Merlin David on Lunada Bay, Music and Community Life in Palos Verdes
Merlin David on Music, Community and the Everyday Magic of Lunada Bay
A longtime Lunada Bay resident shares how neighborhood traditions, local schools, coastal walks, music and simple human connections create a community that feels like home.
Some people live in a neighborhood. Others help hold it together. Merlin David is one of those residents whose energy, curiosity and willingness to introduce himself have connected countless people throughout Lunada Bay and the greater Palos Verdes Peninsula.
During a relaxed conversation at Lunada Bay Kitchen, Merlin reflected on his journey from India to Maryland and eventually Southern California, his lifelong relationship with music, raising a family in Palos Verdes Estates, supporting local schools and creating traditions that bring neighbors together.
What Is Voices of the Neighborhood?
Cliff’s Notes: Voices of the Neighborhood is an ongoing oral history project that captures the stories, memories and firsthand experiences of the people who know a neighborhood best: its residents.
Through relaxed conversations with longtime homeowners, community leaders, business owners, educators and other local voices, the series preserves the history, character, traditions and evolution of each neighborhood beyond what maps, statistics or real estate data can tell us.
Each interview becomes a lasting community resource that may be shared through the Scherb Homes Group website, neighborhood Street Guides, video, podcast, social media and future publications. The goal is to create an authentic archive of neighborhood life while helping current and future residents understand what makes each South Bay community unique.
Real estate data can explain lot sizes, sales prices and school boundaries. It cannot fully explain what it feels like when neighbors gather in a driveway, children walk to school together or a familiar face greets you along the bluffs. Those stories are an essential part of understanding a neighborhood.
Meet Merlin David
Merlin is a musician, writer, publisher, fundraiser, volunteer, connector and deeply engaged Palos Verdes neighbor. He is the kind of person who can begin a conversation with someone while walking a dog, riding a bicycle, visiting a local market or pausing to admire something along the trail.
Those conversations often grow into enduring friendships. Merlin has an uncommon ability to make people feel seen, while also remembering their stories and helping connect them with others.
“Anything that helps bring us together as a community is really important. This is what makes a community.” Merlin David
From India to Maryland, California and the Coast
Merlin was born and raised in India before moving to Maryland as a teenager. After spending many formative years near Washington, D.C., he came to California in the late 1980s and initially settled in the Inland Empire.
He enjoyed the area, but his weekends kept drawing him west. He would travel toward the coast to play volleyball, ride his bicycle, walk near the ocean and experience the energy of Southern California’s beach communities.
Eventually, the repeated drive made the decision clear: he wanted to live closer to the water.
Merlin first moved to Huntington Beach and later became increasingly familiar with the South Bay. Walking along the Esplanade and looking toward the Palos Verdes Peninsula, he began wondering what it might be like to live on the hill.
Merlin and his wife initially owned a townhome near Redondo Beach. As their family grew, they began an extensive search for a long-term home. They explored communities throughout Southern California before deciding to combine their resources and make the move to Lunada Bay.
Many Palos Verdes residents describe a similar progression. They discover the Peninsula through a drive, a coastal walk, a school visit or a friend—and then begin imagining what daily life could feel like there. The eventual decision is often driven as much by lifestyle and community as by the house itself.
A Lifelong Relationship With Music
Music has been part of Merlin’s life for decades. He played guitar and performed with bands when he was younger, including touring and playing for large audiences. After moving to California, his relationship with music evolved from professional ambition into something more personal and freeing.
Rather than measuring a song by whether it becomes commercially successful, Merlin now values the act of creating it. He aims to write approximately one song each week. Some arrive quickly, while others take longer, but the discipline keeps him listening closely to the people and stories around him.
Much of his inspiration comes from real life. A conversation, friendship, challenge or meaningful moment may become the starting point for a new song. In several instances, Merlin’s music has become a personal gift to someone navigating an important chapter of life.
His professional experience also includes helping develop music publications. He served in a senior marketing role for Performing Songwriter and later launched M Music & Musicians, continuing his work at the intersection of storytelling, creativity and the music industry.
Stories Become Songs
Merlin often draws inspiration from people he meets and the experiences they share.
Creating Without Approval
Music became more enjoyable when he stopped worrying about whether every listener would like it.
Music With Community Meaning
His songs have supported local families, school traditions and moments of remembrance.
“Some of the songs are good and some of them aren’t, but it doesn’t matter. They all came out of me.” Merlin David
Supporting Schools, Music and the Next Generation
Merlin’s commitment to local education grew naturally from raising his children in the community. His family valued being close to neighborhood schools and the opportunity for their children to walk between home, school and nearby community spaces.
When a local elementary school principal expressed a desire for something that could bring students and families together, Merlin went home and wrote a song. The composition centered on the values of being safe, kind and respectful.
The song became part of the school’s community culture and gave students something positive they could sing together. For Merlin, it demonstrated how music can communicate character, strengthen belonging and turn a set of values into a shared experience.
At the time of our conversation, Merlin was also working in fundraising for the Peninsula Education Foundation. His focus was helping sustain enrichment programs that contribute to the broader educational experience, including music, physical education, libraries and college and career support.
Education Extends Beyond the Classroom
Merlin believes music, movement, creativity and access to shared resources help children develop confidence, curiosity and higher-level thinking.
Residents Help Build the Experience
Parent participation, local fundraising, volunteers and community partnerships all contribute to the educational environment families value on the Peninsula.
Schools are one of the most common reasons families begin exploring Palos Verdes, but the deeper story is the community involvement surrounding them. Families are not only choosing classrooms; they are choosing a culture of participation.
Caroling, Bicycle Parades and Gathering in the Driveway
Some of Merlin’s strongest neighborhood memories are tied to traditions that are simple, personal and repeatable.
Inspired by childhood memories of Christmas caroling in India, Merlin began taking his family through the neighborhood to sing original holiday songs. What started as a visit to a handful of homes eventually grew into a multi-day tradition involving dozens of neighbors.
Families began arranging holiday gatherings around the visit. Neighbors offered cookies, fudge and conversation. As Merlin’s children grew, the tradition continued, creating a meaningful connection between music, family and place.
Merlin also helps organize a longstanding Fourth of July bicycle parade around Via Carrillo and Via Rivera. Children and adults decorate their bicycles, neighbors gather outside, and local police and fire personnel may participate. The celebration ends with ice cream and conversation.
The parade is not elaborate, and that is part of its appeal. It is a recurring reminder that community can be strengthened by creating a reason for people to come outside and see one another.
- Original holiday caroling through neighborhood streets
- A longstanding Fourth of July bicycle parade
- Informal driveway and backyard gatherings
- School and community music events
- Local concerts and outdoor performances
- Introductions between residents, businesses and volunteers
“It makes this place feel like a small hometown.” Merlin David
Walking the Bluffs and Staying Connected to the Ocean
Merlin’s relationship with Lunada Bay is inseparable from the outdoors. He frequently walks early in the morning, often covering several miles along the coastal bluffs.
The ocean provides a place to reset, process ideas and begin the day with perspective. He enjoys the quiet of the morning, the changing light, sunsets over the water and the possibility of seeing dolphins or migrating whales.
His routes may extend along the coastline toward Bluff Cove, the lighthouse and other familiar Peninsula landmarks. The precise destination is less important than remaining close to the water.
Cycling is another important part of Merlin’s life. Over the years, he has completed bicycle journeys across many parts of the United States, sometimes camping along the way with longtime friends. Those trips reinforced his belief that shared movement and shared challenges deepen relationships.
Quiet Coastal Walks
Early walks create space for reflection before the day becomes busy.
Dolphins and Whales
Seasonal sightings add a sense of discovery to familiar coastal routes.
Movement Builds Friendship
Long walks and bicycle rides allow conversations to unfold naturally.
Access to trails and the coastline is more than a recreational amenity in Palos Verdes. For many residents, it becomes part of their daily rhythm, their health and their social life.
How Lunada Bay Has Changed
When Merlin first moved to the area, many of the neighbors he met belonged to an earlier generation of Peninsula homeowners. Some had firsthand memories of a time when portions of the surrounding land were fields, horse trails and undeveloped open space.
Merlin valued hearing those stories directly from the people who had experienced them. They helped him understand that the neighborhood was not created all at once; it evolved through generations of families, builders, engineers, educators, merchants and volunteers.
Over time, more young families have arrived. Merlin sees that change as a positive addition rather than a replacement of what came before.
Longtime residents carry institutional memory. Newer residents bring children, ideas, energy and fresh traditions. The strongest version of the community emerges when those generations know one another and work together.
History and Perspective
Earlier generations preserve firsthand knowledge about neighborhood development, institutions and traditions.
Energy and Continuity
Younger households contribute new relationships and help ensure community traditions continue.
“I love what that generation is able to give us, and I also love what the younger generation and their kids are giving this community.” Merlin David
The Power of Saying Hello
Merlin collects photographs and selfies with many of the people he meets. The pictures are not about status. They document the moment a stranger became an acquaintance, a neighbor became a friend or two people discovered an unexpected connection.
His approach is remarkably straightforward: introduce yourself, ask a question and remain genuinely curious about the answer.
Merlin may meet someone on a trail, near the library, in a local market or during a community event. The conversation might reveal a shared hometown, mutual friend, professional connection or story that would otherwise have remained hidden.
Because Merlin remembers people and enjoys bringing them together, neighbors often turn to him when they need an introduction or local resource. His value is not simply that he knows many people. It is that he wants those people to know and help one another.
“I genuinely want to meet people. I don’t care whether they have something to offer me. I want to know who they are.” Merlin David
That philosophy is also reflected in his community service. Over the years, Merlin has supported neighborhood watch efforts, public-safety outreach, local libraries, schools and civic events.
Rather than limiting community involvement to online discussion, he encourages residents to attend meetings, participate directly, volunteer and become part of constructive local solutions.
What Merlin’s Story Teaches Us About Neighborhood Life
Traditions Need Stewards
Community events survive because someone volunteers to organize the details and invite people to participate.
Stories Are Local Infrastructure
Shared memories help newer residents understand the meaning behind streets, institutions and neighborhood customs.
Connection Begins Small
A greeting, photograph, walk or introduction can become the beginning of a lasting relationship.
Children Remember Participation
School songs, parades and family traditions can shape how children remember the place where they grew up.
Generations Strengthen One Another
A healthy neighborhood benefits from both the wisdom of longtime homeowners and the energy of newer families.
Celebrate People While They Are Here
Merlin believes recognition, gratitude and care are most meaningful when they are shared directly and in the present.
Merlin’s story captures something essential about Lunada Bay. The neighborhood’s beauty may initially attract people, but its long-term meaning is created by residents who organize, volunteer, introduce themselves and make space for others.
Frequently Asked Questions About Merlin David and Lunada Bay
Who is Merlin David?
Where does Merlin David live?
What does Merlin enjoy most about Lunada Bay?
What neighborhood traditions has Merlin helped organize?
Why is music important to Merlin?
How has Lunada Bay changed over time?
What is the lifestyle like in Lunada Bay?
What is Cliff’s Notes: Voices of the Neighborhood?
Thank You, Merlin
Thank you to Merlin David for sharing his time, memories and perspective so generously.
Conversations like this matter because the history of a neighborhood does not live only in archives or official records. It also lives in school songs, annual bicycle parades, early-morning walks, longtime friendships, local businesses and the stories neighbors tell one another.
By preserving these experiences, we create a more complete record of Lunada Bay and help future generations understand not only how the neighborhood looked, but how it felt to live there.
Every conversation is another chapter in the living story of the neighborhood. Cliff’s Notes: Voices of the Neighborhood
Do You Know Someone Whose Neighborhood Story Should Be Preserved?
Voices of the Neighborhood grows through personal introductions. Longtime residents, educators, business owners, volunteers, coaches, artists and community leaders all hold pieces of local history worth documenting.
