News from the Heart & Soul of San Francisco
By THOMAS REYNOLDS For more than a year and a half, a public silence has surrounded investor Neil Mehta’s plans to remake a prime stretch of Fillmore Street. A fund he created with a $100 million investment quietly acquired eight buildings containing 11 storefronts, including the historic Clay Theater, and christened itself the Upper Fillmore…
FIRST PERSON | CHARLES BUSH My latest novel, The Boy with the Jade, published today, is historical fiction set in 18th century China. It tells the story of Baoyu, a boy growing up amidst the extravagance, tumult and cruelty of a high aristocratic family. Trapped by expectations that he pass the Imperial Examination and continue…
By HANNAH BLAZEI If you look closely at The Fillmore’s sign you will see an apple at the bottom. You also can find apples as a main theme in the Bill Graham mural on Post Street. That is because Graham famously always handed out free apples at his Fillmore shows. It was a unique symbol…
STREET TALK | CYNTHIA TRAINA A younger Mayor Daniel Lurie was, for years, a familiar face on Fillmore Street. He first began making his mark on public life in San Francisco when he lived just a few steps from Fillmore — directly across the street from Florio restaurant. Lurie and his family lived at 80…
By ALISON OWINGS A few months ago, I called 911. I am not often an alarmist, but in front of my apartment building at Fillmore and Washington, I reported, was a pair of legs sticking out from under a pile of left-behind furniture. Lacking the moxie to find out on my own if the legs…
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…