Shoppers rush into the moribund Gump’s

At Gump’s on the sixth day of its probably-going-out-of-business sale,

Claire Adelson heard the security guard comment on the scene, which she describes as “virtually empty shelves and a few remaining items left in the store.”

“It’s like a carcass that’s been picked clean,” said the guard. Meanwhile, on the same day, Karen

Dold was browsing when she overheard a woman who looked to be 60 or so commenting to a Millennial, “What a shame. This store has been around for 100 years.” “I never heard of it,” said the younger shopper, “until I saw the sale signs.” “Therein,” said Dold, “lies the problem.” P.S.: Oh, no! Not ready to shop! Friday’s press release from China Live was headlined, “The holidays are just around the corner.”

At Dore Alley, site of the street party that makes the Folsom Street Fair look like the Iowa State Fair, Adda Dada noticed that someone has sprinkled G’s on the traffic sign at the end of the block, changing “ONE WAY” to “GONE GAY.”

The star Japanese soccer player Keisuke Honda ate lunch at Hakkasan recently with venture capitalist Jeremy Fiance. I’m told that they were recognized by restaurant staffers, obviously a pretty savvy crew.

Lawyer and Sam’s Grill co-owner John Briscoe’s “Crush,” about the California wine industry, is being published by University of Nevada Press and will be out in September. He’s planning a publication party at Books Inc. on Chestnut Street on Sept. 4, and a party for himself at Sam’s on Sept. 13.

At the same time, he’s planning a book party for his friend Lenny Stefanelli, who died in April, a few months after the University of Nevada Press’ December publication of his memoir, “Garbage.” Stefanelli, born and raised in San Francisco, began working as a garbage man at 19; 12 years later, he was president of Sunset Scavenger.

He was a close friend of Briscoe’s, and both were close friends of Kevin Starr. They told Stefanelli he had “great stories,” says Briscoe. “If you get it written, Kevin and I will help you get it published, and when it’s published, I will throw you a book party at Sam’s.”

Starr recommended that the two writers go to the University of Nevada Press. At one point, Stefanelli, more familiar with the pace of garbage collection than he was with the pace of publishing, grew so impatient that he decided he’d publish his book himself. Starr, says Briscoe, disabused him of that notion in a phone call that included some very strong language. “That’s how Lenny had talked to people,” said Briscoe, and Starr said he had just “given it back to him.”

Stefanelli didn’t live to see Briscoe’s promise fulfilled, but the party at Sam’s is Thursday, Aug. 23.

And last Wednesday at Booksmith on Haight Street, fans of Vanessa Hua, whose column is to the left of this one every Friday, celebrated the publication of her novel, “A River of Stars.” It’s a timely story about a pregnant Chinese woman from a rural district who travels to a Southern California facility that houses foreign nationals until their babies — automatically American citizens — are born. Afterward, seeking a better life, the new mother and baby come to San Francisco. The book explores what it means to be an American citizen, a concept especially relevant in a time when the hardships of immigration have been so much in the news. Hua herself was born in the Bay Area, to immigrant parents, who faced hardships in their own struggles. Like them, “as a parent and a writer,” said Hua, she is unable to “throw the towel in.” Her mind-set reflects the hope and optimism of immigrants who set out to find a better life. Whatever happens, “There will be ways I can work my way out of it.”

In one scene, she said, the woman is selling bao, Chinese buns, on the sidewalk in front of a Mission District photo shop. The work is menial; the setting a statement. For an immigrant to have such a photo taken, she said, is “a way to say I’m worthy even if I am invisible to you.”

This is changing; the day of the party, “Crazy Rich Asians” opened nationwide to rave reviews; Hua wrote about this in The Chronicle. It’s only a beginning, she said at the reading. “There could be more stories of different lives being told.”

Hua will be at City Lights bookstore on Sept. 6.

“What’s inside the chocolate croissants?” Man to server, overheard at Costeaux Bakery in Healdsburg by Martin Worsdall