I’m a San Franciscan by heart, born and raised in the city by the bay where
I fell asleep in bed listening to the roar of lions at the zoo,
and the tinkling of glass windchimes at the open window
swam at Fleishhacker Pool fed by salty cold sea water
gawked at Laughing Sal at Playland by the Beach
marveled at the glittering perfume bottles at I. Magnin cosmetics in Union Square
cringed at chickens swinging from hooks in Chinatown
cut my teeth by walking, riding buses, streetcars, and hanging off the end of cable cars
crowned Lincoln High’s Junior Prom Queen and shook pompoms at Kezar Stadium
discovered the Surf Theater at Irving where the scent of espresso wafted in the lobby
and French New Wave and Japanese cinematic masterpieces blasted my sensibilities
heard Miles Davis blowing horn at the Blue Note in the Tenderloin
boarded at Dominican College of San Rafael at Edgehill, a turn of the century mansion, where I became intoxicated by the beauty of Marin’s wooded valley and the majesty of Mt. Tamalpais.

Then the Tides on Bridgeway in Sausalito was an open-beamed, airy bookstore that had the same bohemian atmosphere as City Lights in San Francisco, a mecca for Beat poets and writers. The Tides was an artists’ gathering place, a book lovers’ hangout and airy gateway by the bay. Even then stories were running in my blood.

While other dreams and forces took me far away, there are no places that have imprinted me as deeply as San Francisco and Marin. One part of me wanted to dance, another part wanted to travel, and yet another part wanted to write. In the end, they each won out.