Here's an interview with Hayden with some shots of the hurricane gulch section of Sausalito. Starts out with a clip from a film then shows him driving through a rainy Sausalito. Interview is in his apartment:
I read Sterling Hayden's book recently, and if I recall correctly, one of his sons went to Phillips Exeter. Although it's possible it could have been one his step-children, if he had any. He had a wild family life.
According to a piece in the Pacific Sun from around the time of Hayden's death, Hayden rented office space at the Donahue Building in the early 60's. That must have been when Matt Hayden was at Del Mar. There isn't anything about Tiburon in Wanderer, but he does mention in a sentence that he lived in Belvedere for a spell before moving to Sausalito. One of the local railroad historians, who worked for the NWP when Hayden was around, recounted getting taken for a sail by Hayden once. Said he was a nice guy.
Hayden choose some pretty interesting places to work, historically speaking. I guess he also had an office in one of the old ferries on the Sausalito waterfront?
I went to school with a kid named Matt Hayden for awhile. He was one of Sterling's sons. Nice guy, but I never knew what happened to him. After Jr High at Del Mar School In Tiburon, I think he went off to a private school. Sterling also had another son, and I can't remember his name, but he was my brother's age. Like Sterling, who was kind of a troubled and very private soul (Sterling Hayden was a great actor however, remember his role as General Jack Ripper in Dr Strangelove?). But this particular son, the older one, committed suicide when he was in his early 20s or late teens by jumping off the GG bridge. Not to get too morose, but a lot of my old classmates and collegues from my youth are no more because of the drug scene, or alcohol problems. I mentioned my friend John Whitelaw in a recent post, who passed away a few years ago because of some kidney problems brought on by earlier problems. In 1981, I remember three of my classmates all died suddenly within a terrible one-month period. Mike Royer, a world class sailor, Steve Dal Bon, a really nice fellow, and Andrew McIlroy, another good friend of mine all died in their late 20s or early 30s because of either some drug or alcohol related problems, or mental health difficulties. In later years, another acquaintance of mine, Steve McDonald, who was an outstanding tennis player, also passed from the scene too early because of some problems that had ravaged his body earlier. Yes, Marin was certainly an exciting and fun place to grow up, but there were also a lot of casualties among the "boomers" in subsequent years. I wonder if many other people have similar memories and recollections.
Hi Rick: You are exactly correct. That was his home. We lived a block from there down Spring Grove towards Greenfield. The owners who lived there prior to Sterling were in the bakery business in The City. They had kids my age and we spent many hours in the pool located by the Japanese Garden you describe. I, too, remember the fire road. It was originally built in the early 50's to begin developing the property in that area. It never happened, until the 90's...maybe the 80's. Although we lived in Marin 41 years, much of that time was at the home we had on Spring Grove. If you have any other information on the area, I would be happy to hear from you. Thanks for your reply. sfdrake
We used to hike over the hill from Gerstle Park down the fire road to the end of Spring Grove. I remember one house in particular that was all done in a Japanese theme. There was a huge gate and behind it, the house with an elaborate garden. I'd heard it was Dennis Day's house at that time. ( Late 60's ) Could this be the same house ?
I'm new to this site. It's great. Lived in Marin 41 years from 1938 to 1979. Our family lived in San Rafael for many years on Spring Grove Ave. At thehead of the canyon was the home occupied by Sterling Hayden...I think this was in the 50's. My Dad worked for the IJ and was a close friend of Sterling's. Didn't he write: "The San Quentin Story"? Somewhere around the house I have a letter he wrote to my Dad in the 50's aboard The Wanderer..from someplace in the South Pacific.
I remember in the late 70's I delivered a black manual Royal typewriter to his apartment in Sausalito. He was making some tea and asked if I wanted some. I sat down and had a very long conversation with him. He was a very interesting person.
Sterling Hayden rented one of the pilothouses on the retired ferry 'Berkeley' which was tied up near the present day ferry landing in Sausalito, it is here where he wrote his autobiography 'Wanderer'. The Berkeley as I recall was also called the Trade Fair & other posters have mentioned it here. Does anybody have any Sterling stories to share? He passed on in 1986 in Sausalito at age 70, the day he died I was working in town & swear I heard a New Orleans style funeral band moving through town with brass trumpets blowing.
