LA JOLLA HIGH HONORS ALUMNI, TEACHER ON NEW WALL OF FAME
Many in attendance had high praise for the late educator Walter Stewart
As La Jolla High School theater students prepared for their evening performance of “Beauty and the Beast” on May 13, a different kind of presentation took place in the Parker Auditorium lobby.
La Jolla High alumni going back decades gathered with friends and family for the unveiling and induction ceremony of the school’s new Wall of Fame, honoring four alumni and a former teacher.
The wall displays photos and plaques for actor Cliff Robertson; class of 1954; actress Raquel Welch, class of 1958; film director and producer Gore Verbinski, class of 1982; actress Robin Wright, class of 1983; and theater educator Walter Stewart, who taught at LJHS from 1972 until his retirement in 1994.
The inductees were selected because they became “successful in the world of entertainment or have shown tireless devotion to our performing arts programs,” according to an accompanying plaque.
The Wall of Fame began as a project to coincide with the school’s centennial last year, spearheaded by current theater
teacher Stacey Allen and Erick Haswell, treasurer of the drama department’s parents booster club and a former student of Stewart’s.
“When I first got here, I kept hearing all these stories about these wonderful alumni that we have, all these really talented people … in the world of entertainment,” Allen said.
After the photos and plaques were installed, the Wall of Fame “looked like it’s always been here,” Allen said. “It looks like it’s supposed to be here.”
Verbinski and Wright are the
only honorees still living. Wright did not attend.
Having his photo displayed on the Wall of Fame at his alma mater is “weird,” Verbinski told the La Jolla Light, a publication of the U-T Community Press.. “I’m just here to honor Mr. Stewart.”
That sentiment was shared by many in attendance, most of whom are related to or are former students of Stewart’s. Several shared memories and tributes to Stewart, who died in September 2021.
Stewart’s theater classes were more than mere electives, Verbin