Author Archive
August 19, 2017 by tomdalzell
Bob Fischer’s Inspirational Hodgepodge of Extraordinary Things
When photographer/painter/collector/world traveler/event-stager Bob Fischer and his husband Ed Proffitt decided to move north from Palm Springs, Fischer told his realtor that he would only consider houses in Berkeley. Oakland – too dangerous, too many drive-by shootings. So Berkeley it had to be. That was in 2009. Proffitt died in 2012. Fischer soldiers on making photographs […]
August 12, 2017 by tomdalzell
Print Mint
When Don and Alice Schenker opened the Print Mint inside Moe’s Books on Telegraph in 1965, they weren’t the best at what they were doing. They were the only ones doing what they were doing. Along with espresso or Galoises or out-of-town newspapers or used books and records or croissants, you could now buy posters […]
August 12, 2017 by tomdalzell
Alice and Don drive to Mexico 1957 – Alice’s Account
Some years ago, Alice Schenker wrote a six-page account of the trip that she and Don took from New York to Mexico and San Francisco in a 1941 Buick in 1957. Kerouac and Cassady and Ginsberg had all driven to and lived in Mexico. Kerouac writes beautifully about Mexico in On the Road, but the Schenkers would […]
August 5, 2017 by tomdalzell
The Second Surprise on Vassar – McCulloch Quirk
This is how what happened happened. I originally walked Vassar Avenue in May, 2013. I was not optimistic. The quirk factor was Very Low. All that I had found as I approached the Kensington town line was the whale weathervane shown above. I took a scouting photo with my phone and kept walking, enjoying the day but […]
July 29, 2017 by tomdalzell
Lasher’s Electronics: Quirky Parts
A good friend of Quirky Berkeley suggested a few weeks ago that I visit some of the more long-standing businesses in Berkeley. OH (their initials) had a specific suggestion – businesses that have been operating for at least 50 years. And, OH had an even more very specific suggestion of where to start – Al Lasher’s […]
July 22, 2017 by tomdalzell
Fito
Newspapers reported that in the early morning of September 12, 2010, Adolfo “Fito” Celedon Bravo died shortly after being shot on this spot at Emerson and Adeline during an armed robbery as he walked home with his fiancée Amber Daniela Nelson after a night of dancing at Ashkenaz on his birthday eve. Nelson uses a different […]
July 22, 2017 by tomdalzell
Imagine – Two Years of Photos
As we learned in the main Fito post, Amber Nelson took a photo of the painted Imagine on Emerson above Adeline almost every day for two years. The photo was the last step in a daily ritual: look over the garden and marvel at the growth since yesterday; close the best of the decaying […]
July 15, 2017 by tomdalzell
Izzy Sher Metal Art for Sale
In 2015, I published a post about Emil “Izzy Sher,” a Berkeley wire and metal worker who died in 1999. His son Zalman was selling some of Izzy’s work in his Virginia Street backyard. Contrary to widespread opinion, Berkeley-as-Rebel was not born with the Free Speech Movement in 1964 or even the HUAC demonstrations in 1960. […]
July 8, 2017 by tomdalzell
Fuji Inn – Research Rapture – Victory!
This post is about my obsessive search for any photograph of the Fuji Inn, formerly at 2505 Telegraph. The story starts with Jack Kerouac. Well, before Jack, with Allen Ginsberg. Allen Ginsberg lived in Berkeley from September 1955 until August 1956. Ginsberg lived in a back cottage at 1624 Milvia Street. I have never found a photo […]
July 5, 2017 by tomdalzell