News from the Heart and Soul of San Francisco
FIRST PERSON | Doug Rappaport Offering handmade bicycles and promising precision maintenance services, Bespoke Cycles is now open at 2843 Clay Street, near Scott, the storefront previously occupied for many years by Tony Kitz Oriental Rugs. As a nearby neighbor and an avid cyclist, I’m excited — because in addition to selling custom bicycles and…
FIRST PERSON | Margo Perin A group of women gathered a few weeks ago for our annual get-together, this year at the home of Fillmore photographer Jean Hurley. We all love to eat and everybody brought something for the potluck, which was, as usual, plentiful and delicious. As we sat around the exquisitely appointed table,…
Only six months after relocating to 1833 Fillmore to deliver free medical care to uninsured and underinsured women, the Women’s Community Clinic has expanded to offer prenatal services to young women in need. The new program for pregnant women 21 and under is a collaboration between the clinic and the UCSF School of Nursing, which…
By Barbara Kate Repa Owning her own lingerie shop was quite literally a dream for Beverly Weinkauf. “I actually had a dream about a candy store with large black and white diamonds on the floor,” she says, “and shelves of apothecary jars full of panties.” Then, driving home from the airport one night, she saw…
FIRST PERSON | JULIAN GUTHRIE Having lived in San Francisco for nearly 20 years and worked as a reporter first for the Examiner and now for the Chronicle, I have come to see the different ways neighborhoods in the city are defined. For many, the center of a neighborhood is a coffee house, or a…
By Barbara Kate Repa Yoga. Trance dancing. Nurturing food from the earth. Music by the Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart. A crowd of true believers at the Fillmore. It sounds like the ’60s all over again. But this time, in a wholly wholesome good way, it’s a unique happening called Wanderlust coming to the historic Fillmore…
By Barbara Kate Repa “Amazing!” is the word clients use most frequently to describe their experiences at the Women’s Community Clinic, which is settling into a refurbished space at 1833 Fillmore. That’s followed by a sea of compliments rarely enthused by those experiencing gynecological exams: “compassionate,” “efficient,” “informative,” “respectful.” In addition to rave…
SHE WAS 19 when they met in New York. He was a much-in-demand illustrator twice her age. Denise Ackle and Bill Shields became good friends, but both went on to marry other people. After she moved to California and then back to New York, they met again. This time it was different. “When I re-met…
By Stedman F. Matthew More than 60,000 people visit the St. Jude Shrine at St. Dominic’s Church every year to light a candle, say a prayer and seek solace from their suffering. The shrine — founded by the Dominican friars in 1935 in the middle of the Great Depression to bring hope to a world…
So Ruth Dewson was told when she opened Mrs. Dewson’s Hats on Fillmore Street. For decades she has been the unofficial mayor of Fillmore Street. But she has been missing from the neighborhood in recent months, sidelined by ill health. We caught up with her at her shop and found her spirit strong and her…