Variety seasons life of local inventor, photographer

A cluttered, florescent lit garage off McGregor Boulevard houses 75-year-old Mort Lashman's Electric Bike Factory. There he assembles his latest work: an electric motor for powering any bicycle or tricycle.

Mort Lashman with his wife, Estelle FLORIDA WEEKLY PHOTO EVAN WILLIAMS "Everything's made here so I have full control of it," he said.

Lashman claims nothing less than perfection - not a single failed motor since he began making them, and selling about 500 per year, 10 years ago.

"We have a deal that if anything goes wrong it's my wife's fault, because I don't make mistakes," he said dryly, playful dark eyes watching for a reaction.

The motors are sold to bicycle dealers around the country; recently, one was shipped to a U.S. Marine Corps medic in Iraq. But they are only one of his ventures. Old pictures and mementos scattered throughout his home hint at a life filled with rich variety.

A newspaper article in a desk drawer, for instance, shows Lashman holding pictures of The Beatles.

He was a celebrity photographer in Hollywood from 1960 to 1965, the story reveals, who captured most of the iconic stars of the time, such as John Wayne and Marilyn Monroe. He shot pictures of that era's Academy Awards, the Golden Globes and Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack, to name a few.

"I was the paparazzi at the time," he said.

He was also hired by then-Beatles manager Brian Epstein to photograph John, Paul, George and Ringo, when they toured the United States in 1964.

"They were fun," Lashman said.

He got a start in photography from his father, who had a studio in Miami, where Lashman grew up. In 1965, he returned to Miami briefly.

"There wasn't a celebrity I didn't have pictures of," he said. "Finally, I'd had my fill of it. I was tired."

In 1968, Lashman moved to New York to pursue other interests and "hated it."

"I had cars stolen," he said. "I had robberies."

But during his year there, Lashman met Estelle, his third wife, to whom he's been married 30 years. They moved back to Miami.

Glossy magazines from the 1970s recorded a time when Lashman made vintage vinyl car tops in his hometown, and ran a large company that made swivel-seats for vans called "Van-Go Accessories."

Then he got into making neon signs and disco lights.

"I always liked different things," Lashman said. "I know nothing about neon, but that's what we did."

There are also six U.S. patents in his office, which he chocked up later, during the course of inventing an underwater propulsion device for famous diver Jacques Cousteau. It can pull a diver at about 3 miles per hour and function up to 250 feet down.

After that he developed a waterbed that wouldn't leak.

He sold off the water bed and underwater propulsion device, called "The Incredible MAXX Stealth," to various companies.

He and Estelle moved to Fort Lauderdale in 1970 and Fort Myers in 2001.

Together they built and sold slot machines - "the real thing," Lashman said, "Not the toys you find around here" - for Las Vegas casinos. He continues to do business with Casino operators, and keeps a number of working machines in his home, including a popular model called "The one-armed bandit."

In his early youth, from 1950 to 1954, Lashman was a gunner's mate during the Korean War, off the coast of San Diego, Calif., on a destroyer, the USS KIDD. A model of the ship is on display in his office. (The real KIDD can be viewed in Baton Rouge, La.).

Like the young man in his Navy uniform, Lashman still looks bright and full of energy, but now with grey hair wrapped from head to chin. He also has four grown children.

"Most men are dreamers," he said, as if by way of explaining his adventures.

But perhaps he chased the dreams further than most.

Lashman also has a perfectionist's intensity, and now it is invested in his most recent endeavor, which he describes in graphic detail: the custom-made circuit board, the extra-thick wiring, each bolt and screw fitted "to my specifications." (The battery can be recharged by plugging it in, or manually, by peddling. A fully charged battery will take you about 20 miles, at 15 miles per hour.)

He makes all the motors he needs for the year in one fell swoop, and when he's not working, enjoys watching television. He has considered retiring completely and selling the business, which he roughly estimates at netting $125,000 a year, but hasn't found the right person to pass it to yet.

Lashman claims, "Somebody could literally make millions," if they were willing to hire employees to produce many more motors than he makes now, and sell them around the world.

"I work for a month and a half out of the year and then I'm finished," he said.

Estelle Lashman takes care of all the packaging, shipping and paperwork. Details on the electric motor may be found at electricbikefactory. com or electrictrikefactory.com.

"It's been an interesting life," he said. "It's been a good life. What can I say?"