arrive until March 20.

Still, I feel the need to do some spring cleaning, to tidy up and tie up some loose ends from stories we covered in seasons past.

Reporters often are accused (among other things) of leaving the readers hanging: whetting their appetites for information about a topic, then dropping the story like a hot potato to move on to the next big thing.

Without admitting guilt, I offer these postscripts on a couple of my favorite Valley@Work columns:

Nudes With a View: Late last year, the Elysium Institute, a storied clothing-optional retreat, was pushed off its longtime perch when the organization’s home of 32 years--a spartan compound in the hills near Topanga State Park--was sold.

Committed to continuing the cause launched by the organization’s charismatic founder, the late Ed Lange, board member Betty Meltzer and her husband, Sanford, have purchased a 20-acre tract in the hills above Malibu. The two, along with other institute members, hope to someday turn that land into a new home for Elysium.

“We are currently engaged in renovating this property and making improvements which would make it suitable to be the new home of Elysium,” said Betty Meltzer.

Concurrently, the Elysium Institute is beginning anew the process of getting a conditional use permit from Los Angeles County that would allow it to reopen.

“We’re starting all over again,” she said of the process. “It’s basically to keep a 32-year-old nonprofit going on into the future.”

Meltzer was hesitant to talk about the permitting process (which could take more than a year to complete), or anything else associated with the attempted rebirth, for fear of launching the kind of firestorm of protest that nearly undid the first Elysium.

Almost from the beginning, during the Flower Power days of the late 1960s, Ed Lange had to fight to keep his compound going. Opponents, including neighbors, packed meetings of the county Regional Planning Commission to complain about traffic and fire concerns, while they fretted quietly about nudes cavorting next door.

In 1993, after a lengthy and costly legal skirmish, Elysium won the right to exist--provided it adhered to the stipulations of a conditional use permit.

But late last year, the daughters of Ed Lange, who died in 1995, put the property up for sale at a price beyond the reach of the group, which has several hundred members.

So that the institute won’t face a similar fate down the road, Meltzer said she and her husband have put the property into a trust that will transfer ownership to Elysium after they die.

“It will be our legacy,” she said.

An Open-and-Shut Case: In February 1999, we told you about the local inventor of an automated curtain-pulling device who was involved in a lengthy (and costly) patent infringement lawsuit with Hunter Douglas, one of the biggest names in the window-treatment industry.

Harmonic Design, now based in Valencia, charged that some of the mammoth window-ware maker’s motorized shade openers were using technology patented by Harmonic Design.

Without admitting guilt, Hunter Douglas settled the case late last year, a few months before the matter was set to go to trial.

Under the terms of the settlement, most of which is confidential, Hunter Douglas will license the technology from Harmonic, paying a royalty fee of $2-$3 per unit sold, according to Eric Hauck, Harmonic’s new president.

Thomas Hill, senior vice president of legal affairs for New Jersey-based Hunter Douglas, said the company opted to settle because of “the enormous cost of litigation to take something like this to trial.

“It’s just a huge expense and we wanted not to go down that road,” he said.

Even without the actual trial, the case set Harmonic Design back more than $1.5 million, Hauck said--a princely sum for a small firm like his.

For the nine months ending Sept. 30, 2000, Hunter Douglas pulled in profits of nearly $86 million. For the same period, 8-year-old Harmonic Design was in the red.

“We had an operating loss last year,” said Hauck. “Up until the settlement, we had to fund the money out of our own pockets, which is very common with young start-up companies that have to defend their patents.”

Still, Hauck said the company was determined to press forward with the case.

“We were very confident in our position, and because of that we all pulled together,” Hauck said. “And we’re very happy with the outcome.”

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Spring is a good time for new beginnings. The grass thinks so. So do the leaves.

In the Disney classic “Bambi,” my daughter’s favorite scene is the spring fling enjoyed by all of the animals, who are shaking off the winter doldrums.

But spring can also be a time for endings. And so it is with me.

After two-plus years, and 105 entries, the Valley@Work column ends today, and Valley business news will be covered in the main Business section.

Since I have yet to pick the winning Lotto numbers, I will continue to report--covering stories throughout the region.

Not surprisingly, there’s a twinge of sadness associated with letting go of my weekly soapbox.

There are lots of benefits to writing a column. You don’t have to work too hard to convince people that you really are employed by the Los Angeles Times. You just hold up a Tuesday edition and try to re-create that same smile.

Plus, my parents got a huge kick out of it, and it made my daughter a mini-celeb at her preschool. (Hey, this is L.A. Even pseudo-celebs count.)

But there are drawbacks. I couldn’t just run out to the grocery store with my hair uncombed for fear of ending up as tabloid fodder: “Crazed Journalist Stalks Grocery Aisles.”

One of the hardest parts of writing a column is trying to think of something pithy yet provocative to say week in and week out.

Fortunately, given the countless fascinating businesses in the Valley region, that was never much of a problem. And for that I thank you.

I thank you for inviting me into your homes each week, to share stories about a longtime men’s retailer or the struggle to increase home ownership among minorities.

I thank you for cramming my fax machine, my e-mail and my phone lines with more stories than a single reporter can cover in 27 months.

When I began writing the column in November 1998, my aims were simple: to visit businesses, large and small, that collectively form the engine that drives the region’s economy. I wanted to spotlight the rising stars on the Valley’s economic horizon, such as the growing number of minority-owned businesses, as well as to check in with the stalwarts.

We did that. But there’s more.

As evidenced by the thick stack of notes in my “stories-to-do-folder,” there’s much more. And there are tons more stories that we don’t even know about.

So, just because you won’t see my smiling face at your door each Tuesday is no reason to stop keeping us informed about businesses that skyrocketed and even some that fizzled.

Deal? Deal!

Now let’s all get back to work.

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Karen Robinson-Jacobs can be reached at Karen.Robinson@latimes.com.