Zach Raney son of recently deceased Bill Raney, of Santa Cruz Arthouse Theaters 2026-03-27 interview on KZSC's 'Bushwhackers Breakfast Club'

Bill Raney, Zach's dad, passed away exactly 1 month ago; Zach was adopted in 1968 from the Monterey Bay Children's Home Society, and lived with Bill & Joanne Walker Raney in the house attached to the Nickelodeon Theater ("Nick 1"); that house was later jacked up & moved down the street so that the Nick could expand ("Nick 2, 3, & 4"; "Great Question "); What possessed Bill & Joanne Walker Raney to start an arthouse cinema in Santa Cruz? ("Great Question ): they had met in North Beach, where Bill was a self-described beatnik (and the subject of his first book) & Joanne owned an arthouse theater - when they saw a movie theater for sale in Santa Cruz she sold that one, & they bought it & moved down (when was the Nick founded ["Great Question ]: A - in 1967); Joanned died soon after, leaving Zach at age 1, and his adopted brother Zerky (short for Zirxses) 3; Zirky passed away the next year; Bill traveled the world with Zeirky (back when this was not easy to do), & wrote about it in his book "Letters to Zerky: A Father's Legacy to a Lost Son...and a Road Trip Around the World" (with JoAnne Walker Raney as co-author); Bill remarried (Nancy), giving him a 2nd chance - Zach gained 2 step siblings; Nancy passed away in 2016; Zach went to Happy Valley School, where he was friends with "Sleepy John's" son, Ernie; Branciforte Junior High, then Harbor High & Santa Cruz High; SF State, where he played baseball (Division 2, or "D-2"), later playing baseball in Niceragua, and for the Atlanta Braves farm team; How'd he land at Gateway School? ("Great Question ); Zach was teaching in San Diego, where he had met & married Athena, and had kids...when Kathy Sandidge, Ernie's wife, told him about a job at Gateway, the family, around the dinner table, was unanimous that he apply - and he got the job (his students were listening to the interview); how did Bill & first Joanne, then Nancy, find movies? Bill spent a lot of time traveling, and would bring back movies in giant metal boxes of reels; the Sash Mill, which Bill also started, was showing a Beatles movie on the day John Lennon died; Bill screened the Rocky Horror Picture Show for years; when did the Sash Mill close ("Great Question ) - not sure, but there was a restaurant out front; "The Money Question?" the Nick was an Institution! With the Sash Mill, very successful - Bill hosted the Ramones, who Zach got to meet backstage when he was in High School; Jim Swinderlee, Bill's business partner, bought the Nick & the Del Mar - he sold both to Landmark Pictures, who closed them during Covid (Grrrrr...); about Bill Raney: he contracted dementia, which was debilitating...he was a great father...kind...loving...always an open door...welcome everybody with open arms;; Where was Zerky adopted from? "Great Question !" - Zach didn't know, & wished he'd asked his dad. An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.

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Zach Raney son of recently deceased Bill Raney, of Santa Cruz Arthouse Theaters 2026-03-27 interview on KZSC's 'Bushwhackers Breakfast Club' is an episode from KZSC FM on-demand by KZSC 88.1 FM Santa Cruz.

This episode is 29:45 long.

This episode was published on Mar 29, 2026.

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