My Mother the Showgirl Hilltop Remodel Sparks Opposition a Jazzy New Pad in the Sky C

NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS HOME & GARDEN BOOKS Hilltop remodel A jazzy new My mother sparks opposition pad in the sky the showgirl PAGE 3 PAGE 13 PAGE 15 New FILLMORE SAN FRANCISCO ■ AUGUST 2007 ALONE TOGETHER C B M C-D B, 57, a minister, takes the bus from his home Din the Castro to , e Grove on Fillmore every Friday. He says his concentration mysteriously improves when he leaves his offi ce. “I have no idea why it works,” Brown says. “But whatever distractions there are here — the people, the noise — they don’t need my attention. I can enjoy the commotion and then get back to work.” ■ Up and down Fillmore Street, coff ee shops are doubling as offi ces for people looking for both the alone time they need to work productively and the camaraderie of being with other Photographs by MINA PAHLEVAN / 12studios.com Photographs by MINA PAHLEVAN people. A corner offi ce with beverages at Royal Ground, above. Top: Alone, yet not alone, at The Grove. TO PAGE 8 A POET’S RETORT Irregular Heartbeats Can Be Treated Over 3 million Americans suffer from heart arrhythmia, decreasing their quality of life with a lack of energy and shortness of breath. FRANCES TAUBER The Electrophysiology Program at California Pacific Poets reading at Minnie’s Can-Do Club on Fillmore, circa 1972. Medical Center helps detect and treat the problem, using such methods as: ■ Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy, which e Can-Do Lives On synchronizes and restores the heart’s mechanical sequence, helping the heart to work more efficiently Our July feature on a beloved Fillmore joint ■ Catheter Ablation, which removes the abnormal circuits or tissues that start and maintain abnormal, stirred memories — including a poet’s who was there fast heart rhythms ■ Cardiac Defibrillator Implantation, which monitors B P H gifted and the unknown. Some may the heart rhythm, stops dangerous, fast heart remember Sylvester, a fl ashy performer ’ C-D C of disco, fi rst black and openly, quite rhythms and can also function as pacemakers needs women!” deliriously happily gay. After his debut ■ Atrial Fibrillation Ablation, which isolates and “M , e voice of John at Minnie’s he went on to a fame too destroys abnormal areas in the left atrium, Ross, a pied piper of poetry in the early brief, dying of AIDS among that fi rst pulmonary veins and superior vena cava 1970s, rang in the small room at 17 tragic wave of that sad plague. For more information, or to schedule a procedure, Columbus Avenue, where our raffi sh About that story of John Lennon poetry group met. and Yoko Ono visiting Minnie’s: please call 415-441-6012 My fi rst thought was of that cheapo , ere’s a little controversy there. We www.cpmc.org sci-fi movie, “Mars Needs Women.” all heard how Yoko had banished John Beyond Medicine. , en I gulped. “I’m one of those. to California in the company of May Where is it?” Pang, who looked mysteriously glum I took Muni, which let me off one in all the photos. If Yoko did show up block away from California & Fillmore. at Minnie’s, it was under the radar of I knew this neighborhood. At that common gossip. time the Goodwill was right across the On occasion Minnie would put on Experience Senior Living at its Finest street. a feast, with scrumptious food from a As I entered, it was dim. A row of nearby West Indian cafe — big pots working men at the bar all turned their of steaming spicy island food. Goat? heads and watched me politely, but Maybe. with curiosity. I wore a long fl owery As Minnie said, it was all about dress, boots, and had really long hair. the dancing. We read to jazz groups Maybe I am on Mars, I thought. dancing, some on stage. After the Sunshein, the organizer, greeted me readings, I remember boogying with pleasantly and had me sign up on the men, women, short, tall, gay and list of poets. I looked around and saw straight, a rainbow of dancers, our the only other woman there was our bodies another kind of poetry. benefactor, Minnie Baker. Minnie let me do a solo reading I wish I could remember which once. It was probably my best ever. poems I read. Total blank there. Nice What an audience! I still see their faces, sound of applause from other poets and hear them calling out for this or that even the men at the bar. poem. We all had such a good time. Looking at my old calendar, I see Years later, 1998 or so, riding to I did not go every Wednesday at fi rst. my swing shift job at a hotel, I heard But soon it was necessary. Almost a voice I thought at fi rst to be a man instantly it became a rip-roaring, shouting to himself. Please join us to learn more about one of San Francisco’s premier nonstop wonder, everything from “, ese women dance, oh these condominium retirement communities for independent seniors – Beat to the at fi rst timid, then more women dance …” recently updated with a brand new look. The facade has just powerful, voices of women, gays, It sounded familiar. I turned and received a stunning face-lift and there is much more in store for people of all colors — from sonnets saw one of the poets from Minnie’s, to the kind of rap people did then, Jerry Ferraz the troubadour, with his The Carlisle. Tour our lovely condominiums, featuring premier extemporaneous, sometimes angry, ever-present guitar. He was reciting one amenities and breathtaking views of the city and the Bay. wildly inventive, sometimes sweet, jazzy of my poems from Minnie’s. and all about love. I almost wept. Minnie’s never dies. The new Carlisle will feature a wine room, grille, cafe, After a while ruth weiss took over cinema and a wellness/ fitness center. Take advantage of our as emcee. We formed a friendship that Phyllis Holliday was possibly the fi rst pre-renovation rates while our condo prices are as low as has lasted to this day. woman poet to read at Minnie’s Can-Do Minnie off ered opportunities to the Club. they ever will be. Now is the best time to buy! THE NEW FILLMORE 2130 Fillmore Street #202 ■ San Francisco, CA 94115 415 / 441-6070 RCFE #385600359 editors@newfi llmore.com CCRC# 216 NOW MANAGED BY SUNRISE SENIOR LIVING Editors Barbara Kate Repa & Thomas R. Reynolds The Carlisle 415-929-0200 1450 Post Street, San Francisco, CA 94109 Art Director Ginny Lindsay Independent Living • Continuing Care Retirement Community News Editor Don Langley A Sunrise Senior Living Condominium Proofreader Donna Gillespie For more information and a FREE online newsletter, Advertising inquiries ads@newfi llmore.com or 441-6070 Published on the fi rst weekend of each month. Deadline: 20th of prior month visit www.sunriseseniorliving.com Member of the San Francisco Neighborhood Newspaper Association 2 NEW FILLMORE August 2007 NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS Local Groups 14,000 sq. ft. Come 2gether Renovation to Create a Draws Fire New Coalition Neighbors object to organization encom- 8-story glass walls passing all of the neighborhood Aand merchant groups in District 2 above Vallejo Street is being formed. Although the district sprawls from Sea- cliff to the crooked part of Lombard Street, of the home at 60 Nor- the local associations share mutual con- mandie Terrace have hired an at- cerns. , eir leaders believe a united front Ntorney to oppose the owner’s plans will give them more clout at City Hall. for a massive remodel. , e fl edgling operation has been named Although the address is on a cul-de-sac 2gether. It is modeled on SF5Together, off Broadway between Scott and Divis- which similarly ties together the neighbor- adero, its north side towers over Vallejo hoods groups in District 5. Street atop a high retaining wall, a location Unlike SF5Together, which has discus- that makes it highly visible. sions but doesn’t take positions, the consen- , e owner’s $2 million remodeling sus at a July 12 organizational meeting was plan calls for cutting through the retaining that 2gether should take positions on vari- wall to build a new multi-level garage, as ous issues. Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier, well as a complete interior remodel add- who attended, said taking a stand would ing height on its west and south sides. , e require compromise, but would show the result would rise nearly eight stories above group’s strength. Vallejo Street. , e group will model its bylaws after According to Stephen Williams, the Neighborhood Association for Presidio attorney representing the objecting neigh- Planning, another umbrella group drawing bors, the Vallejo side of the renovated representatives from multiple associations. property “will take on the appearance of a A poll of attendees elicited an array of downtown glass high-rise.” Williams said topics to address. the proposed changes would allow the Greg Scott, president of the Pacifi c owner “to strip every exterior element from Heights Residents Association, pointed to the existing building and to clad the build- the need to improve the city’s infrastruc- ing in glass.” ture — sewers, water and streets, as well as In a letter to the Planning Department, Muni — before increasing housing density Williams argued that the proposed reno- through zoning changes. A transformation is proposed at 60 Normandie Terrace, which rises above Vallejo Street. vation “essentially amounts to a complete Lynne Newhouse Segal, a director of dismantling and reconstruction of the ex- the residents association who chaired the isting home .

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