Memorial set for longtime editor, critic
David Wiegand had an abiding respect for both the Bay Area performing arts and the audience who supported them, and now those two constituencies are invited to return this respect at a public memorial next month.
“Remembering David Wiegand” is scheduled for June 4 at the Great American Music Hall, billed as a tribute to The Chronicle’s longtime arts and entertainment editor and TV critic, who was discovered dead in his apartment on May 1. His
sudden death shocked both the national and local arts and culture scene.
“The arts community has been struck dumb by David’s death,” said former Chronicle pop music critic Joel Selvin, “and the outpouring of sympathy and support has been astonishing.”
In response, Selvin created a committee — its membership alone a signal to Wiegand’s reach. Committee members include Dawn Holliday, the eminent talent booker formerly with Slim’s and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass; singer Paula West; Karen Ames, cultural initiatives director for Meyer Sound; former San Francisco Symphony President Nancy Bechtle; and longtime theater publicist Charles Zukow, as well as Datebook staff writers Leah Garchik and Aidin Vaziri.
The group has put together a lineup of performers that includes West, jazz singer Spencer Day, soprano Nicolle Foland accompanied by pianist Keisuke Nakagoshi, and a brass ensemble from the San Francisco Symphony.
Speakers include Bechtle, novelist Ann Beattie, Chronicle Editor in Chief Audrey Cooper and KGO talk show legend Ronn Owens. Sculptor Topher Delaney will also speak on behalf of Wiegand’s beloved Australian shepherd, Angus, whom Delaney has adopted. As such, dogs are welcome to attend.
“This is for the people he left behind to experience some sense of closure,” said Selvin.
Donations in Wiegand’s honor may also be made to the Friends of School of the Arts Foundation (236 West Portal Ave., No. 844, S.F.), which supports the artist-inresidence program at the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts high school, and the NorCal Aussie Rescue (www.norcal aussierescue.com).