My love letter to LA: Sending love and hugs to my old pal Johnnie Sapong & his family and all affected in wildfire-torn Los Angeles

One of the things that makes the LA fires so awful is the fact that, whether we’ve been or not, Los Angeles is a city so familiar to us, a place where everyone knows, or at least they feels they know

If, like me, you’ve been watching the news this week, you’ll have been deeply saddened by the devastation unfolding in LA, due to the terrible wildfires that have destroyed parts of the city and surrounding areas.

Apocalyptic scenes have been relentlessly broadcast over the last few days.

Lives have been lost, hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced, homes and irreplaceable personal items forever destroyed.

From houses and buildings up in flames, to dystopian images of cars abandoned on highways amid deathly grey brown skies, to hospitals and schools and shops and businesses engulfed by such a dreadful inferno.

Every fresh news update and bulletin brings further evidence of forbidding blazes, fanned by hurricane-force winds, whipping ominously deadly embers over tinder dry areas, with no respite in sight. Where dazed communities scramble to seek safety, shelter and food.

Iconic Santa Monica beach and pier this week. CREDIT: @danteross

One of the things that makes these LA fires so gut-wrenchingly awful is the fact that, whether we’ve been or not, Los Angeles is a city that is so familiar to us, a place where everyone knows, or at least they feels like they know.

Through Hollywood films, music, fashion, art, advertising, even sport, not to mention a raft of other cultural filters, as well as through a large concentration of movie stars living there - the fact is we feel we know the place.

And when you feel like you have a connection with a place, and it people, you feel a deeper association.

So, when we see such dreadful images of wildfires forcing people to flee, we feel a personal link to such suffering.

In happier times with Johnnie Sapong at Santa Monica Pier, July 2024.

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Sending Love and Hugs to my Johnnie Sapong and his lovely family in LA

Another reason I’ve been watching the fires unfold with such trepidation is because an old school mate of mine, Johnnie Sapong, moved to LA from London a long time ago, and lives there with his lovely family.

We’ve been exchanging a flurry of What’s App messages this week, as Johnnie keeps me updated with the latest news on the fires, and how near they are to him and his family in their LA home.

We’ve been friends for 40 years, grew up on the same council estate as kids, and went to the same school.

Johnnie and his wonderful partner Karen had made the move to LA because he left our school to become a top barber, and carved out a career cutting the hair of A-list Hollywood stars.

So, it was simply wonderful to mix business with pleasure during Arsenal’s tour of America last summer.

Forty years of friendship at Santa Monica Pier, Los Angles. July 2024

My Love Letter to LA

Can I just say here and now I love LA.

I love the sunshine, the natural ebulliance and energy fuelled by the positivity of so many of its inhabitants, not to mention the vibe, the style, the culture, the heritage, history and stories that come from being the world’s epicentre of popular culture.

My family and me threw ourselves into discovering LA last summer on a trip that left us with memories to last a lifetime.

From the marble hewn oasis of peace and culture that was the Getty Centre, to the incredible views over the LA basin - and 20 million people - from the evocative Griffiths Observatory in the Hollywood Hills.

We relished the surprisingly placid Venice Beach, fringed, similar to most streets in LA with palm trees - many of which have now been burnt to a cinder.

We savoured a trip across town - including a ride on the gigantic eight lane freeways which are entertainment itself to wide-eyed visitor - to the Universal Studios tour. We took in LA Dodgers baseball at Dodgers iconic stadium - and can now also say we’ve seen the best baseball team on the planet after the Dodgers lifted the World Series in October - not to mention catching a true musical idol of mine, Bob Dylan at the famous Hollywood Bowl.

We also scoffed on mouth-watering burritos street food that tasted as fresh and flavoursome as anything you’d get in a top range London Mexian eatery, while also shucking a bucketload of fresh shrimp to name but two memorable meals amid a city that routinely had robots deliver food, alongside laughably futuristic cyber cars, and disturbingly riveting driverless cars.

Quite simply, if you love life, you’ll love LA.

It was also great catching up with my old friend Johnnie and his family at Santa Monica Beach and Pier.

I can still feel the warmth of the Californian sun that day, not to mention love and friendship as our families met for the first time.

Fast forward six months to this week, however, with myself initially oblivious to the terrible breaking news, Johnnie and myself exchanged messages on Tuesday.

I was stood in the freezing cold outside Arsenal tube flogging the Gooner Fanzine in near Baltic temperatures before the Newcastle game.

Aware of such dreadful news unfolding, I actually joked in my first message that Johnnie had made the right decision swapping London for LA in the winter sunshine, and sent a picture of yours truly looking freezingly glum and cold in the gloomy new year North London darkness.

That was before Johnnie sent me pictures of the wildfires.

Me and Johnnie at Santa Monica Pier in happier circumstances last summer

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Thinking back to happier times in LA

I covered the Gunners first pre-season friendly from the Dignity Health Sports Park press box – aka LA Galaxy’s stadium and David Beckham’s former alma mater – in Carson, on the outskirts of that mesmerising city called Los Angeles.

However, for the second game of the tour, this time at the state of the art So-Fi Stadium in LA, I attended Arsenal vs Manchester United as a fan, complete with my wonderful partner Faye, and our teenage kids who I’d all flown over for our summer holiday.

It was great to sit in the high-tech So-Fi Stadium, drink in hand, with my family all around me, while also catching up with old Arsenal mates, who’d also travelled over the pond to the game, while forging new friendships with equally passionate Stateside Gooners.

I remember just looking around at my happy and healthy family, all clad in red and white, all cheering on The Arsenal, and thinking: “Life is good.” (And of course, it’s always good to beat United at anytime, anywhere.)

The next day, we took a trip out to the beach at Santa Monica to catch up with my old schoolmate, Johnnie.

It was great to catch up with them and their four engaging teenage boys, as we recalled our schooldays, and all the characters we grew up with on our estate.

Last year Johnnie had suffered a brain tumour, and had been within minutes of dying, before he was rushed to hospital in LA.

Hearteningly, all his friends near and far, including his Hollywood stars rallied around (including Daniel Craig aka James Bond) to help him through the trauma.

As we sat in the British pub in Santa Monica, bathed in glorious Californian sunshine, famous pier, beach and all, drinking a decent pint of Guinness, our loving and lively families all around us, with Johnnie on the mend after his near-death experience, we clinked our pints and said to each other: “Not bad, for two kids from a council estate, eh…?”

Fast forward six months and Johnnie sent me the terrible picture of the same place we caught up at, namely Santa Monica, and its famous pier, taken by his mate Dan Ross at the top of this piece, and below once again.

Sending love and hugs

I have two hopes this week.

I hope everyone in LA is safe and sound and that the fires are eventually tamed.

Then I hope that everyone emerges stronger in the aftermath of such a terrible event.

From what I saw and experienced last summer people from LA are strong and spirited, resourceful, buoyant and upbeat - and such traits will ensure they truly get through such a terrible time.

I hope - correction - I know my dear mate Johnnie and his wonderful family certainly will.

My love letter to LA: Sending love and hugs to my old pal Johnnie Sapong & his family and all affected in wildfire-torn Los Angeles