Cool Al

Al Fritz qualifies to be in two departments, the "You Meet the Most Interesting People in the Obits" Department and the "Don't Listen to Your Critics" Department. Following the lead of cool California (where else?, she humbly asks) teens, the first-generation American who started out on the Schwinn factory floor developed what became known as the Sting-Ray bike.
   "The people who looked at his prototype thought it was a stupid idea," recalls his son Mike, "but he pushed it on through." Between 1963 and 1968, the company sold almost 2 million of them, and decades later, in about 1999, my 9-year-old son saw one in a store window in Venice and had to have it. (Fortunately, his birthday was not far off.) Glittery silver banana seat, high handle bars, and all, it still occupies a place of prominence in our garage: http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-al-fritz-20130510,0,7472254.story