Among the 180-plus homes destroyed in the Freeway Complex Fire in North County were those of OC Superior Court Judge Tam Nomoto Schumann, a prominent executive chef and a high-ranking county government administrator (both requested anonymity). Fortunately, many other notables had their homes spared. Among the near misses: Philanthropists Kate Peters and Doug Simao, Assemblyman Mike Duvall, Irvine Co. spokesman John Christensen, Austin Taylor haberdasher Dave Welch and public affairs consultant Brett Barbre. Fire took out former ballplayer Tim Wallach’s sports court but missed his home. Having to evacuate his family, Il Fornaio America exec Frank Licata was unable to attend the opening of his 20-month project, Canaletto Ristorante in Fashion Island; it’s on the site of the former Tutto Mare restaurant, which Licata formerly managed …
Return of the native: Greg Lindstrom has completed a one-year transition, retiring from Latham & Watkins in San Francisco and joining Rick Gilchrist, Dan Young and, of course, Donald Bren in Irvine Company’s ruling office of the chairman. Operations are handled by Gilchrist (investment properties) and Young (community planning and development); Lindstrom is in charge of the back office,legal, finance, communications, HR and IT. Is it dry work for a prominent litigator who has handled high-profile cases for such big-name clients as Steve Jobs at Apple and Larry Ellison at Oracle? “It’s different,” Lindstrom says. “It involves a lot of different challenges” in “tough times for real estate.” It’s a homecoming for Lindstrom, a product of Lemon Heights and former Latham managing partner in OC, and wife Carol, a vice chairman of Deloitte & Touche. They’ve moved their primary residence back to Emerald Bay. A long-time Irvine Co. adviser, Lindstrom was lured in-house last year by then-CEO Mike McKee (his former Latham colleague). McKee has retired, his CEO duties assumed by the four-man committee …
Lawyer Brigitte Bren, wife of the Donald, has joined the board of one of his pet educational causes, Santa Ana-based Think Together …
In town: Mitzi Gaynor, still radiant in Bob Mackie sequins, on the set of KOCE-TV in Huntington Beach. Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, partying with the New Majority and visiting with the Lincoln Club, to promote his new GOP advocacy group, the Coalition for a Conservative Majority …
Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Michael Ramirez visits with the World Affairs Council Dec. 3 at the Hilton Costa Mesa … Marian Bergeson marked her 83rd birthday by sandwiching a Perris skydive between evenings at South Coast Rep and a Mind Research Institute dinner. Veteran daredevil Bergeson jumped with first-timers Walkie, Janet and Alex Ray …
Ready, fire, aim: Those roasting outgoing Assemblyman Todd Spitzer tonight at the OC Pavilion in Santa Ana include his new boss DA Tony Rackauckas, former Supe Bill Steiner, pollster Adam Probolsky, deputies’ union chief Wayne Quint and former roommate Gary LoGalbo. For information call (714) 285-2800.
