Saving the Boom – Dana Parsons

FireworksDana Parsons’ column in Saturday’s LA Times addressed the ongoing saga of the efforts to save the Boom Boom Room/Coast Inn of Laguna Beach.

It can be a blast trying to save a Boom
A P.R. man has a little fun with his cause: preserving an iconic gay bar in Laguna.

Fred Karger is having the time of his life. Or so I figured.

How could he not be?

Yes, it’s serious business trying to save the venerable Boom Boom Room in Laguna Beach, but when the effort includes a demonstration on Hollywood Boulevard and entreaties to George Clooney and Brad Pitt, how can it not be fun?

It’s a charge to which Karger pleads guilty — with an explanation.

“I’m having a good time,” he says Friday afternoon, “but it’s a lot more work than I had anticipated. It keeps the good times in check, with long hours and meetings. It has become a kind of political campaign.”

Karger has done just what a former public relations guy is supposed to do — keep the media interested in his cause. And what savvier way to do it than taking out an ad in Daily Variety that said, in addition to a somewhat impassioned narrative, “George and Brad, Please Help Save the Boom!!!”

Not that there’s been any real indication that either has the slightest interest in doing so — a fact that Karger readily concedes. But if you want to enlist Hollywood’s help, why not ask a couple of the coolest cats in town?

Boom Boom Room/Coast InnThe Boom is the room that’s been around since those post-World War II days when things seemed so much simpler. Located a mile south of Main Beach in Laguna, it was a popular serviceman’s haunt and just so happened to attract both a gay and straight crowd home from the war. Read More.