Many years ago, when I was fresh and tender, but a bit prickly like a young artichoke, I was a copyboy for the San Francisco Chronicle. Today, more than 50 years later, a bit tough... Read More
In this month’s column, I’m serving up a little of this and a little of that, plus a few loose ends. THE DARWIN AWARDS These days North Beach is full of Segways — you... Read More
Today your personal philosopher (nose always pointed into the wind) will amaze and titillate you with news, notes, gossip, and wild rumors about the North Beach scene. But first, h... Read More
As I write this, plans are being made for a Friday, Oct. 2, groundbreaking for Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s visionary Piazza St. Francis, The Poets Plaza in North Beach. The date ... Read More
On July 1, a vivacious 32-year-old woman named Kate Steinle was walking along the Embarcadero’s Pier 14 with her father when she was struck in the chest by a bullet. The shoo... Read More
This month’s North Beach Sketches includes a bit of this and a bit of that — Mormons, vigilantes, escaped convicts, some recollections of a rock ‘n’ roll jam ba... Read More
This Back Story is a paean to an old friend, Jimmy Lyons. His name may not resonate with some of you unless you have attended the Monterey Jazz Festival. Jimmy was the founder and ... Read More
You hear a lot these days about how hard it is just getting around San Francisco between the construction, the traffic, and the congestion. The bottom line is that San Francisco is... Read More
Just as The New York Times always reminds us on its front page, here’s “All the News That’s Fit to Print” this month. Actually, it’s all the news I co... Read More
Unverified legend has it that the first woman on the planet came into existence as something of an afterthought. God reportedly took a rib from a sleeping Adam, the first man, and ... Read More
On a sunny San Francisco morning, District Two Supervisor Mark Farrell sits in his City Hall office surrounded by San Francisco Giants memorabilia and framed America’s Cup po... Read More
Summer in San Francisco brings not only chilly weather but also our favorite neighborhood street festivals. You’ll find arts, crafts, food, music, and more as well as some ne... Read More
A REQUIEM FOR CAPP’S CORNER The evening of Tuesday, March 31, I sat in the bar at Original Joe’s in North Beach with my friend, San Francisco Chronicle columnist Carl N... Read More
This is the third of a three-part series. Here’s an update from Parts one and two: San Francisco narrowly missed becoming the film capital of the world. Perhaps it’s ju... Read More
“In my 30 years plus in law enforcement, I have seen a good deal of misconduct by police officers. I have seen scandals. But the level of the problems and the frequency of th... Read More