My Trip to LA

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special private gathering in Los Angeles (at a secret location) to celebrate the life of the incomparable Bruce Lee.  Only a select number of  lucky fans from around the world were given this amazing opportunity of attending with Bruce Lee's close family and friends. And I wasn't going to miss it.  This unique special tribute event in celebration of Bruce's 30th anniversary was kindly put on by Bruce's brother Robert and sister Phoebe.  I want to give a huge and special thanks to my great friend, David Tadman, for inviting me to this event and to his home whilst I was in LA.  David is a well known and respected author and historian on Bruce Lee and we had communicated for a number of years prior to this event.  He is also, in my opinion, the most generous fan of Bruce Lee that I've had the fortunate pleasure of meeting.  Apart from kindly sharing his unique and vast collection of Bruce Lee photos with any fan, he showed me stuff in LA that one could only dream of witnessing.  He made the trip so memorable and the experience is something that I will never forget.  So I thank you & your wonderful family very much my friend!</div> <div> When I finally arrived in LA (I would rather not go in to the details of my journey to get there as I'm annoyed just thinking about it LOL), I gave David a call (a day later than expected) and arrived at the hotel where I was staying with fellow Bruce Lee Fans Jan (UK) and Peer (Norway).  Peer had already been in California for quite a while and had stayed at Phoebe's house whilst he was visiting San Francisco (Bruce's birthplace) - the lucky devil.  It was great to meet up with fellow fans and discuss all things about Bruce and even better when Greg Rhodes made a welcome and surprise visit that night.  For those who do not know of Greg, he is a walking encyclopedia of all things Bruce Lee.  He is a meticulous fact finder of information - he has a detailed diary of his life from 1940 to 1973 and he certainly deserved his special award that was presented to him by Robert and Phoebe at the special event.   I do hope that Greg publishes his dedicated work one day as it will be fascinating to say the least (hint, hint).  I did enjoy some of our brief conversations about  'The Silent Flute' and 'The Game of Death.'  And this trip confirmed my positive findings through personal research that there is still an awful lot of unreleased information about these two projects.  This is great positive news for all fans!  </div> <div> On to the main event which was held on Sunday 20th July.  As soon as we arrived, Jan & I were introduced to Robert and Phoebe by David who had worked so hard in organizing and setting up this special occasion (I also met talented artist Steve Walling, a wonderful man, who helped David with the event).  It was amazing to finally meet Bruce's siblings and they were so friendly and welcoming to everyone.  We exchanged some words about our trip and ofcourse about their late brother Bruce.  Jan was shocked and couldn't believe that we were talking to them and was completely overwhelmed.  She had been waiting a long time for this moment.  Lucky that there were plenty of tissues at hand LOL.  It is true that it was a very moving and surreal experience in meeting with Bruce's own family as the man has meant a great deal to me for such a good part of my life (for over 15 years now).  And what a show it was - rare footage of Bruce performing at the Longbeach Karate Championships in 1964 and extremely rare footage of rehearsals from 'The Game of Death' with Bruce behind the camera filming and directing choreography moves of Dan Inosanto and Wu Ngan.  Bruce is very good with the film camera and he was certainly putting them through their paces LOL.  Special guests that attended included Ahna Capri, student George Lee, Nancy Kwan, Richard Norton and many others.  Very rare personal items of Bruce Lee's & memorabilia were on display, David's excellent rare slideshow of Bruce Lee photos was shown, Steve Walling's beautiful paintings and so much more.  I got to talk with Ahna Capri (Tania from 'Enter the Dragon') who is real good fun and truly loved her time on set working and joking with Bruce.  They got on so well together and she told me that no one came close to Bruce in terms of martial arts skill and ability.  He was certainly the real deal - head and shoulders above anyone else.  Robert, Phoebe, Ahna and Nancy gave some wonderful speeches about their own experiences with Bruce and how he will always hold a special place in all of their hearts.  On this trip I received so many rare and collectible freebies which I am forever thankful.  With such friendly atmosphere and wonderful entertainment this was a tribute and experience that I can never forget.  Bruce's light will forever shine on!!</div> <div> The next night, Robert & Phoebe invited other fans & I to a Chinese banquet at a restaurant that Bruce used to go to when he lived in Los Angeles (the same owner runs the restaurant to this day).  Here we were intimately talking, joking and laughing about the life & times of Bruce Lee.  This was a once in a lifetime experience and I had the greatest time!</div> <div> I would like to thank Robert & Phoebe for their huge warmth & generosity and for a truly memorable night - So many wonderful stories about Bruce that I will never forget!</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Robert Lee & I</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="2b799ae0.jpg" border=0 width="409" height="430" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>Article by Nick Clarke</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id58.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Special Event"><U><B><U>Click Here - Index Page</U></B></U></A></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>