“I’ve been here since 1964. I was a television producer at KQED. Made a few personal films. Done a lot of photography.”
“What kind of films?”
“I’m a charm maker. A lot of special moments and special times. Like the 50th anniversary of Coit Tower. Sometimes birthdays, sometimes healings. Elevating things. Tell me your name.”
“Garry.”
“I’m Diane, nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too. So where’d you move from?”
“I came from St. Louis. I went Washington University, but I was raised in Chicago till I was about 16.”
“Do you have high and lows points from your time here?”
“I loved the late 60’s and early 70’s. It was funky. I was a flower child. Saw a lot of great music, those were good times. Now that I’m older and there are all these things about evictions, there’s a lot of fear. I’m in North Beach now and I’m concerned about the housing. I’m retired and not on any big pension. The rent is shocking and I’m at risk of being evicted. A lot of my friends have had to leave, I’m still one of the very few black people here. That amazes me. I really have to leave the neighborhood to get a sense of that part of my identity. I’m missing it now in ways I didn’t before. I come from a very liberal background, and I went to white schools. That wasn’t an issue for me until I watched all these changes that have me feeling so isolated. I feel it, but I don’t carry on about it…it’s actually really frightening for me to discuss it with you. I’m from St. Louis and one of my best friends is from Ferguson. I haven’t been back there in 30 years. But what’s going on there is crazy. Between that and Robin Williams dying this week…this is not a sad story, I don’t want it to be. The art has been a life saver. It’s a beautiful day, did you see the meme troupe?”
“I missed them…do they come here often?”
“They go all over the city. Oh, here’s my bus. Thank you Garry. We’ll see each other again.”
“I’m sure we will. Thank you Diane.”