California Surveyors Forums

A colleague asked me about Jeff Lucas's comments on my book "The Curt Brown Chronicles." Jeff and I are friends and we frequently exchange information with each other. He asked my permission to cite the book and discuss some of Curt's opinions and I, of course, agreed. The most important thing we talked about was the evolution of Curt's opinions over the years. Curt was the first to acknowledge these changes.

Several years ago, I offered to make Curt's article available through CLSA but that offer was rejected by the former Executive Director. Under the terms of sharing this material with CLSA, it required an acknowledgment that the material was being used with my consent as it is copyrighted. The former ED did not want to acknowledge my offer as it would have involved associating me with Curt. That, of course, is quite unfortunate. The book is available at a discount through the OC Chapter.

I liked Jeff's article.

https://www.pobonline.com/articles/1011 ... chronicles

It seems that the underlying theme of Mr. Brown and his noted critics in Mr. Lucas' article is that they evolved to a deeper and more philosophical understanding of their profession and their role within that profession over time.
Thanks for sharing Mr. Pallamary.
Cheers,

That is true and Curt recognized that repeatedly.

Interesting link. Wattles versus Brown. The Clash of the Titans!

Indeed! I took a couple of seminars with Gurdon and got to spend an evening with him at a dinner. Nice guy.

mpallamary wrote:Indeed! I took a couple of seminars with Gurdon and got to spend an evening with him at a dinner. Nice guy.

Lucas article refers to Bill Wattles, not Gurdon. I always thought Gurdon wrote the legal description book but apparently it was Bill. I ordered the Bill Wattles book a few days ago, I want to learn from the original. I’m calling Gurdon off, my descriptions are better.

Gurdon wrote a survey drafting book as well, I didn’t see any rave reviews so I didn’t buy it. One guy said The ALTA section was really good....

Party on Wayne!

Bill was Gurdon's father. Bill wrote his book a long time ago, of course. They were title men. Bill was Curt's contemporary.

https://books.google.com/books/about/La ... 15PwAACAAJ

mpallamary wrote:Bill was Gurdon's father. Bill wrote his book a long time ago, of course. They were title men. Bill was Curt's contemporary.

As in they worked at a title company I presume...

That makes sense to me, I couldn’t find much info online about either of these Wattles. Thanks for clarifying!

What many people do not realize is Curt changed his opinions over the years and he was the first to admit it. We spoke about this many times and it was a bit of a headache for him. I witnessed several surveyors challenge Curt over the years, sometimes in a very rude manner.

In one incident at a CLSA conference, a couple of younger guys were quite insulting to Curt when they argued that Curt was wrong about several things he had written. I watched Curt maintain his composure through the discussion. It didn’t help that these guys had been drinking and were feeling their oats. When these buffoons concluded their comments, Curt simply nodded and moved on. I asked him why he didn’t debate or defend himself, he replied, “That fool is quite correct. When I created that principle 40 years ago, that was the prevailing law at the time. Since then, the law has changed and that principle is no longer valid.” He added, “It is people like that that do more harm to the profession and to the community by not realizing that the laws change and the times change. What made sense 40 years ago may not make sense today. In order to be professionally competent, once must stay up with the times and recognize that old textbooks are just that – old textbooks. Some principles remain the same and others change.”

That is one of the reasons I constantly research these issues and always do my best to stay abreast of changes in law and areas of practice. Regrettably and in my experience as a testifying expert, this is usually why others get in trouble. Continuing education anyone?

No one wants to change their way of thinking, unlike Curt who continually changes his way of thinking to adapt to the times.

Indeed, those who stand above the crowd are the easiest targets.

Thank you, Jeff, for a good article.

https://www.pobonline.com/articles/1011 ... chronicles

See the attached.

It is unfortunate that the former Executive Director prohibited the distribution of Curt Brown's articles and material. It is worse that several former Board members made it a point to remove some of the material that the association had available for use of its members.

I still cannot understand how that policy benefited CLSA.

David Kendall wrote:
As in they worked at a title company I presume...

The famous Title Insurance and Trust Company. They were a behemoth. Still around in some form. I first heard of that company while doing research for hikes around Los Angeles. Kind of strange.

I have the Wattles Survey Drafting book, never found a lot of use for it., but that's me. The Writing Legal Descriptions book is now going for over $120 on Amazon. I wish I had an extra copy.

Curt rests in Julian, in East San Diego County.

In an odd coincidence, I knew the gentleman buried behind Curt. He was an attorney I did a lot of work with. A fine man by every measure.

I'll bet most folks didn't know Curt was a world-renowned authority on the gait of dogs!

What I appreciate about Mr. Lucas' article is that he reconciled Mr. Brown's evolved understanding of the profession with his own.
That is encouraging, and perhaps deserves a more in depth analysis.

It is great seeing that picture of you group of surveyors in that CLSA 1988 conference picture. Makes me really think and enjoy the fact that I know and knew most of these individuals. Also enjoy the one of you by Curt's headstone. HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR - Michael

Thank you very much! I hope you are doing well. That conference was a lot of fun!

I approached the former Executive Director about the important of Curt Brown's work and I offered to speak. She rejected the idea and every time it came up, she made a point to attack me at every chance. My submittals were never passed on to anyone. In fact, I had communications returned to me, unopened.

I agree with you and I tried very hard to get this information out to the association. I spent a lot of time with Curt and I felt it important to share these experiences. I have lectured all around the country about Curt and as you can see, have had extensive communications with Jeff and others on this topic. Here, at home, not so much.

It is rather sad and of course, very petty.

I liked Jeff's article.

I liked it too, except that the editor failed to catch the consistent use of "ridged" instead of "rigid." It's hard to see a publication in a professional light when boneheaded proofreading oversights are sprinkled throughout.

One of the problems with writing regularly is the invasive nature of spell check. As a writer on frequent deadline, one gets lazy and lets the computer do the thinking. Often, the checking is done with a computer and not a human mind. Such is progress I suppose.