1 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:04,760 Speaker 1: Hey, Alphabet boys listeners, I wanted to tell you about 2 00:00:04,760 --> 00:00:08,639 Speaker 1: another podcast from Western Sound. It's called Lost Hills, and 3 00:00:08,720 --> 00:00:12,719 Speaker 1: the third season premieres today. Host Dana Goodyear takes a 4 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:15,400 Speaker 1: deep dive into the surf world to explore the legacy 5 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:19,599 Speaker 1: of Malibu's dark prints. Mickey Dora, a surfer known for 6 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:23,560 Speaker 1: his style, grace, and aggression. Dora ruled Malibu from the 7 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 1: nineteen fifties to the nineteen seventies. He was celebrated for 8 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:31,120 Speaker 1: his rebellious spirit. He was also a con man who 9 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:34,280 Speaker 1: led the FBI on a seven year manhunt around the world. 10 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:37,280 Speaker 1: Take a listen to a clip from the show, and 11 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:40,200 Speaker 1: then go and subscribe. You can find the Lost Hills 12 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:42,160 Speaker 1: podcast wherever you like to listen. 13 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:49,040 Speaker 2: Mickey Dora was a born con man. He could talk 14 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:53,120 Speaker 2: his way into anything and out of almost everything. His 15 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:57,000 Speaker 2: alleged scams ranged from petty and kind of ridiculous, like 16 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:00,320 Speaker 2: renting out surfboards that didn't belong to him, to blatantly 17 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:06,160 Speaker 2: criminal credit card fraud, fake plane tickets, stolen ski equipment, 18 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:12,640 Speaker 2: stolen antiques, stolen passports. Eventually, his schemes would land him 19 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 2: in federal prison. You associated with him at your own risk. 20 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:20,760 Speaker 2: Denny Auberg has a story about this, the kind of 21 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 2: thing that would happen on a typical day hanging out 22 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:28,400 Speaker 2: with Mickey in the early seventies, Denny was invited to 23 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:32,240 Speaker 2: Kawai by a Hawaiian surfer named Joey Cabell. At the time, 24 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:35,560 Speaker 2: Mickey was also in Hawaii. Cabell told Denny he'd like 25 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:37,360 Speaker 2: to see Mickey too, So I. 26 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:40,160 Speaker 3: Called up Mickey and told him, joe invited you to come, 27 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 3: and he came right over. He shut up. It was amazing. 28 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:47,280 Speaker 2: Kabell, who was in peak physical shape, proposed the hike 29 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:49,720 Speaker 2: to a beach to spend the night. It was an 30 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:52,680 Speaker 2: eleven mile hike and not an easy one. 31 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,400 Speaker 3: So I'm trudging along with Mickey Dora on this really 32 00:01:56,440 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 3: tough hike for us, and we'red like city slickers. Dora 33 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:03,960 Speaker 3: had these leather boots on, really the wrong equipment, you know, 34 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 3: and I was kind of feeling a little sick myself, 35 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 3: and it got dark on us and we're going through 36 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 3: these canyons and pushing branches away. Micky was tortured. 37 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:19,400 Speaker 2: Finally they arrived at the beach. They were exhausted and 38 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:21,440 Speaker 2: Denny was starting to feel really bad. 39 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:24,440 Speaker 3: He passed out in some cave, you know. He woke 40 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:28,000 Speaker 3: up in the morning and Micky could see that I 41 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:31,480 Speaker 3: was a little sick, so he is mine started working like, 42 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:34,560 Speaker 3: I can't hike back. I got to figure something out. 43 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:38,800 Speaker 3: He saw this helicopter go by, you know it was 44 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 3: they had a tourist, so Micky had an idea. 45 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:45,600 Speaker 2: Mickey slipped away and went down to the shoreline where 46 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:47,919 Speaker 2: he gathered up some rocks and used them to write 47 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:50,320 Speaker 2: S O S in big letters. 48 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:53,200 Speaker 3: The next thing I know, the helicopter lands on this 49 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:55,560 Speaker 3: path down the beach and Mickey goes up and talks 50 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:58,000 Speaker 3: to the guy. I don't know what he was saying, 51 00:02:58,080 --> 00:02:59,680 Speaker 3: but apparently he was telling the guy that my friends 52 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:04,200 Speaker 3: died on the beach. We need help. And the guy said, 53 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:06,760 Speaker 3: I can't come back right now, but you know, soon 54 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:10,160 Speaker 3: did I take these people? And right before dark, this 55 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:14,799 Speaker 3: guy came back and Micky says, come on, that's it, 56 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 3: let's go. Okay, start start doing the fifty yard dash 57 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:23,679 Speaker 3: toward this helicopter down the beach, and Mickey says, slow down, 58 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 3: you got to act a little sicker, you know. We 59 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:29,960 Speaker 3: walk up to the helicopter pilot and He kind of 60 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 3: looks at me, and I was trying to stick her, 61 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 3: and he opens the door. He let me in to 62 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:38,160 Speaker 3: the helicopter and Mickey starts to get in behind him, 63 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:39,800 Speaker 3: and the guy goes, oh, no, it's not you. It's 64 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:42,560 Speaker 3: just a sick guy, you know, you know, no, Mickey 65 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 3: pulls out this little bottle. He said, having an asthma attack. 66 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:49,440 Speaker 3: I can't breathe, you know, my feet are bleeding, I 67 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:52,640 Speaker 3: can't walk, you know, just started crying the guy. You 68 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:54,440 Speaker 3: could tell the guy wasn't buying it, but he let 69 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:58,120 Speaker 3: him in so he got lifted off the pad. It 70 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 3: was the most beautiful majestic thing, I mean, the serrated mountains, 71 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 3: this colors, you know, and running this little bubble up 72 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:07,600 Speaker 3: in the sky. And Mickey turns, he says, our magic carpet. 73 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:15,760 Speaker 2: Right when the helicopter landed in town, there were news 74 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:17,800 Speaker 2: reporters and cameras everywhere. 75 00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:20,840 Speaker 3: They thought someone they were bringing the dead guy. You know, 76 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 3: we land and all these people kind of crowded around me, 77 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:27,360 Speaker 3: you know, and as soon as I get out and 78 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:31,839 Speaker 3: they go, where's the sick guy? Oh, that was me, 79 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:35,640 Speaker 3: And they're all disappointed, you know, and they leave. Mickey 80 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:39,159 Speaker 3: was disappeared. He's nowhere. I'm around. He disappeared on me. 81 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:41,400 Speaker 3: He left me holding the bag. So he pulled this 82 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:45,360 Speaker 3: whole thing off, and I went through and got checked out. 83 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:48,560 Speaker 3: I did have some little dysentery thing. The cops had 84 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:51,120 Speaker 3: gone looking for Mickey and they found him trying to 85 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:53,599 Speaker 3: rent a car at the airport, and they dragged him back, 86 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 3: you know, and they were trying to interview the guy, 87 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:58,680 Speaker 3: and he showed him all these fake ideas, and one 88 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:01,839 Speaker 3: said Chapin. And then then when said Dora, who are you? 89 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 3: Are you chapin our Dora? And he's laughing, I'm chaping Dora, 90 00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:10,000 Speaker 3: you know. And I don't know how it happened, but 91 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:11,839 Speaker 3: he got out of the whole thing, and I was 92 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:12,479 Speaker 3: the fall guy. 93 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:20,120 Speaker 2: To Mickey, Dora, the highest value was freedom, and that 94 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:24,159 Speaker 2: to him meant doing whatever served him best in any situation. 95 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 2: For Mickey, freedom took priority over any other moral or 96 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 2: ethical consideration, and he would do or say almost anything 97 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:38,680 Speaker 2: to get what he wanted. In nineteen seventy four, Mickey 98 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:41,880 Speaker 2: left Malibu and set out on an adventure that took 99 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:45,719 Speaker 2: him all over the world searching for the perfect empty wave. 100 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:49,360 Speaker 2: He didn't have the money to travel like this, but 101 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:52,960 Speaker 2: he did it anyway, using blank airline tickets that he 102 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:55,360 Speaker 2: filled out for whatever destination he wanted. 103 00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:58,760 Speaker 4: Mickey had a whole bunch from a woman who worked 104 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 4: at the Pan American office. 105 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:05,000 Speaker 2: This is Linda Kai, Mickey's girlfriend, an accomplice for much 106 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:06,159 Speaker 2: of the nineteen seventies. 107 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:09,760 Speaker 4: You could actually write your own tickets back in those days. 108 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:12,640 Speaker 4: They were paper tickets written on and all you needed 109 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:16,640 Speaker 4: to know was the mile age, and he had all 110 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:20,479 Speaker 4: the paraphernalia to work it out. 111 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:21,360 Speaker 5: Now. 112 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:23,440 Speaker 4: I don't know who the girl was to give him 113 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:25,680 Speaker 4: the stuff. He must have made a sweet you know, 114 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:31,440 Speaker 4: but you're flying on these sort of forged Everything was fake. 115 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:36,479 Speaker 2: They shopped and dined and stayed in nice hotels, all 116 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:40,800 Speaker 2: of it, according to Linda, on forged credit cards, and 117 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:43,880 Speaker 2: all while being tracked from surf spot to surf spot 118 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:47,120 Speaker 2: by baffled agents of the FBI and Interpol. 119 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:51,760 Speaker 4: Back in the day, credit cards were plastic, of course, 120 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 4: but they didn't have the strips on the backs like 121 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:57,960 Speaker 4: they do now. In the manutroup, they had numbers and dates. 122 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:02,400 Speaker 4: I was assigned to take little razor blade and changed 123 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:06,880 Speaker 4: some numbers and we did and make it good for 124 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:07,599 Speaker 4: another month. 125 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 2: Mickey had a way of justifying all this theft and deception. 126 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 4: Micky described it once as he says, I'm not a criminal, 127 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 4: he says, I don't commit crimes. He says, I'm an outlaw, 128 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:23,880 Speaker 4: he says, and there's a difference. 129 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:25,320 Speaker 2: Did you buy it? 130 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:28,800 Speaker 4: Yes, I still do. 131 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 5: One of the great accomplishments that Mickey set out and 132 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:38,840 Speaker 5: probably was successful at was never working a day in 133 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:42,600 Speaker 5: his life. That was his real goal, and he accomplished it. 134 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:45,520 Speaker 5: I don't know if he ever actually had a job. 135 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:49,520 Speaker 2: Jim Kempton used to be the editor of Surfer magazine, 136 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:53,240 Speaker 2: and these days he runs the California Surf Museum. He 137 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:55,720 Speaker 2: knew Mickey pretty well in the seventies when they were 138 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:58,160 Speaker 2: both living in a surf town in the south of France. 139 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:02,240 Speaker 2: In fact, he crashed at his place a lot, used 140 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:05,800 Speaker 2: his shower and his kitchen. One day, Jim noticed his 141 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:07,160 Speaker 2: passport was missing. 142 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:10,240 Speaker 5: And then sitting on the beach, you know, maybe two 143 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:14,120 Speaker 5: weeks later, I see this South African guy look sort 144 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:17,120 Speaker 5: of like me, and there's my passport. 145 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:18,280 Speaker 2: Micky sold it to him. 146 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:20,440 Speaker 5: I'm sure he did. I don't have I mean, how 147 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:23,400 Speaker 5: would you ever prove that right unless you arrested them both, 148 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:26,160 Speaker 5: which I was not going to do in any event. 149 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:28,880 Speaker 2: Did you ever say anything to Micky about it? 150 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:29,080 Speaker 3: No. 151 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:33,680 Speaker 2: In the surf world it was almost currency to be 152 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:36,920 Speaker 2: scammed by Mickey. He'd come away from the experience with 153 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:41,120 Speaker 2: a story to dine out on for years. Mickey's appeal 154 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:44,559 Speaker 2: was not in spite of his criminality, but because of it. 155 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:50,280 Speaker 5: There's a lot of people who love the outlaw, who 156 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:52,880 Speaker 5: loved getting away with it is something that for many 157 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:56,600 Speaker 5: people is a great satisfaction to them to see people 158 00:08:56,960 --> 00:08:59,800 Speaker 5: be able to accomplish that, and Mickey for a long 159 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:04,400 Speaker 5: time was able to do that without payment. We tend 160 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:09,160 Speaker 5: to idolize our outlaws. Jesse James, pretty boy Floyd. You know, 161 00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:12,160 Speaker 5: you hear those stories about them, you'd think that those 162 00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:16,959 Speaker 5: guys were somehow like heroic. They are sociopathic killers, every 163 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:20,240 Speaker 5: one of them, you know, that murdered people in cold 164 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:23,280 Speaker 5: blood and yet did they give to the poor. Yeah? 165 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:26,280 Speaker 5: They did, mostly though, to say, to make sure that 166 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:30,839 Speaker 5: they didn't tell the cops where they were. We definitely 167 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:35,600 Speaker 5: idolize our outlaws. That's just something that is I think 168 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:37,920 Speaker 5: baked into the American psyche. 169 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:40,720 Speaker 2: And it's very prominent in surf culture. 170 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:47,000 Speaker 5: Very few nice guys are as idolized as the bad boys. 171 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:50,280 Speaker 2: Are, and as Mickey Dora the most idolized of the 172 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:51,199 Speaker 2: bad boys. 173 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:52,920 Speaker 5: He's not only the most idolized the bad boy, who's 174 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:55,840 Speaker 5: also the most bad guys of the bad guys. 175 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:00,960 Speaker 2: The darkest parts of Mickey Dora, though, don't have anything 176 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:03,920 Speaker 2: to do with his hustles and his cons or even 177 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:07,160 Speaker 2: with the more serious fraud for which he eventually served time. 178 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:10,400 Speaker 2: The darkest parts of Mickey have to do with his 179 00:10:10,559 --> 00:10:15,479 Speaker 2: soul and the attitudes he harbored there of exclusion, racism, 180 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:19,680 Speaker 2: and xenophobia, a pattern of hate that maps onto the white, 181 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:23,920 Speaker 2: white world of mainland surfing, where he was Malibu's superstar 182 00:10:24,200 --> 00:10:28,600 Speaker 2: in his sunglasses, with his cheshire cat smile, showing all 183 00:10:28,679 --> 00:10:32,920 Speaker 2: the little sociopaths how it was done. 184 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:39,240 Speaker 1: It's an amazing story. You'll love Lost Hills the Dark Prince. 185 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:43,080 Speaker 1: Search for Lost Hills and follow all episodes wherever you 186 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:43,959 Speaker 1: get your podcasts.