Angela Durrell-Special to the Sun

There are individuals who don’t fall off the beaten path’Äîthey actively leap from it, not content to travel the expected road, and instead choosing to lay down their own. More often than not, these are the people who build extraordinary lives without having planned them. Matt Lanza is one of those individuals. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he learned a strong work ethic and a sense of diversity from his father, a bricklayer. A Jack of all trades, the elder Lanza instilled in his son an interest in mechanics and an insatiable curiosity. 'He could do everything, and I learned everything from him’ĶI had wonderful parents.' In March of 1933, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake hit Southern California, the most severe damage occurring in the Long Beach and Los Angeles areas. It was one of the most disastrous and costly earthquakes in the history of the state at the time, devastating the region and leaving communities in dire need of restoration. Lanza’s father relocated his family to Huntington Park when Matt was nine, knowing his skills as a builder would be useful, and he would be able to find work.

Lanza attended Huntington Park High School, taking as many classes as he possibly could in the short time he was there, because he didn’t believe he’d have the opportunity of going to college’Äîhis family simply didn’t have the money. But then he found another alternative. 'I didn’t want to be drafted during World War II, so I volunteered with the Navy.' He’d always liked being near the water, and was accepted as a machinist and sent to the South Pacific. Surprisingly, it wasn’t as exciting as one might expect it to have been’Äîwhich was fine by him. 'We were protecting people going ashore,' he remembers. 'But I never saw any action.' Because of his 3-year service with the Navy, he was able to go to college on the G. I. Bill, entering USC in 1947. Just as in High School, he was an overachiever with a voracious and energetic intellect, completing a demanding four-year curriculum and earning his Bachelor of Science in just three years. Almost immediately, he landed a job with Northrop Aircraft as a Systems Analyst. Now known as Northrop Grumman, the company was noted in the 1940’s and 1950’s for its innovations and experimentation in flying wings, and tested the B-2 Stealth Bomber for production and deployment. It was also where the Snark international missile and the F-5 jet fighter were developed and built.

Matt Lanza

Lanza’s job was assessing and evaluating manufacturing problems and developing solutions and procedures for Northrop’Äîchallenging work with enormous responsibility. But although he remained with the company for years, it still wasn’t enough to satisfy his boundless energy and creativity. So, true to form, while he continued his work at Northrop, he studied for and received his Real Estate license, becoming a broker and land developer, beginning yet another successful and prosperous career.

'I couldn’t afford to buy developments,' he explains. But he knew that developers always wanted to expand on their own existing lots, 'So I’d get a property adjacent to theirs,' he chuckles. And sure enough, it worked’Äîthe developers bought several of his properties; his most profitable in the Desert Hot Springs area. He is proud to say that he was able to support his wife and seven children very well with the money earned from both careers’Äîand his own drive to branch out.

He has lived in the Lake Isabella area for over 25 years. His in-laws lived here first, and he and his family would often visit. Then, after his divorce, he chose to relocate in order to be closer to his family. Lake Isabella, he felt, was the ideal spot for him. 'I wanted a place on the water. Warm climate’Äînice area,' he says. Although he is now retired, he is anything but idle. He just published his third book, Where the Heck is Bodfish?, a compilation of quotes, humor, and one-liners. The book itself came about almost by accident. 'I would hear something and just write it down, sometimes come up with my own stuff. I just kept adding on to it.' 'Clever words,' he believes, 'are too useful to throw in the trash. You have to expose people to them.' Currently working on his fourth writing project, he spends his time voraciously reading books on history, theology, and various other subjects’Äîbut not fictional prose. 'Novels’ÄîI can’t follow the storyline. By the time I get to page three, I’ve forgotten who the villain was.'

When he’s not writing, he indulges his love of reading, or tinkers with repair projects. 'I like to be creative, and I like to be busy.' And he wishes he’d gotten out to see more of the world. 'I’ve always wanted to travel, but I just never got around to it,' he muses, mentioning in particular the South Pacific. 'I’d like to go back there.' But for now, he has no plans to leave Lake Isabella. 'I thought I’d be buried here, but then I thought, just spread my ashes in the pacific,' he chuckles. 'I’ll let my family decide.' Of his seven children, all but one live in Southern California’Äîtwo sons and four daughters. One son lives in Colorado and works for the US Government. They are all, he says, 'wonderful kids.'

Lanza blinks in surprise. 'You know, it’s kind of fun to remember all this.' The last eighty-odd years have been anything but boring, and he has seen some incredible sights, built extraordinary memories. He shakes his head in mild bemusement at the breadth and scope of his accomplishments, and finds himself amazed at times. 'I look back on my life sometimes and think, ’ÄòIs that really you?'