1. This writer compiled the tongue-in-cheek Devil’s Dictionary, becoming one of the first regular columnists (with a byline) for William Randolph Hearst’s San Francisco Examiner. He disappeared mysteriously in Mexico while shadowing Pancho Villa’s army in 1913. A downtown alley honors him:
a. George Sterling
b. Ambrose Bierce
c. Stephen Crane
2. Name the Haight-Ashbury street that figures in the hymn, Is Not This the Land of _________ ? “There’s no thirsting for life’s pleasures, Nor adorning, rich and gay, For I’ve found a richer treasure, One that fadeth not away.”
a. Parnassus b. Delmar c. Beulah
3. This Swiss-born photographer and filmmaker came to America and received a Guggenheim Grant for his stated project: To portray Americans as they live at present. Their everyday and their Sunday, their realism and dream. The look of cities, towns, and highways. His work was exhibited at SFMOMA this past May to August.
a. Robert Frank
b. John Gutmann
c. Richard Avedon
4. “I was glad to play on the USF [football] team, why not? They were good people, and they also offered me a sound education, three square meals a day, and a warm bed to sleep in. What else could I ask for?” These were the words of the first African-American principal of a San Francisco Junior High School—Benjamin Franklin. His recent funeral service at St. Ignatius Church was packed with family members, friends, and a multitude of well-wishers:
a. Eddy Macon b. Ollie Matson c. Burl Toler
5. She grew up in North Beach and served on the Air Force ROTC at USF. Name this one-time San Francisco beat-cop and child-abuse investigator who went on to become the first female Chief of Police, appointed by Mayor Gavin Newsom.
6. Belting out “What’s New Pussycat?” under a shower of bras and panties, this sixty-nine-year-old Welshman had been a construction worker and door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman before becoming a singer who’s sold over 100 million records. He performed at the Outside Lands rock concert in Golden Gate Park last month.
a. Tom Jones
b. Engelbert Humperdinck
c. Cliff Richard
7. True or false: Due to the recession and the brain-drain of local talent back to the Globe Theater in London, there was no Free Shakespeare in the Park this summer.
8. True or false: The photographs of Richard Avedon presently on display at SFMOMA also pay homage to non-famous, non-beautiful people.
9. Today’s maestro of the San Francisco Symphony cut his teeth as a conductor in kindergarten, exhorting his classmates to keep time to the music with their tambourines and wood blocks. His name?
10. In a letter, this author wrote: “I have taken a step toward more intimate relations with you. But don’t expect too much of me. Try to take me as I am.” A San Francisco Elementary School bears his name:
a. Willie L. Brown, Jr.
b. Malcolm X
c. Robert Louis Stevenson
Answers
1.b (formerly Aldrich Alley, adjacent to the California Historical Society on Mission near 3rd Street.)
2. c; 3. a; 4. c (1928–2009)
5. Heather Jeanne Fong (born 1956); 6. a
7. False. Free Shakespeare in the Park performed The Comedy of Errors, a farce that celebrates the redeeming power of love.
8. True; 9. MTT (Michael Tilson Thomas); 10. c
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.
