Piece of Mind:

The subject line of an e-mail, one of hundreds we receive each day, caught my eye: “Former La Cañada resident, (1948-62) publishes first fiction novel, Red Star on the Sail.”

Community-centric as we are, we relish opportunities to highlight one of our own. But would it really be of interest to our readers to publish a feature touting the achievement of someone who had not lived in our midst for almost a half-century?

I opened the message to see it had been sent by the author himself, instead of a PR person. He introduced himself with a brief biographical paragraph that included the fact his mother, Kay Templin, had taught kindergarten at Paradise Canyon Elementary School for many years.

Say no more, I thought. You are the offspring of the woman who nurtured this anxiety-prone, not-quite-5-year-old during the autumn we moved from Altadena to La Cañada. Of course I’ll find at least a small way to mention your achievement.

And so I responded via return e-mail to the message from Doug Templin, saying that since he had not lived here for a very long time (he’s been calling Newport Beach home for decades) we would be highly unlikely to write a detailed feature about him, but could put together a brief item saying that he’d come out with a book. My note also included mention of his sweet mother having been my kindergarten teacher.

After I hit the “send” button, I leaned back in my chair and thought about Mrs. Templin. I could not remember her face with any clarity, but could conjure up the distinct memory of having been treated very kindly and with great patience by her upon arriving here a few weeks after school started that fall.

I began thinking about how Mrs. Templin, that welcoming little playground next to her classroom and the other children made my transition to life in La Cañada fairly easy. I was still visualizing myself in one of the school’s tot-sized swings on a sunny day, embraced by the canyon’s hillsides, when my phone rang. It was Doug. It seems it struck a chord when I mentioned having been taught by his mother. So much so that he shared my reply with his sister Dolly. He said they were both pleased I remembered their mom fondly.

He launched into a few details of life in this town just after World War II. Among other things, Doug, now 71, told me there was woman who lived on Knight Way, east of where the school sits, who had a two-story barn that was of interest to local youths. He said that when kids would invade her property, the woman would haul out a shotgun to scare them off. I laughed as I pictured the scene.

After a warm conversation we signed off. He sent a subsequent e-mail with a few more memories centering on what life was like in La Cañada when he grew up here: rodeos in Verdugo Canyon, the swimming pool at Indian Springs on Verdugo (where there’s a Vons shopping center today), hunting in Gould Canyon, the blizzard of ’48, the Petrotta grape vineyards, Emil’s Malt Shop, a bullet-riddled getaway car on display at the Flintridge Garage — and more. It was great fun to read.

I haven’t delved into “Red Star on the Sail,” his story of a California sailing couple whose course converges with a Russian sub, but if you’d like to know more, go to www.dougtemp.com.

How’s that for a brief plug? What a pushover.

Get in touch CAROL CORMACI is editor of the Valley Sun. E-mail her at carol.cormaci@ latimes.com or ccormaci@valleysun.net.