The Beach Boys with Ron Swallow; photo by Edith Dahlfeld.
In memoriam: Ron Swallow, who passed away recently; condolences to his family and friends. “Much has been written about Carl, the very personal and positive impact he had on those who knew him well, and the spiritual quality he shared with virtually everyone who ever came in contact with him. We were as close as two friends could possibly be, and I can absolutely confirm that Carl lived up to the image… and much more. Having met during our high school years, we were able to experience so many of life’s experiences together such as getting our first cars, our marriages, the births of our children, loss of family members, career changes… just everything. Carl was the best man at my wedding as you might expect. […] Supporting The Beach Boys both on the road and in the studio was such a great opportunity for me as I not only enjoyed the coolest paying job ever, but I also got to spend almost every day with my best friend Carl! In many ways though, we became even better friends after I left The Beach Boys to pursue my ultimate career in the animal business. Carl loved animals and was so delighted and excited for me as my work expanded in that area and of course I was always his biggest cheerleader as he progress with the band. We learned much from each other. Carl was always a very spiritual soul, exploring various expansion techniques including Transcendental Meditation, EST (Erhard Seminars Training), and later, Insight Training/Movement of Spiritual Awareness (MSIA). I was always in awe of his daily discipline of spending an hour or two on what he called his ’S.E.’s’ (meaning Spiritual Exercises which was basically meditation or very private time). I miss Carl every day. He taught me so many things but, above all, he showed me how to express love to others… to be able to simply say it and demonstrate it. The Beach Boys will forever miss him. Carl was always a very powerful force in merging and holding individual egos and personalities together for a larger common good. Carl Wilson was an amazing person… and my best friend.” - Ron Swallow, Endless Summer Quarterly (2021) Also, on a Swallow family note, according to Hawthorne High alum Kathleen Griffin, “John [Ron’s younger brother] had a Beagle named CW, it was a gift to him from Carl Wilson.” (Cougartown, 1999)
