By John Murphy
This week I reported that Gary Libby has resigned as baseball coach at Chino High. He will seek a job in the High Desert where he has lived for 31 years.
I hadn’t spoken to Libby since he coached at Pacific back when I was at the San Bernardino Sun (2000 to 2009). He told me a funny story Saturday about Paul Oberjuerge, me and Warren Zevon – an odd trio if ever this was one.
Oberjuerge, the former San Bernardino Sun sports editor, sat next to me at the old downtown building. His desk was right across a partition from mine.
This was 15-20 years ago, remember, and I worked alone in the sports department for much of the day. So I had a small boom box in there and played mostly rock n roll, including the late Warren Zevon. I didn’t wear headphones, so everyone listened to my selections. Fortunately, I have impeccable taste.
Anyway, Oberjuerge in a sports column used the phrase “splendid isolation,”prompting Libby to call or email Paul and ask if he is a Warren Zevon fan … since Zevon had a song with that title.
“No,” Paul said, “But John Murphy listens to him. He sits right next to me.”
Well, Libby got a kick out of that and surmised that Paul acquired the phrase by osmosis while overhearing my old cassette tape. I’m not sure about that, but stranger things have happened.
And here are the great Mr. Zevon’s lines:
I want to live alone in the desert
I want to be like Georgia O’Keefe
I want to live on the Upper East Side
And never go down in the street
Splendid Isolation
I don’t need no one
Splendid Isolation
Michael Jackson in Disneyland
Don’t have to share it with nobody else
Lock the gates, Goofy, take my hand
And lead me through the World of Self
Splendid Isolation
I don’t need no one
Splendid Isolation
There’s more, but you get the idea. Those were fun times at the old Sun.
Main Street Dog 