Peter Arnott, who passed away last month at age 90, left an indelible stamp on Sausalito. A native of Palo Alto, Peter met his wife Ann while both were employed in Tokyo. After they married and had a son, David, they relocated to Sausalito, a move that benefitted them and this town enormously.
PHOTO FROM SAUSALITO WOMAN’S CLUB
Peter and Ann celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Sausalito Players.
As Steefenie Wicks wrote in a 2017 profile of the couple: “they have been involved in just about every event that has taken place here. They are totally community orientated, have been members of or on the Board of just about every organization here in town. When asked why neither has ever run for political office, Peter is the first to answer, ‘Because it just did not look like fun’.”
Peter worked in advertising and produced original musicals for corporate events. But that was only his day gig. With three pals, he formed a regional jug band called the Goodtime Washboard Three. Featuring Peter on banjo, they performed on national TV, local radio, in concerts, and night clubs; they even recorded some sides at Berkeley’s famous Fantasy Records in 1964. Their biggest hit was a playful paean to the undersung city of Oakland (“Where did all the people go when Frisco burned? They all went to Oakland and never returned.”) The song achieved a kind of cult status and can be heard on Spotify. They also performed a tender ballad called “Under the Dock in Sausalito.”
The band's quirky style and fame resulted in invitations to the Bohemian Grove, and Peter became a Bohemian mainstay, writing and directing many productions and mentoring many talented Bohemians.
Meanwhile, back at the Rancho, Ann served as secretary for the Sausalito Chamber of Commerce, president of the Sausalito Woman’s Club and president of the Art Festival Foundation. Together, she and Peter ran the gate at the Art Festival for three decades.
In 1977, Peter and Ann founded The Sausalito Players, a play-reading group, as a way for amateur actors to get some stage time and perform without having to endure a lot of meetings and rehearsals. In an article Peter wrote for the Historical Society newsletter, he recalled: “This all happened in 1977 because that was the year that Ann Arnott was President of the Sausalito Woman’s Club (SWC). She raised the idea that perhaps the Club might share the small stage in its famed Julia Morgan-designed clubhouse. Over the years, the SWC had used it for a variety of club-related theatrical and musical functions and generously agreed to share its facilities with the newborn play-reading group and to have all performances free and open to the public.” The Sausalito Players still perform free-to-the-public plays at the club.
On a personal note, I met Peter in the 80s through a rogue advertising group called the Milline Club. Each holiday season we produced a Christmas show, which was basically an off-color parody of a Broadway musical, with an advertising focus. In our version of West Side Story, the Washboard appeared as advertising salesmen and stopped the show when they sang: “Buy some space from us — some time or space from us.”
We spent some happy hours reminiscing about those days over dinners at the Sausalito Yacht Club.
Of all the tributes I’ve written to past Sausalitans, this one has been the most fun. Call it a labor of love.