Celebrating Lad

Noted Santa Barbara entrepreneur Lad Handelman was recipient of the Second Annual Distinguished Patriot Award. COLAB founder Andy Caldwell spoke early, and called Lad “the personification of the American Dream,” noting that Lad had “started from nothing in some of the roughest circumstances (born in the Bronx) to literally conquer the world. It’s a phenomenal story,” he said, “and when you [the audience] walk out of here tonight, you will feel privileged to [have been] part of this.”

The event was kicked off by Julie Bischoff, who read the invocation, Linda Foster led off the pledge of allegiance; ninth-grader Neve Greenwald sang the “Star Spangled Banner,” followed by a soulful “God Bless America.”

Caldwell spoke of his days as a delivery boy for the Santa Barbara News-Press, before introducing News-Press publisher Arthur Von Wiesenberger, who complimented Caldwell cheekily, saying that Andy “still delivered really well, even after fifty years.” Arthur opined that the current Trump era reminded him of the Reagan years, “when we saw the collapse of communism, socialism, and stupidism.” He then talked of the “very depressing political time” when Barack Obama was president and he first met Andy Puzder, who joined Arthur, Dennis Miller, and Peter Noone regularly for lunch.

Arthur called Puzder “the economic voice of reason,” lamenting that when the U.S. Senate couldn’t come up with enough votes to confirm Puzder as secretary of Labor, “it was a great loss for America.” 

Puzder, the evening’s keynote speaker, lived in Montecito for more than 20 years and gave a spirited talk that included a short history of Carl’s Jr., of which Puzder served as CEO. Its founder, Carl Karcher, started with a hot dog stand and developed Carl’s Jr. into one of the largest fast-food franchise companies (3,800 restaurants) in the U.S.

A Diver’s Diver

A short film explained that Lad founded two commercial diving companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange (CalDive International and Oceaneering International). That Lad’s diving career started at the age of 16 when “he borrowed a rowboat and rigged a face mask to a garden hose and became an abalone diver.” Laddie made the world’s first successful 600-foot surface dive, leading to the formation of Oceaneering International and to jobs all over the world for oil and gas exploration companies. Later, Lad and his crew pioneered 1,000-foot dives; soon, the company became the largest dive company in the world. Before long, they were working from the bottom of the ocean to outer space with NASA. And it all began right here in the early 1960s in Santa Barbara. 

To this day, Santa Barbara is still the hub of deep-water mixed-gas diving. Many of the items on display in the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, including the diving suit out front, comes from items either used or collected by Lad.

Laddie, born in the Bronx, became a troubled kid as a Red Devils gang member; at one point, he was advised to either leave the city or go to jail. He heeded the advice and left for California, settling in Santa Barbara, to this city’s great benefit. 

Lad has been in a wheelchair since 1985: the result of a skiing accident. Lad took up skiing as he climbed the corporate and entrepreneurial ladder and unfortunately suffered a spill that left him paralyzed from the chest down.

Resilient and optimistic, he spent a short time feeling sorry for himself but snapped out of it quickly and, as he says, got on with his life.

When Lad was presented with his award on the stage with his spouse, Linda Seals, he spoke with intimacy and humility. He thanked the people who’d been helping him over the past decade or two, all of whom sat in front tables near the stage. One by one, Lad asked them to stand and thanked them personally with affection and good humor.