Jordon Laby

Inventor

Photo supplied by Jordon Laby

Credit for much of the vibrancy of our arts community can be traced to a pool vacuum. How is that possible? Jordan Laby, dyslexic and partly color-blind, knew from an early age how to take things apart and put them back together, to make them better than before. As a teen, his habit of falling asleep while listening to classical music bothered his mom. So he created a clock radio, using a radio and a clock found in an alley that would automatically turn off the radio. (Necessity is perhaps Mother’s invention?) It seems that Laby was meant to be an inventor, a builder, a fixer and, most of all, a person who understands the value of hard work. He holds innumerable patents ranging from swimming-pool cleaners to anesthesia equipment that are testament to his creative genius. The Polaris pool vacuum created a nest egg that allowed Laby and his wife Sandra to establish the San Buenaventura Foundation for the Arts. He never forgot his love of music and he and his wife have never wavered in their desire to share their good fortune with others, to enrich the community and to capitalize on our community’s greatest asset: its artists. The Laby’s fingerprints can be found wherever creative minds are working – theater, dance, music, visual arts, and especially arts education for youngsters.

Laby’s documentation in 2015 was sponsored by Paula Spellamn. The AfterGlow was hosted by Betsy Chess. The FOTM Archive contains extensive information about this artist.