Cliff McClain - The Early Years

Cliff McClain, director at the Vera Davis McClendon Youth and Family Center, brings a lifetime of developing and implementing programs that provide opportunities for youth and adults.

The beginning wasn´t terribly auspicious. After attending the Los Angeles Junior College of Business (now Trade Tech), Cliff started working for the City. His first job was as an auto messenger. He remembers coming to the old Venice City Hall (where Beyond Baroque is now) to drop off plans from the Department of Building and Safety. In an interview to become a mechanics apprentice, he was told that his work was good, but the fact that he was black he probably wouldn´t fit in. That was 1959.

Next was a job as a postal carrier. It was during this time that Cliff recognized his ability to relate to people and their attraction to him as a person to confide in about their problems. After the Watts riots he ran for political office.
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Cliff McClain - Director of the Vera Davis McClendon Youth & Family Center

Ramona Davis, daughter of Vera Davis McClendon, thanks Cliff for his steadfast service and help in guiding others towards a positive direction when life leads them to the Center. "Cliff brings a heart of service to the VDM Y&F Center and his success depends on the commitment of the community and the City of Los Angeles to volunteer and provide financial support for the needs of our community here in Venice," she says. "There have been and are many challenges to face but he is there with open arms to assist and to serve."

Cliff has had the opportunity to work in many cities throughout the County of Los Angeles and finds one aspect in Venice he never found anywhere else. "The resources to solve the problems are right in Venice," he says. "Here, next door neighbors can help."

When Cliff first started at the Center in 2001, Mary Richert, Operations Director at the Venice Family Clinic, was his "go to" person. "If I didn´t know how to find it or how to get it, I called Mary and she could hook me up," he says. "I don´t know if I would have had the initial impact without Mary."
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A Memorable Dinner In Venice by Paul Tanck

First, I thought, I´d just re-print the Marcia/Meltzer article. From Stuff Magazine. Back in 1980, 30 years ago...

Then, it just snowballed... becoming a whole flashback to those wild and exciting times.

I remember each Thursday, waiting for all the weekly papers to come out, to see what was happening around town that weekend. There was the L.A. Weekly, still going strong today, and the L.A. Reader, a great alternative weekly that featured the first comics by Matt Groenig (Life in Hell), or so I remember. It ran from ´78 until ´96. There was also the local monthly Main Mag - produced by Tom Sewell, ex-mayor of Rialto Avenue, a catch-all of what was  hip  in the 80´s Venice scene. Or also Venice Mag - Bill Weiner´s publication to himself, featuring ads featuring his photography. I think these were all take-off´s on Andy Warhol´s Interview Mag, which came of age in the early '70s.
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Voice for the Animals - March 4th


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Venice Garden and Home Tour - May 1st


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