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Sculpted busts recall Tiburon life in the 1950s, ’60s

Howard Lazar's exhibit features painted busts and written vignettes reflecting on teachers, shopkeepers and friends.

FRANCISCO MARTINEZ / THE ARKSculptor Howard Lazar of San Rafael, pictured at his home Oct. 8, holds a life-size bust of Manuel Garcia, a local gardener and custodian at Del Mar and Bel Aire schools when Lazar grew up in Tiburon. The bust is part of his new exhibit ‘Notable People I Grew Up Knowing,’ which runs Oct. 24-26 at the Belvedere-Tiburon Landmarks Society’s China Cabin.
Francisco Martinez
By FRANCISCO MARTINEZ · 1 min read

When sculptor Howard Lazar worked at a coffee shop as a teenager in Tiburon, a railroad worker named Smitty would come in and order from him.

Whether it was a large combo lunch or a slice of pie and a late-afternoon cup of coffee, the railroad worker would always tip the teen $1. Those consistent $1 tips from Smitty, Lazar later discovered, came after the railroad worker learned Lazar was commuting from Tiburon to attend San Francisco State University.

“Cost being what it was, he was trying to help me out,” Lazar says of Smitty.

Smitty is one of eight people Lazar, now 77, has created life-size busts of for his new exhibit, “Notable People I Grew Up Knowing,” which will run Oct. 24-26 at the Belvedere-Tiburon Landmarks Society’s China Cabin. Alongside the busts, Lazar has written vignettes reflecting on how they impacted him.

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A version of this story appeared in the Oct. 15, 2025, print edition of The Ark. See something wrong? Request a correction.
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