By Way of an Introduction:
Friday, June 15, 2018 at the Portofino Hotel & Marina
Presented by 2017 Man of the Year Cris Bennett
It is my honor to present the 2018 Man of the Year.
The 2018 Man of the Year has been an active resident in Redondo Beach for over 30 years volunteering for many local organizations. He was born on the east coast however he graduated from a Southern California University.
He has volunteered at hundreds of community activities & events and has given selflessly with passion for decades to make Redondo Beach the best it can be for residents and businesses.
Sources tell us that our Man of the Year got his volunteer bug from his parents who were always involved in various causes and that his criteria for volunteering is to contribute to the economic growth, and improvement of the area which he lives and does business.
Close friends describe our Man of the Year as a person who sometimes puts his community activities above the needs of his own business. They say he is so proud of his ability to be involved that he has a hard time saying no. He volunteers nearly all of his available time to the community that he loves so dearly.
Our Man of the Year is a member of Round Table and has served in leadership positions; he testifies at city council meetings on issues he believes important to the economic well being of our city and he participates in local campaigns he believes will help create a strong local economy. He has also traveled to Sacramento with the SBACC (on his own dime) to meet with legislators.
He participated in Leadership Redondo, whereby his class raised funds to construct the 9/11 Memorial at City Hall.
Our Man of the Year is …
- A member of LeTip and served in various leadership positions
- Is a member of the Provisors Group and has served on their board
- Is the Chair of the Community Advisory Board for PTN
- He is Chair of the Able Arts Work in Long Beach
- And a member of the King Harbor Advisory Group providing education about protecting our sea.
Our Man of the Year has been a Chamber member for over 15 years and has served in every possible capacity the chamber has to offer:
- Chair of the Board in 2010 / 2011
- Chamber Treasurer
- Presented at the Future Business Leader Program to RUHS students
- Government Relations Council both Local Issues and State and Federal committees
- Leadership Redondo Steering Committee
- Chamber Community Foundation Board Member and serves in a leadership position
- Member of both the 10K & Lobster Festival Committee
- Served as a Chamber Ambassador
- The Economic Development Council
- Member of the PAC Board
- Chamber Board for 8 years
- The Executive Committee for 4 years
- Several Chamber nominating committees
Our Man of the year is an entertainer who has performed pro-bono for numerous community groups that raise money for worthy causes. He loves to speak and entertain others and has emceed at many non-profit events over the years, many times at a moment’s notice…he can always be counted on.
Music has always been an integral part of his life. He puts his heart into his songwriting and performing and his life would be empty without it. He plays 12 string guitar both acoustic and electric and is in two bands.
He began his success in business the hard way by selling vibrating pillows door to door, and he always closed the sale. He started his own Company over 14 yrs ago.
Cute Story from his MOM:
The telephone has always had great significance for my son. In fact, one day back in Boston, while driving home from his music lesson, I stopped at a red light and we heard the PAY PHONE on the median strip in the middle of the street ringing. My son jumped out of the car saying “It’s for me”……………..and IT WAS!
Those who know our Man of the Year know that his hobby is Grave-hunting. He wrote a Cemetery tour guide book called: LA’s Graveside Companion…where the VIP’s RIP. Just ask him where someone famous is buried and he’ll not only tell you where but have an interesting factoid about them.
Our Man of the year has a loving wife Jennifer who is also a very active member in the community, three stepsons, 5 grandchildren and another one on the way.
Please join me in HONORING and CELEBRATING Steve Goldstein!
About Steve Goldstein
Steve Goldstein was born in Boston, Massachusetts, where he developed his love of history and cemeteries at a very early age. Growing up within biking distance of the sites he studied in school where the Revolutionary War began, he was endlessly fascinated with making history come alive by visiting the locations where the events of hundreds of years before took place, and then visiting the graves of the participants. In those days, he made gravestone rubbings by placing butcher paper over the three-hundred-year-old stones and rubbing charcoal over them to reproduce the images of the stones.
Moving to Southern California at the age of 18, he continued studying and visiting the sites of historic events and touring around the local cemeteries, where he began his vast collection of photographs of the graves of what he calls “The Famous, the Infamous, and the Just Plain Dead” that make up his recently published book, “LA’s Graveside Companion, Where the VIPs RIP” (Schiffer Books, 2009). The collection has become a favorite website for many over the past twelve years at www.BeneathLosAngeles.com and has led to Mr. Goldstein being frequently interviewed in print and on radio, including the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register, KNX & KABC AM Radio, NPR and many other media venues. His newsletter has over 2,000 subscribers, and he has served as Master of Ceremonies for the past eight years at an annual dinner of cemetery enthusiasts known as Hollywood Underground.
His photographs have also been published in two books, “Weird California” (16 photos, pages 258-261), and “Last Laugh; A Book of Graveyard Humour” (18 photos throughout the book).
Since the publication of his first book, Goldstein has been featured on California’s Gold With Huell Howser, mocked by Jon Stewart on the Daily Show, and authored two volumes of essays, But I Digress; Notes from the Blogosphere (2021) and Stories We Could Tell; More Notes from the Blogosphere (2022). These books are autobiographical memoirs and include stories from all aspects of Mr. Goldstein’s life in music, business, community activism and his activities as a published author historian, and “Celebrity Grave Expert.”
Mr. Goldstein resides in Redondo Beach with his wife, Jennifer, and owns a payroll service company. His hobbies (aside from gravehunting) include music, songwriting, film and history. He plays guitar and sings with the band Virtual Campfire. He serves on the Executive Board of the Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce, and was named Redondo Beach Man of the Year in 2018. He also appeared recently on You Bet Your Life with Jay Leno, and is putting out his band’s second album this summer. He and Jennifer have eight grandchildren.
He looks forward to contributing to the Author’s Lounge.
Here is a link to his Amazon Author’s page:
