Arthur Verge: Lifeguard and Professor
Professor and lifeguard Arthur Verge is equal parts storyteller and encyclopedia when it comes to the history of lifeguarding. Like much of the history of Venice, the stories about lifeguarding are intermingled with fact and fiction, which Verge indulges. Though he jokes, his service to lifeguarding is quite serious and often entails engaging in life threatening situations that require a great deal of experience, and athleticism.
A Brief History of Lifeguarding
"The problem Abbot Kinney had when it came to selling real estate was that people came down here, and saw this beach and sometimes wandered into the ocean and didn't come back - they had drown."
Hollywood
"The lifeguards from day one were very close to Hollywood. When there were not a lot of people on the beach in the winter they would look for work as stuntmen, back then not many people could swim."
