San Francisco
Five decades after the Summer of Love made this city the epicentre of social change, its spirit of inclusion and creativity lives on. Turn on, tune in and drop out with Hazel Flynn.
Read
When Armistead Maupin began his quintessentially San Franciscan Tales of the City series, Arnold Schwarzenegger was still a bodybuilder and Steve Jobs was working out of a garage. The first of nine novels about the lives and times of the inhabitants of Mrs Madrigal’s Barbary Lane boarding house came out in 1978 and the last in 2014. Along the way, the series drew in millions of devoted fans who recognised themselves in the gay, straight, innocent, wild, shallow and wise characters.
Also consider…
◖ The Joy Luck Club (1989): The resonant themes of mothers and daughters, particularly the gulfs and bridges between them, made Amy Tan’s debut book about Chinese-American families living in San Francisco (which the author describes as interlinked short stories rather than a novel) into an international bestseller.
Listen
The 1967 Monterey Pop Festival took Otis Redding from R’n’B up-and-comer to true soul star. Living on a houseboat near the Golden Gate Bridge shortly afterwards, he started to write (Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay. Redding completed the song, named one of Rolling Stone’s greatest of all time, with guitarist Steve Cropper but did not live to see its enduring success.
Also consider…
◖ Vertigo: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1958): The atmosphere of Alfred Hitchcock’s San Franciscoset noir mystery is heightened immeasurably by composer Bernard Herrmann’s score, with its frantic, jagged strings and eerie romanticism. ◖ San Francisco Days (1993): If there’s such a thing as sunny melancholy, Chris Isaak captures it on the title track of his fourth album, a plea to the lost love he can’t forget.
Watch
Maybe it’s the title. It’s hard to think of any other reason why 1972’s “What’s Up, Doc?” flies under the radar of so many movie lovers. Barbra Streisand has never been more appealing than she is in this film, playing opposite Ryan O’Neal’s adorkable, absentminded professor. Director Peter Bogdanovich’s brilliant take on classic screwball comedy also has an excellent supporting cast and the best “car” chase ever shot in San Francisco (yes, including 1968’s Bullitt). Watch it somewhere your guffaws won’t disturb others.
Also consider…
◖ Milk (2008): The struggle for LGBTQI rights is a huge part of the city’s story and Harvey Milk was one of its major figures. Sean Penn won an Academy Award for his remarkable portrayal of the community-organiser-turned-elected-official, assassinated along with the then mayor, George Moscone, in 1978.