I grew up in the Valley too and was flying my control lines and free flights at the dam basin in the late 50s and 60s. There were a lot of people out there back then, I'm sure it's a total zoo these days. When I teach I never get into the dynamics either, at first you don't need to know but as the student progresses these things start to come up without the student getting bogged down with info, they just learn how to fly the plane. I also have an old flight sim I loan them so they can practice at home on there computer. I give certain things I want them to do so it will relate to learning to fly. While you are learning you can also read books and discover a lot on your own.
You can go to a club meeting and stand up and ask for an instructor. I don't belong to any club these days and fly on a lake bed that is open to anyone, there are several of us that teach. Most of us even have our own trainers and buddy boxes to teach with. Only thing I ever ask is the student buys there own fuel. Other then that I don't want a student to ever buy anything until after they solo.
I'm sure there will be several people like myself in your club, you just haven't met them yet.