News from the Heart & Soul of San Francisco
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…
One of Fillmore Street’s iconic institutions will disappear by the end of the year when Fillmore Hardware closes its doors promptly at 5:55 for the final time. For 49 years — since 1961 — the store has been the ultimate neighborhood-serving business. Originally twice its present size, it was a full-service hardware and glass company…
Neighborhood artist Veerakeat Tongpaiboon has a new exhibition of his dynamic cityscape paintings this month at the Thomas Reynolds Gallery, his longtime artistic home at Pine and Fillmore. It’s the 16th year he has shown at the gallery. But this time he won’t be shuttling between his art and his day job at his family’s…
[nggallery id=5] By Tessa Williams “Serendipity,” reads an assemblage of vintage letters affixed to a wall at Timeless Treasures, Joan O’Connor’s antiques store on Sutter Street near Pierce. “Bananas,” reads another. “Slow down,” a third. An establishment that celebrates the relationship between words and objects, Timeless Treasures specializes in vintage letters, available in a vast…
After 26 years of buttery croissants and sweet treats, today is the final day for Patisserie Delanghe. With no notice or fanfare, Dominique and Marie-Jeanne Delanghe will retire and take their delayed annual vacation to France. But while they’ll spend more time in their apartment on the Ile St. Louis in Paris, they will continue…
“THIS IS THE GHETTO. You gotta carry a gun.” 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…
By Mark J. Mitchell You may have read recently that New York author Pete Hamill’s new book is going straight to digital format, skipping print altogether. But the Fillmore’s own Arthur Bloomfield has beaten him to it. Bloomfield latest book, “More Than the Notes,” made its debut online a few weeks ago and is available…
Q & A | ARTHUR BLOOMFIELD What motivated you to write “More Than the Notes,” your new e-book on legendary conductors of the 19th century? When I was 11, my mother started taking me downtown once a month to the White House department store. It was where Banana Republic is now. Up on the fourth…
A few months ago we told the story of Saralee, a remarkable neighborhood cat who gave birth to 11 kittens. One of them was quickly named Walter Cronkite for what looked uncannily like the pencil-thin moustache of the legendary television anchorman. It turns out Walter was a girl cat, and now comes word of a…
Stuart Hall High School, the all-boys Catholic school at Pine and Octavia Streets, in recent weeks has experienced its own death and resurrection. In early June, word spread rapidly through the school community that a move was afoot to shut down the school because of declining enrollment and dwindling finances. Supporters quickly mobilized their resources…