Breaking News: The Corrigan Collection is underway.
Before I moved to San Francisco, I donated all my newspaper
files to the media archives at the University of Missouri at St. Louis. By
“files” I mean stacks and stacks of scrapbooks filled with articles I wrote
from my high school years (when my work appeared in a major metropolitan daily
and a neighborhood weekly paper as well as the high school paper) through my
two decades as a reporter at the Post-Dispatch.
Imagine my delight when the following email arrived: “My
name is Jerry Cooper. I am a retired Professor of History from the University
of Missouri-St. Louis. A couple of days a week I do volunteer work at the
Archives at the Thomas Jefferson Library, at UMSL. One of my most enjoyable tasks here is to process
collections that have been donated to the Archives.
“In searching for a new project, I ran across your
collection. My wife and I had always enjoyed reading your columns, and in
processing your collection I was reminded how interesting your pieces were.” Mr.
Cooper then asked a few questions he needs answered for a brief introduction he
is writing for the Corrigan Collection.
Holy cow! I’m a collection! Of course I answered his
questions. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, a stack of magazines (the New Yorker, Bay Nature,
O, Prevention and a two-month-old Vanity Fair) awaits my attention, I am behind
on TV viewing (The Daily Show, Nature, Pioneers of Television, Frontline) and
my appointment with the tax preparer approaches. (He will be delighted that my
savings account earned 81 cents in interest in 2012.)
What am I doing with my time instead?
Exploring San Francisco with friends, whipping out freelance
work, spending time with Milo and playing Chasing Frank, Chasing Andy and Chasing
Shannon (aka Scrabble) on line, that’s what. Also, my friend Michael was in
town just long enough for lunch (disappointing watery soup at Boulange), a visit to the Warming Hut (see photo), a walk
on the west end of Crissy Field and a quick stop at the Sports Basement, which
is so big that you must call your shopping companion to find out where he/she
is in the store.
That same day, I drove to Stinson Beach to see my friend
Emmeline Craig’s wonderful new Blissful Gallery. (See www.emmelinecraig.com/the-blissful-gallery/)
I’ve had the privilege of watching this particular dream of Emmeline’s come
true. Here is what she wrote in a recent blog post:
“In August 2011, I described my concept to my new friend
Patricia Corrigan, talented writer and delightful woman (she loves my work…).
We were having lunch in a cafe in Sausalito, and I laid out for her my vision
and my desire for a beautiful space, an Art Gallery according to my heart,
where I could show my work as well as others. A place to make people feel good.
A place where reverence for Life is the primary form of Art. At the time I was exploring
possibilities for renting and renovating a very large building in Pt. Reyes
Station. It was quite daunting. And it did not work out. But I kept looking and
reaching and talking about it. I wrote notes, I made sketches, I polished
statements and I pondered a lot… It was a time of brewing, incubating, and
projecting. Nothing was tangible. Nothing but a certainty in my guts that I
would see it happen.”
Next, my friend Beth was in town for four days, and we were
out and about much of the time. Here is an abbreviated report of a wonderful
visit:
Where We Went: The Academy of Sciences, the San Francisco
Botanical Garden (love the redwood grove), the Japanese Garden, the Inner
Richmond (shoe shopping!), Crate and Barrel (after-Christmas sale), American
Conservatory Theatre (“4000 Miles”), Sausalito (especially enjoyed the Arlecchina
shop), the beautiful Rodeo Beach, Fort Cronkhite, Domaine Chandon winery, Clos
Pegase winery (see http://clospegase.com/) and the wooden deck at Fort Funston on
the edge of the continent.
Where We Ate: Memphis Minnie’s, the café at the Academy of
Sciences (good gumbo), the Japanese Tea House, Pinkberry Yogurt (salted caramel
– wow!), Colibri, the farm stand in Mill Valley (whole wheat fig bars), Cliff
House (truffle fries and pear martinis) and Mustards Grill in Napa Valley
(sweet potato and crab frites).
Today, I went to the de Young Museum to see “Rudolph
Nureyev: A Life In Dance.” (See http://deyoung.famsf.org/deyoung/exhibitions/rudolf-nureyev-life-dance).
Every second I was there, looking at film clips, amazing photos and beautiful
costumes, I was remembering seeing Nureyev at The Muny in 1978 (he also danced
there in 1967 and 1969) and again at Kiel Auditorium in 1988. What a privilege
to have seen this gifted man perform!
More fun to come: A family birthday celebration on Saturday,
a new episode of “Downton Abbey” on Sunday and then on Monday, my friend Cheri (visiting
from Delaware) and I will meander in search of sights to see as we share
“grandma” stories. Those magazines, TV shows – and even the tax preparer -- all will
have to wait!
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