Sleep with Larry Miller

Carl from Van Nuys recently wrote me asking about my favorite places to hang out in Los Angeles. Well, being a Southern California native there are lots of places that I love—from Palm Springs and Ventura down to San Diego. But my favorite place to hang out would have to be the beach. I make it a point to get to the beach almost every weekend, whether it’s taking a walk on the sand alone or meeting friends for a meal at a beachside restaurant.

Another favorite thing to do is go to sporting events. The Lakers are a true passion of mine and I’ll only miss a game if I’m out of town or sick.

I went on a trip to Japan in the late 1970’s and one night I ended up sleeping on something called a Futon. I’d never heard of one or seen one before. It was a soft mattress on a frame that you could use as a bed and then adjust to become a small sofa.

At the time I thought that was pretty neat.

I got back to California and the miniseries “Shogun” about Japanese warriors was a big hit, Americans were starting to eat sushi … so I figured maybe they’ll sleep on this bed/chair thing from Japan. At the time there were only two other places in all of Los Angeles where you could even find a Futon…

At the time there were only two other places in all of Los Angeles where you could even find a Futon. One was a tiny store in an area called Little Tokyo and the other was an even smaller store in a predominantly Japanese area of west Los Angeles. So I went ahead and imported a Futon from Japan and had the mattress part copied. But I had an impossible time finding anyone who could make the adjustable frame. Finally after many frustrating calls and trips everywhere I found someone who could make the frame…in Brazil!

Meanwhile, my dad (who was also my business partner) thought I was completely nuts. He told me, “Nobody is going to sleep on that bag of cotton!”