Ivan Robert Ulz

Ivan Robert Ulz Guns were booming over Stalingrad. Meanwhile, on May 4, 1944, in Los Angeles, California, a baby boy was born. Ivan Robert Ulz was the only son of Frank Ulz and Connie Grike. He grew up in North Hollywood, living and working in the nursery school that his parents owned. Ulz wrote his first song while still in high school. "A Letter to Hayley" was released by LarBell as a 45 rpm single in 1962, with a then-unknown Glenn Campbell playing guitar and Ivan himself performing the vocals as teen idol Billy Kidd. Ulz went on to collaborate with musical legends Lowell George, Hoyt Axton, Jackson Browne, Rickie Lee Jones, Roy Estrada, Steven Mann, Gene Clark, Dick Rosmini, and poet Rod McKuen, to name a few. His only album for adults, "Ivan the Ice Cream Man," was released by Stanyan Records in 1970. In 1980, Ulz moved to New York City and began working with children. He released "Songs from the Old School" on his own label in 1999, featuring the world-famous Fire Truck song, later published as an illustrated storybook. In the mid-1990s Ivan created an alter-ego radio personality, Treasure Ivan, on Excellent Radio, broadcasting vintage children's records and reading stories over the low power station out of Grover Beach, CA. Treasure Ivan would prove an enduring character, becoming the creative focus of his final years. Ulz retired to Halcyon, California in 2012 with Eva, his fourth wife and radio producer, Tiny Frank the rabbit, and Pepito the canary. His last song, "It's a Bi-Polar World," spoke of his lifelong struggle with mental illneess. Ivan left this life on October 5, 2017. He is beginning to find his way. A celebration of Ulz's life and creative legacy will be held at 2:00 pm, Saturday, February 10, 2018, in the Temple of the People. Donations to support the new reincarnation of Excellent Radio, birthplace of Treasure Ivan, can be made in Ivan's memory through the United Way of San Luis Obispo County to their Five Cities Low Power FM Radio fund.