1. “Artistic Luxury,” a recent exhibition at the Legion of Honor, showcased ornate diamond-studded Easter eggs, specially designed for the Russian royal family by this jeweler:
a. Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848–1933)
b. René Lalique (1860–1945)
c. Peter Carl Fabergé (1846–1920)
2. Since 1861, Ver Mehr Alley has led directly into which current-day downtown shopping complex?
a. Crocker Galleria
b. Westfield San Francisco Centre
c. Maiden Lane
3. Name the bookstore at Judah and 9th, which displays this sign: “In these trying times, books are a great investment against stupidity.”
a. Browser Books
b. The Great Overland Book Company
c. City Lights Bookstore
4. Customers patronizing this Hayes Valley restaurant dine in the dark and are attended by blind or visually challenged staff:
a. Opaque b. Herbivore c. Greens
5. When this artist was a kid in Pittsburgh, he wolfed down his salt-and-pepper soup and went to see every Judy Garland movie. A recent show at the deYoung featured the work of this pop culture apotheosizer:
a. Latvian-born American painter Mark Rothko
b. Andy Goldsworthy
c. Andy Warhol
6. In academic circles, San Francisco City College student Anya Kuan and John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the U.S.:
a. Both studied at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands (Holland)
b. Are blood relations of Dutch old master Rembrandt van Rijn
c. Trace their lineage to ancestors who arrived in the new world aboard the Mayflower in 1621
7. Robert Louis Stevenson, a one-time habitué of 19th century San Francisco, declared that a man or woman of letters is in a position to do considerable services. Among them:
a. to rescue animals from the ignominy of mankind
b. to end all unjust wars
c. to protect the oppressed and defend the truth
8. True or false? Ina Coolbrith Park on Russian Hill is named after the American wife of the Russian consul general who was posted in San Francisco just after the Gold Rush.
9. This top-drawer photographer bore witness to the privations of America’s uprooted down-and-out in times of economic depression and war. She was married to a UC Berkeley economics professor.
a. Annie Liebovitz
b. Dorothea Lange
c. Imogen Cunningham
10. True or false? On a recent visit to town, Mick Jagger sat in the USF Law Library, pondering court decisions on pirated music. Meanwhile, across the street, lifelong buddy Marianne Faithfull, did a stint DJing her favorite tune at KUSF: Shirley and Lee’s “Come on, baby, let the good times roll.”
Answers
1. c
2. a (Ver Mehr Alley is off Kearny between Post and Sutter.)
3. b (at 345 Judah)
4. a (Opaque is located downstairs in the Crimson Lounge at 687 McAllister.)
5. c
6. a (John Q. Adams, 1767–1848; born in San Francisco, Anya Kuan grew up in the Netherlands)
7. c
8. False [A poet and librarian, Ina Donna Coolbrith (1841–1928) was briefly married to a Robert Carsley.]
9. b (Lange, on assignment for the War Relocation Authority, photographed the internment of Japanese-Americans in the Bay Area during WWII.)
10. False
Victor Turks grew up in San Francisco and lives in the Richmond with his wife, Michiko, their three boys, a pug, a cat, and a tankful of goldfish. He teaches English at City College.
