Travelers' Tales San Francisco: True StoriesJames O'Reilly, Larry Habegger, Sean O'Reilly San Francisco is spoken of in the same breath as Paris, Venice, and Rome, and has earned the slogan "America's Favorite City" for its openness, dramatic beauty, cultural amenities, the diversity of its neighborhoods and population, and its icons--the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, cable cars, Fisherman's Wharf, and fog. It sits on the tip of a peninsula on the edge of a continent in one of the world's most seismically active areas--no wonder there has always been a "sitting on the edge" mentality here. The city appeared instantly--just add gold and stir --when that precious ore was discovered in the nearby hills in 1848. It was a boomtown that lasted, and all of that rich history is captured in Travelers' Tales San Francisco along with clear portraits of today's city. In these true stories you will explore the North Beach of the Beat era and beyond with Herbert Gold, discover true romance on a cable car with Michele Anna Jordan, uncover the real Mission district with John Krich, marvel at the city's wild light with Andrei Codrescu, gumshoe through Sam Spade's San Francisco with Don Freeman, and learn what it means to be a "quintessential San Franciscan" with the late Herb Caen. |
Contents
Wild Light | 1 |
Pacific World | 12 |
What You See Is Who You Are | 21 |
When San Francisco Was Cool | 25 |
I Was a Teenage Yogi | 42 |
The Real Mission | 47 |
Circle of Gold | 56 |
Freakin in Frisco | 63 |
GOING YOUR OWN WAY | 223 |
El Matador Lives | 225 |
Looking for Mr Big | 235 |
Lottas Legacy | 250 |
The First Negroni in the No Name Bar | 259 |
The Specter of Grand View Peak | 265 |
Through the Golden Gate | 272 |
The Art of Lincoln Park | 282 |
North Beach at Twilight | 79 |
City Perched on a Frontier | 89 |
Glide and the Family Church | 101 |
The Heavenly Gates | 107 |
My Fathers Jack London | 115 |
SOME THINGS TO DO | 133 |
The Lost Roman Baths of Adolph Sutro | 135 |
Going In | 143 |
The Forest of John McLaren | 150 |
Sam Spades San Francisco | 158 |
The Rock | 166 |
Fort at the End of the World | 177 |
Gulf of the Farallones | 189 |
West Coast Orient | 195 |
Locomotion | 205 |
Brooding at Ocean Beach | 213 |
Parts Unknown | 216 |
Jammin with Garcia | 288 |
Old Growth Houses | 296 |
Driving Your Karma | 303 |
Is There Really a San Francisco? | 307 |
IN THE SHADOWS | 315 |
The Late Victorians | 317 |
Rocking the Cradle | 337 |
Sharing the Pain | 346 |
A Survivor | 353 |
Lost Treasures | 358 |
THE LAST WORD | 365 |
Footprints in the Sand | 367 |
Recommended Reading | 371 |
Index | 375 |
377 | |
379 | |
Common terms and phrases
adventure Alcatraz American asked Bay Area began boat Books building cable car California called César Chinatown Chinese city's Coast Copyright Dashiell Hammett door dream earthquake Edited eyes father feel felt fish Franciscan gold Golden Gate Bridge Golden Gate Park Harold Gilliam head Herb Caen hill homosexual Hotel ISBN Island Italian Jack London James O'Reilly knew Larry Habegger light live looked Lotta's Fountain Malcolm Margolin Mission Moloch neighborhood never night North Beach Oakland Ocean Beach Ohlone Pacific Phillip play pool Presidio reprinted by permission road Rock San Francisco Bay San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco Examiner Sean O'Reilly seemed Selection sharks smell stories Street Sutro swimming thing told tour trees trip turned Victorian walk waves woman women writing young