Carmel Magazine

again due to his ar thritis; it was the end of a 52-year career in striping. As I turn to leave the garage, the tour is still not over. I now follow Southard up steep stairs that lead to a vast room above the garage that opens to his old darkroom where he developed some 55,000 black-and- white negatives, and stores some 77,000 color slides. Here I get a glimpse of old 1950s including his mother's favorite autographed photo of Betty Grable. As I leave Salinas, I am happy for the drive back to Carmel just to reflect on hours and hours of Andy Southard's life. My favorite stor y was how his friend Bob Krause in New York bought a used wallet at a yard sale. Inside the wallet were some old negatives that he mailed to Southard. He printed the nega- tives and surprisingly found the photo were of Bob Hope and Jerr y Colonna. Southard then sent the print to Hope and Colonna for their autographs, which prompted a return letter from Hope. Ironically, driving home with windows open, The Skyliners, an old '50s group with a soaring style, comes on the radio. That sound perfectly frames a glimpse back into a life that had a fascination with fame and celebrity, all sprinkled with personal passions and eureka moments, while poised between legendar y friends, cars and cameras. Andy Southard still has that twinkle. In 1956, Southard took an iconic shot of Main Street in Salinas and the El Rey Theatre through the windshield of his car, while stopped at a traffic signal. 206 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 1 5 Andy Southard's famous 1955 image of Mel's Diner at night was on the cover of the Salinas phone book in 1963. The 82-year-old photographer got his first 35mm camera when he was stationed in Germany after World War II. Photo: Kelli Uldall

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