Bodhisattva of Browser Books
By ERIN C. MESSER Latif William Harris — post-Beat poet, seeker and Bodhisattva of Browser Books — passed away on October 15 in Watsonville, California. He was 76 years old.
Author: editors
Medical library is on the block
LANDMARKS | BRIDGET MALEY The classical Health Sciences Library at 2395 Sacramento Street may soon find a new use. California Pacific Medical Center recently disposed of its collection and vacated the space, the library having gone entirely digital. The building, which was designated a San Francisco landmark in 1980, is currently for sale at an…
Harry’s may take over Thai Stick
UPDATE: The much buzzed about bid by the two owners of Harry’s Bar to take over the Thai Stick has collapsed. Rick Howard and George Karas reportedly pulled out of the deal, with no reasons given. The bar stays open, but food service has been cut back somewhat while Thai Stick owner Paul Polemasuppapol looks for…
A gathering place in Japantown
For over a century, Benkyodo was a local fixture By FRAN MORELAND JOHNS After turning out more than 800 dessert treats a day for more than three decades, some people might lose their sweet tooth. But not Bobby Okamura, co-owner with his brother Ricky of Benkyodo, the Japantown fixture at the corner of Sutter and Buchanan.…
Fillmore gets new beat cops
AFTER REPORTS OF an increasing number of grab-and-run thefts — and calls for help — from Fillmore’s fashion boutiques and other shops, the SFPD debuted a two-officer uniformed foot patrol on September 9. Known as “Beat 44,” it stretches from Geary Boulevard north to Jackson Street. Officers Gordon Wong and Jason Castro will walk the beat…
Toasting an eventful first year
By FAITH WHEELER Some may mistake it for a hole in the wall, tucked away near the bustling corner of California and Divisadero, but to those in the know, the Scopo Divino wine bar has become a neighborhood institution during its first year in business. And the food has turned out to be just as important…
Fall in the Fillmore
Text & Photographs by BARBARA WYETH My dear Aunt Fordy, who lived her life in Iowa, loved the fall, especially October. I happen to agree. It’s the best month of the year. She always called it “lovely blue October,” never just plain October. And there is a special color in the sky during the autumn…
A man on a Mission
FIRST PERSON | DICK EVANS On the front cover of my new documentary photography book, The Mission, a young Latino mother and her daughter are pictured walking in front of a striking black and white mural of Carlos Santana. Santana — born in Jalisco, Mexico, but raised in the city’s Mission District — also has a strong connection…
Immigration fight snares a familiar face
By JAYA PADMANABHAN When 27-year-old Luis Quiroz heard the news that DACA — the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration program — was being rescinded, it was as though something he’d worked for all his life had been stripped away. “I felt completely defeated,” he said. Quiroz was born in the Mexican state of Guerrero…
Kabuki, mon amour
FILM | DAVID THOMSON People call it “the Kabuki” still, as if clutching at something and hoping it will stay there. It is, or has been, our neighborhood movie theater, with a front onto Post Street, a parking garage, an alleged restaurant — and a certain dejected character. I’m being as generous as possible because I…