Carl Long, Anza community icon, dies

Carl Long, an Anza icon who rubbed elbows with political figures as he produced a weekly community newspaper for nearly 25 years, died last week at age 77.

Long, who suffered a range of medical problems, sold the Anza Valley Outlook to its current owners about two years ago as his health began to decline. He then began to fade from the local political and publishing scene, and had been repeatedly hospitalized this year. His death was the latest in a string to rock the close-knit family that arrived in Anza before waves of development began to sweep over southwest Riverside County.

“He did so much good,” stepdaughter LaDonna De Barros said in a Monday interview. “He was a really, really good man.”

Others throughout the region seconded that perspective as word of Long’s death spread.

“I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of my dear friend Carl Long. Carl was a very special person who truly made a difference,” U.S. Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Palm Springs, said in a statement that was released to the family Wednesday morning. “He was a patriot who loved his country and fought hard for his beliefs. It was an honor to know him and to work with him on the issues he cared so deeply about. I extend my deepest sympathy to his family and all who loved him.”

Long charted a colorful path to become friends and close associates of Bono Mack, her late husband who preceded her in office as well as numerous other political and community leaders.

As his medical condition deteriorated, he had difficulty speaking to friends and family members prior to his Oct. 23 death at Hemet Valley Medical Center.

“He could talk with his eyes,” De Barros recalled. “He’d smile and he’d cry.”

As a youth, Long and his family moved from Oklahoma to California in 1942. Long later likened his upbringing to the 1939 film “The Grapes of Wrath.”

The film, based on the John Steinbeck novel, focused on the treatment of the mass influx of poor from America’s heartland into California. Long said he coped with prejudice and stereotypes by reading Will Rogers’ biography. The famous humorist was greatly admired by the American public in the Dust Bowl years and for decades afterward.

Formerly in the cosmetics industry, Long initially visited the area in 1982 after he sold a motor home to an Anza man who made payments on the vehicle. The man invited Long and his wife, Dale Price, to the Anza area for a visit and the couple subsequently bought a home there.

They began to branch out into business and religion. The couple met in divinity school, and both were ministers in the Church of Inner Truth. They operated a real estate business, and joined with some friends and associates to launch a community newspaper in 1984. Another paper that had operated in the area had either gone out of business or was sold, Long said in an August 2008 interview. .

Three months of preparation ended with the first edition hitting the streets just prior to the July 4 parade. The exhausted cadre of friends and family members then realized that they would have to repeat the process again in less than a week.

Long did interviews, attended meetings, took pictures, shadowed police raids, popped in on civic and cultural events and wrote stories. He urged residents to submit opposing views of his conservative editorial positions, and forged deep ties with political and law enforcement leaders.

His connections included deceased U.S. Rep. Sonny Bono, former state Senator Ray Haynes and current Riverside County Sheriff Stanley Sniff.

Bono was a world-famous pop singer when he served as Palm Springs mayor from 1988 until 1992. He was elected to Congress in January 1995, and held that office for three years until he died following a skiing accident at age 62.

Bono’s widow filled the position held by her former husband. She is seeking re-election to that post on Tuesday.

Long credited the lines of communication that he helped forge between the community and its elected officials for many of the paved roads, school improvements and other infrastructure projects that dot the area today.

Long and Price kept 12 wild horses and a few dogs on their property. He used to quip that the cost of keeping the horses fit and healthy would often devour his monthly Social Security check.

The couple was also known for helping out people in need, typically without word seeping out into the community.

“I don’t know anyone who helped so many people,” De Barros said.

Long also dabbled in poetry and oil painting. His painting of a bald eagle with a yellow ribbon in its beak was presented to President Ronald Reagan shortly after the Iran Hostage crisis ended. He lost track of the painting years afterward and assumed it remained in the White House collection or in Reagan’s family or the presidential library.

Long also painted actress Farrah Fawcett, and wrote about her following her death in June 2009. He continued to write a column for the newspaper until his health deteriorated earlier this year.

Long and Price, who were married more than 33 years, labored over whether to sell the newspaper in July 2008. The combination of Price’s breathing problems and Long’s deteriorating health tipped the scale.

“That really kind of broke their hearts,” De Barros said. “His blood was in that paper.”

Community leaders reacted over what symbolized the end of an era for the remote communities east of Temecula.

“Carl and his wife, Dale, have been dear friends and true stalwarts in the Anza community for years,” Bono Mack said in a written statement at the time of the sale. “Whether it be running the Anza American Outlook or supporting civic, social and charitable events in town, Carl has been a driving force behind much of the good work being done on behalf of the community. It is clear that he cares deeply about his community, his neighbors and our nation.”

Long responded by saying he had been fortunate to serve the community in a visible role at a pivotal point in its history.

“I like the people here. It’s country,” Long said in an interview at the Cahuilla Mountain Market and Café. “I’ve been really lucky.”

Long was 75 at the time of the sale and Dale Price was 79. The pair had seven children between them, and at that time they had 13 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren in their blended family. Much of the family is scattered throughout the state, said De Barros, who wrote for the paper for 16 years and now lives in Orange County.

She said her mother had not yet decided when and where a memorial service will be held.

“She’s still kind of in shock over this,” De Barros said. “It’s just been very difficult.”