San Francisco is My Home

08
Oct

Jon Caroll

Author: kris, Category: People

Probably the most famous SF columnist of all time was Herb Caen. He was before my time, but I’ve read some of the archives and I’m not sure I see what the fuss was about. I asked my dad, who lived here in the days of the original anti-war marches and all that jazz.

“I read Herb Caen, everybody read Herb Caen,” Dad said. Pause. “You know, I’m not too sure why.”

A lot of what Caen wrote about was well-known SF residents. He wasn’t exactly a gossip columnist, I gather, but would often wind up chatting with our local luminaries and then would put the conversations in his column. I can see how this would be exciting to read, as a resident, partly because we have (and had then) some truly weird local characters, and partly because it makes you feel a sense of comunity when you know what other people in the community are up to.

Still, for my money Jon Carroll is the best columnist this city has ever seen. He’s got a daily column in the Chronicle which is usually interesting, often thought-provoking, and sometimes downright transcendent.

Today it’s just some thoughts about TV shows. On the transcendent meter, today’s column measures less. But he writes with wit and tremendous style and obvious love for this area. I hope someday he’ll get a city street named after him. Maybe we could re-use the one they named after Herb Caen.