The Orange County Register reported yesterday that various lords of Orange County are meeting and spending cash “to cash in on the pop-culture phenomenon that is Orange County.” I'll closely examine our constant reinvention in my biography-memoir of la naranja next fall, but one thing bears worth noting at this point. Per the article:
“Also being floated – but certainly a long-term idea – is a name change that would add “Orange County” to the name of John Wayne Airport.”
Oh, Orange County. The damn-tiny airport WAS named Orange County Airport until the death of the Duke in 1979. The country laughed–still does–after we renamed it after an actor who live his last, booze-soaked years here but wasn't a native, didn't do much to celebrate his digs, and whose impact lessens with each passing year until the sole memory is that massive bronze statue whose best use is as a meeting point.
I wrote about this issue the last time folks brought up such sacrilege. Keep John Wayne Airport John Wayne–the name says more about Orange County than a billion advertising campaigns can ever hope to…
