San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Shilts remembered at Glide
Items have been culled from The Chronicle’s archives of 25, 50, 75 and 100 years ago.
1994
Feb. 17: More than 1,200 people gathered yesterday in Glide Memorial Methodist Church for what the Rev. Cecil Williams called a celebration of the life of Randy Shilts, the best-selling author and San Francisco Chronicle reporter who died of AIDS last week. Speakers at the memorial service extolled Shilts’ courage ... and professionalism, as well as his generosity and sense of humor. His closed coffin sat before the pews. Above the pulpit, a photograph of Shilts and his golden retriever, Dash, was projected on a large screen. Shilts, 42, was among the first openly gay journalists to work at a major newspaper.
He died Thursday after a long battle with AIDS, the disease whose deadly path he covered in The Chronicle and in his 1987 bestseller, “And the Band Played On: Politics, People and the AIDS Epidemic.” His other books were: “The Life and Times of Harvey Milk” in 1982 and “Conduct Unbecoming: Gays and Lesbians in the U.S. Military,” which was published last year and became another New York Times bestseller. Before yesterday’s service a Kansas minister had caused concern by announcing his intention to stage an anti-gay protest at Glide. A flyer distributed by the Rev. Fred Phelps of Topeka, Kan., included a photo of Shilts with the words, “Filthy Face of Fag Evil.” Ten religious conservatives from Topeka arrived at Glide only to be confronted by San Francisco police in riot gear and a jeering crowd of more than 1,500. Phelps’ followers soon retreated to the vans that had brought them. The crowd roared victoriously.
— David Tuller and Suzanne Espinosa Solis
1969
Feb. 21: A full-blown riot — shrouded in a swirling haze of tear gas — erupted on the Berkeley campus of the University of California yesterday and raged until nightfall. Violence broke out sporadically throughout the morning and early afternoon, climaxing in a roaring rock-throwing rampage shortly after 3 p.m. The National Guard was alerted late last night by Governor Ronald Reagan to be ready to aid local law enforcement agencies if it should become necessary today.
Several thousand striking students had been jammed in Sproul Hall plaza when a minor incident — involving a flower — ignited the mass and brought a barrage of tear-gas canisters from Alameda county deputy sheriffs and California Highway Patrolmen. Observers reported that scores — possibly hundreds — of tear gas canisters were thrown. Police brought in pepper foggers, motorized machines that spray vast clouds of gas and emit an eerie hum. There were numerous skirmishes as students and police battled hand to hand.
At 3:30 p.m. a running student tossed a purple flower at an officer. He was grabbed, clubbed and carried off. The students surged toward the police, and canisters of gas flew back and forth from police to students, exploding at intervals. The crowd overturned two police vans. The shouts rose: “The cops have had their riot. We’re going to have ours.”
1944
Feb. 18: For many years a pair of enormous shoes was nailed to the wall of San Quentin’s gallows chamber. They are still there although the gallows chamber is now part of the prison’s print shop. A number of legends claimed to explain the presence upon the wall, the most colorful of which was to the effect that they fell from a condemned man’s feet when he shot through the trap and awed attendants fastened them to the wall as a souvenir of the occasion.
After digging through the prison records, however, Warden Duffy reports that that particular version is feverishly imaginary. Many years ago, according to records, a Scandinavian arrived at the prison barefoot. No wonder — he wore a size 22 shoe. They made him a pair of shoes at the prison and he wore them all through the term of his sentence. When he left they presented him with a pair of new shoes, and some inmate, unknown, but with the interests of posterity in mind, hammered the old ones to the gallows chamber walls. All that is left of them now is the soles. The uppers have been cut off, piece by piece, and carried away by spectators who witnessed hangings.
1919
Feb. 17: Four thousand trapper licenses were issued in California during the past season, according to the State Game and Fishing Commission. According to the report, the skunk is the most numerous of the fur-bearing animals, 10,480 being trapped in the season just closed. Skunk pelts are worth $1.50 to $2.00. Reports from trappers show the following takes for the season: The list includes 804 mink, 127 pine marten, 28 fisher, 59 weasel, 82 badger, 2808 raccoon, 1381 ring-tailed cats, 26 river otter, 2268 fox, 55 bear, 1941 coyote, 7 mountain lion, 1468 wild cat, 111 house cat, 18 opossum, 60 muskrat, 20 woodrat and 3 mole. Mink bring the trapper better than $3 and pine marten better than $5. Coyotes are good moneymakers for the trapper. It is a poor skin that does not bring $5, and they have been known to bring the trapper as much as $25.