Moscone opened door to a new San Francisco

In November, it will be 40 years since the assassinations of Mayor George

Moscone and Harvey Milk, and there will be lots written and said about the stains and scars of that awful time. But “Moscone: A Legacy of Change,” a documentary produced by the University of the Pacific, Moscone’s alma mater, focuses on all the good things — often not easy things — that went before, on Moscone’s leadership in “opening the door” to create a city government that reflects the diversity of San Francisco.

At the San Francisco campus (its dental school) of the university on Thursday, Oct. 25, invited guests, including family members, political allies, colleagues, San Francisco activists and the filmmaking team — including director Nat Katzman and writer Steve Talbot — gathered to watch a preview of the documentary, which will be shown on public stations in Sacramento and Sonoma/Santa Rosa on Monday, Nov. 5, and on KQED in San Francisco on Nov. 23.

Welcoming remarks from university President Pamela Eibeck detailed Moscone’s activism as a student there. Son Christopher Moscone focused on the strength of his dad’s convictions: “My father was a strong leader, passionate. He stood for what he stood for, and that was that. And that’s what we need a little more of now.” Jonathan Moscone shed some light on his parents’ relationship: “My dad was the man who shook everybody’s hand. He could get along with a tree. My mother stood behind him and said, ‘This person screwed you over.’ ”

There was a reception in the lobby after the movie, but many people, longtime allies and compatriots, stayed behind in the room where the screening had been held, talking with others. I asked Jonathan Moscone, who’d been long involved in the making of the film, whether seeing it onscreen held any surprises.

“His voice,” he said. “Hearing him talk. I forgot all that; the way he moved, what he felt like.” He made reference to part of a speech at the Commonwealth Club, seen in the movie. “It was like he came back to life ... and I miss him.”

Neil Young and Daryl Hannah, married for a couple of months, had Saturday night dinner at Boulevard on Oct. 20.

Janice Hough asks, “So I guess Trump would be attacking people who risked their lives to cross the Berlin Wall as criminals, too?”

The 25th anniversary lunch of the San Francisco Free Clinic, at the Ritz-Carlton on Wednesday, Oct. 24, was at once a familiar endeavor — a gathering of philanthropic folks wanting to support one of the most public-spirited endeavors of one of San Francisco’s most public-spirited families — and at the same time a direct plea. In this fancy-pants city, where motive often is hidden by frills, there were thank-yous to staff members and volunteers, including food coordinator Loretta Keller and emcee Pam Moore, but no attempt to mask the business at hand: raising money.

Drs. Patricia Hellman Gibbs and Richard Gibbs met at Yale Medical School, married and (later) founded the clinic. She had been an Olympic skier; he had been a dancer. The luncheon was in memory of Chris and Warren Hellman, Patricia Gibbs’ parents. The Gibbses founded the clinic — first on Clement Street, now on California — to serve San Franciscans with no health insurance. There are almost 40,000 such people in San Francisco; yearly, the clinic provides some 130,000 patient visits. About 60 doctors volunteer to work there, alongside nurses, health practitioners and social workers who encourage people to obtain insurance. It was also set up to provide training to young physicians.

“No person should have to go without insurance,” said Richard Gibbs. “We want to continue to leave the clinic as a legacy ... to catch people who are falling through the cracks.” There was no fundraising auction, but it was announced after lunch that the couple had themselves made a donation ($1 million) to help fund an endowment that will guarantee the clinic becomes a permanent part of the city they love.

Family medicine, said speaker Dr. Kevin Grumbach, chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at UCSF (which sends medical students for training at the clinic), should provide a “sense of the humanity of medicine . ... People who come to the clinic bring their poems . ... People at the free clinic help them finish those poems.” Leah Garchik is open for business in San Francisco, 415-777-8426. Email: lgarchik@ sfchronicle.com Twitter: @leahgarchik

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