Anyone who knows Malibu knows about the Crab Shack, a small, barn-red, century-old house perched on a hillside just a few miles south of the pier.
And if you know Crab Shack, you definitely know its owner, Randall Miod – better known as Randy, or Crawdaddy, or simply Crow.
“The whole community knew Crowe,” said friend Todd Proctor. “I don’t care if you drive a Bentley or hitchhike to the beach. You knew Crowe and you loved Crowe.”
There was always a party going on in the clubhouse. His friends and family said this week that Miodo was that party. He was a generous, fun-loving, free spirit who brought people together and brought out the best in them.
“Unearthing the gold in each person, letting them see that gold, and letting them act on their best selves. Crowe was like a magician who did that to people.” said Proctor.
In this undated photo, Randall Miod stands in front of his home, known as the Crab Shack, that was destroyed in the Palisades fire.
(Courtesy of Todd Proctor)
His mother, Carol A. Smith, of Banning, said Miodo died at her home as the Palisades Fire raged through Malibu. He was 55 years old.
News of Mr. Miodo’s death came as a surprise to a friend who surfed with Crow, crashed on the couch and “stayed up late laughing with the man who made me feel like the best version of myself.” It sent a wave of grief through a vast network of neighbors and acquaintances. ” said friend Michele Cesar German.
“He had the ability to bring people together,” Caesar German said. “He saw beauty in things that others didn’t see. He was a salt-of-the-earth man.”
Miodo (pronounced “my odd number”) was born in Los Angeles and raised in the San Fernando Valley, Smith said. He discovered skateboarding and surfing in middle school, and soon found himself skipping school to go to the waves so often that his mother hid his board.
In the mid-1980s, Proctor was a skinny 12-year-old surfing at Malibu’s Second Point when Miodo paddled over and introduced himself. It was the beginning of a decades-long friendship.
“He took an interest in people, finding out what they were about, developing them and encouraging them in what they were into,” Proctor recalled. “He was like a big brother who always made me feel like I was going in the right direction.”
A few years after graduating from high school, Miodo moved to Malibu and found a run-down three-bedroom wooden house that stood out among the glitzy homes along Pacific Coast Highway.
He earned the nickname Blackdaddy, thanks to a congenital bone deposit that causes his arms to curve inward, like a crustacean. The house soon received its own nickname: “The Crab Hut.”
The landlord then moved out and left Miodo in charge of the property. Mr. Proctor said friends helped him buy Mr. Miodo’s when he decided to sell about 15 years ago.
“The door was always open for surfers, people coming from different countries, itinerant vagrants, and he felt sympathy for them,” Proctor recalled.
There was also a party. There was music. The walls were decorated with Proctor’s photographs and abstract paintings. A band was set up in the corner, with Proctor, drummer, and others jamming. There was an aluminum ladder that went up to the roof with a view of the ocean. There was always a huge used sofa there, and every time it wore out someone would drag in a new one.
Miodo never married. He had no children and worked at a local restaurant to earn a living. He was the centerpiece of a different kind of family, made up of people who loved Malibu and surfing and everything that came with it.
“He became a Malibu legend,” his mother said. “I don’t think he realized how much he was loved and respected just by being Randy the Crow.”
He knew how dangerous living life was along that coastline. He has experienced fires, earthquakes, and landslides. As recently as February, a rock fell down a hillside, missing his home by a few centimeters.
“I was just relaxing and watching TV when I heard a humming sound,” a confused Miodo told KCAL.
As the Palisades fire approached on Jan. 7, Miodo called her mother around 3 p.m. to say she smelled smoke. He had a hose and said he was going to fight for his home.
“His last words to me that day were, ‘Pray for the Palisades, pray for Malibu.’ I love you,” she said.
After that, he stopped responding to text messages. On the morning of January 9, Smith received a call from one of Miodo’s friends who said human remains had been found in the charred remains of the crab shack. Considering all the roommates, it would be only Miodo.
The Palisades Fire destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes in Malibu. The first thing to rise from the ashes is the legend of the Crow.
Tributes such as “Rest Easy Crawdaddy” and “Crab Shack Forever” are painted along the beach walls. His friends are planning a memorial service once it is safe to do so. The last gathering centered around Craw.
When Cesar German learned of his friend’s death, he climbed into the rafters of his West Hills home. She pulled out a box of memorabilia and began examining the letters and photos that marked their decades-long friendship.
A small card I didn’t recognize was stuck in the bottom. It was a student ID card from Chatsworth High School. It’s not hers, it’s Miodo’s. The Crow. It felt like a sign of something.
“I know he’s looking down right now,” she said. “Bring people closer now. Tell people you love them now. Don’t wait until you can’t anymore. No one is guaranteed the next moment.”
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