News from the Heart & Soul of San Francisco
FLASHBACK | BARRY GARELICK A few weeks before the Vietnam war ended, I met the poet ruth weiss without knowing who she was. The meeting occurred at Minnie’s Can-Do Club in the Fillmore district of San Francisco on one of the weekly open-mic poetry nights. A melange of all sorts of people with all sorts…
STREET TALK | CYNTHIA TRAINA As locals flee the summer fog, retailers are taking the opportunity to spruce up their digs, or close up shop and make a move. The prime retail stretch of Fillmore Street between Bush and Jackson is under construction. Mellow and Barbers is moving its four-chair barbershop at 1906 Fillmore over…
NEIGHBORHOOD AUTHOR Arthur Bloomfield for years lived alone, surrounded by books and music, in a classic Victorian in the Webster Street Historic District — the city’s first historic district, created by his late wife, the architectural historian Anne Bloomfield. He wrote seven books, mostly on music and food, and scores of reviews as classical music…
By EMILY JOHNSON Hoodline Sometimes the smallest acts of rebellion spark the biggest changes. When Susan and Joe Meyers faced a $1,400 fine for their beloved Little Free Library on Pine Street — a community treasure that had been sharing books for over a decade — they could have quietly paid up and moved on.…
How my Pacific Heights pup sparked Pretzel Palz FIRST PERSON | KINSEY HART Every day for the past year, my dog and I have made our way to Alta Plaza Park. What started as routine walks became the inspiration for something bigger: a whimsical stationery brand that captures the magic of exploration through Pretzel’s eyes…
STREET TALK | CYNTHIA TRAINA In a neighborhood shy of co-working spaces, Koho is a welcome arrival. This nonprofit space for creatives, open from Monday to Thursday, offers budget-friendly desks and fiber-optic Wi-Fi in a laid-back Japantown storefront on the second floor of Japantown’s East Mall. Koho joins Canopy (above Peet’s Coffee on Fillmore) and…
By JASON OLAINE Artistic Director, Fillmore Jazz Festival It was on! Then it was off. And it’s back on again! The Fillmore Jazz Festival is here! And so on the Fourth of July weekend we “Lift Every Voice,” the theme of this year’s festival, to rejoice in its resurrection, and to unite as a community…
AN APPRECIATION | JASON OLAINE Kaz Kajimura’s passing marks the end of one of the most notable eras in all of jazz history, and not just Bay Area jazz history. When jazz clubs across the country were struggling in the ’70s and ’80s, Kaz and his partners Yoshie Akiba and Hiro Hori were growing a small Japanese restaurant…
NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPS from Pacific Heights, Cow Hollow and the Marina are joining forces to host a Town Hall discussion of upzoning plans that would allow taller and bigger buildings on local streets. It’s set for Tuesday, June 24, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Marina Theater at 2149 Chestnut Street. The idea of relaxing…
FINALLY BREAKING A long silence, the new owners of the historic Clay Theater will today unveil plans for its return as a single-screen theater in its familiar but updated home on Fillmore Street. When the renovation of the century-old theater is complete, it will include approximately 200 seats and host more than 500 film screenings…