Jane Marie Cleveland: Photography: still life: Homage to Herb Caen, 1995

PHOTOGRAPHY: still life: Homage to Herb Caen, 1995

(Click on each of the thumbnail images to see a 5 inch version)

Herb Caen was a beloved newspaper columnist for almost 60 years, writing a humorous daily column of local interest (there it is, in the above photographs) for, at various times in his career, the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Examiner. He was a WWII correspondent and a bon vivant extraordinaire; in 1958 he coined the word "beatnik" and in the 1990's he persisted in playing softball for the Lapins Sauvages and drums for whoever would let him sit in. In 1996 he received a Pulitzer Prize. He loved life and San Francisco and wrote sappy valentines to "the City" and barbs to the politicians and amusing anecdotes and thoughtful essays to all of us. Bay Areans were prideful if they could submit an "item" and get it printed in his column.

The first time I became aware that some of his "items" came from external sources was about 1963 when Rose Boucher, a teacher at my high school in Ukiah, responded to his claim that the only thing interesting about haiku was that it spelled Ukiah backwards. She was "itemized" when she claimed that the only thing interesting about Ukiah was that it spelled haiku backwards.

As for my history in this regard, I submitted 2 items that were not published, but Herb always acknowledged the efforts in a kind, personal note to each submitter. Once I wrote just to thank him for his clear-minded commentary after Dan White (a former city supervisor who had murdered Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Milk), having served a 7 year prison sentence, took his own life. There was a lot of talk about White finally getting his overdue retribution, but Caen, taking the long view, addressed the suicide as another tragedy in the episode. That column was one of his occasional serious ones. He responded to me on 3 Nov 1986: "Would you believe it has taken me this long to decipher your signature? Actually, I only work on it every few weeks but I have never thrown your letter away, nor will I, because I admire your writing and your lettering and your generous sentiments about my poor efforts. Hope we are still friends! Yours ever, Herb" You see how nice he was. No, I never really met him; although I did sell him a book of stamps once when I worked at Rincon Annex Post Office...

His column ran on the front page of section B with the Macy's advertisement filling out the page. He acknowledged his "neighbor" in his column several times, as I do here. I particularly liked the Macy's orange "m" against black so that is why I chose this particular column to photograph. The rest of the photographed content includes my beloved, ubiquitous, fragile, dried leaves and my requisite geometry. If you were to look very very closely at Caen's column, in the first photo, you would read fragments about Robin Williams, Andre Agassi, Jerry Carroll, and the oft-noted, mysterious Strange de Jim, champion submitter of curious "items."

After it was announced in 1996 that Herb Caen had lung cancer, Mayor Willie Brown rushed to declare a Herb Caen Day with a ceremony at the foot of Market Street. Herb asked what the hurry was, and pleased with the mayor's response, made it an "item": the mayor said he wanted to honor him while he's "still lookin' good..."