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Posts published by “Jonah Raskin”

Retro Frisco, Retro Mankind

To call it “Frisco” is in and out itself a retro act of defiance. I don’t know anyone today who calls it Frisco, though Jack Kerouac, Mr. On The Road, did decades ago. Go to…

Sounds Of San Francisco

What are the sounds of San Francisco? Music of all sorts of course and especially rock ‘n’ roll in concert halls, under the stars and on street corners. As the Starship once sang, “we built…

The Arrogance Of The City Of San Francisco

I have been living in San Francisco for three years, and, while I want to love it, I encounter hurdles at every turn that inhibit my wanna-be romance. I have a hard time getting beyond…

The Lost Art Of The Interview

It might seem easy to conduct an interview, but it’s not, especially if you’re after riveting stories. Telling stories is what I love to do and I love listening to stories, too. Tell me a…

Four Days In New York: Memories Of A Living Past

In New York City recently at an outdoor memorial for Robert Reilly, a former apartment mate and friend who died at the age of 94 — and among other friends I had not seen for…

John Muir, The Untold Story

Cast Out of Eden: The Untold Story of John Muir, Indigenous Peoples, and the American Wilderness. By Robert Aquinas McNally. University of Nebraska Press; May 1, 2024 “Only to the white man was nature a…

Cops On Campus Are The Real Outside Agitators

Nothing agitates a campus as dramatically as the arrival of the cops. Indeed, the cops have been the only real outside agitators on campuses across the country this Spring. They have brought upheaval and disorder…

San Francisco Weed Week: A Personal History

When I grew marijuana in northern California from about 1977 to 1986, I did not once think or imagine that one day it would be legal to do so. I was not a cannabis activist…

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