Home Editorial Publisher's Note Some old things and new things and some old things that are new again

Some old things and new things and some old things that are new again

Written by Susan Dyer Reynolds, Northside Editor

Friday, 17 March 2006

It’s hard to believe that spring is about to spring again. Seems like just yesterday I was cruising the neighborhoods of south San Jose with my dad and his girlfriend, Kickie, admiring the houses dressed up for the holidays, lawns covered in gyrating snowmen and those strange white wire reindeer aglitter with tiny white lights as their necks bob slowly up and down. As much as I am looking forward to baseball season and warm nights listening to crickets sing from a chaise lounge on Kickie’s back porch, I also know that tomorrow I’ll be admiring the gyrating snowmen and wire reindeer again. Time has a funny way of doing that – marching on, with or without us, whether we want it to or not. In this month’s issue of Northside, we look at time, at history, at some old things and new things and some old things that are new again. For our cover story, Bruce Bellingham introduces us to Pat Kelley. You may not know her name, but you likely know her face and you surely know her work. For many years, she’s manned the hostess stand at the Balboa Café, quietly changing the course of San Francisco history. Were it not for Pat, her friend Willie Brown wouldn’t have met her other friend Gavin Newsom one fateful evening at the Balboa. Later she would nudge then-Mayor Brown to appoint Gavin to a commission. “After all,” she said, “you appointed Billy Getty to a commission.” Then-Mayor Brown did indeed appoint Gavin to a commission, Parking and Traffic, and he went on to a few bigger and better things. Pat was also integral to an important part of San Francisco’s food and wine history alongside her friend, Gavin. As Gavin’s father, Bill Newsom, puts it, Pat was “the backbone of PlumpJack at its birth.” Speaking of food and wine , we also look at things old and new in our food and wine section. We visit the new Franciscan and the new old Fior d’Italia to discover that, while sometimes restaurants need a major facelift, other times we just want them to stay the way they are, wrinkles and all. We also talk to celebrated chef Bradley Ogden about his return to San Francisco where he will be opening a new restaurant, and we introduce our newest columnist, Marcia Gagliardi, “The Tablehopper,” who makes it her business to know what’s going on in the ever-changing San Francisco restaurant scene. She will explain why the Sho won’t go on in the Marina and fill you in on the latest openings, closings and chef shuffles around the Northside and beyond. Our sports editor, Michael Murphy introduces us to the new face of boxing – 22-year old Golden Glove contender and 10th ranked amateur welterweight in the United States, Santos Soto. And we meet one of the old faces of comedy, 88-year old Phyllis Diller, who Arts & Entertainment editor Bruce Bellingham describes as “still one of the funniest people on the planet.” Phyllis was recently honored in the city where her career began back in 1955, with a screening of a new documentary about her life and a Phyllis Diller look-alike contest at Pier 39. Fans shouted their praise for the legendary comedienne as Mayor Newsom proclaimed February 5, 2006 "Phyllis Diller Day in San Francisco." When asked about retirement, Phyllis responds, naturally, with a one-liner ("I have outlived most of my body.”), but it doesn’t sound like she’s ready to call it quits any time soon. Filmmaker Gregg Barson said at the screening, “I read in the L.A. Times that Phyllis Diller was retiring. I thought that perhaps she might agree to be a subject of a documentary. My wife and I met Phyllis at The Palm. She was dressed all in powder blue, matching dress, hat and purse. There were a lot of martinis." Susan is the editor of Northside and the Marina Times. Write to her at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 22 November 2006 )