Richard “Dick” Whitlock
Richard “Dick” Whitlock, an insatiably curious artist who never missed a chance to celebrate life with friends and family, died of cancer on April 4. He was 74.
There may be a word for someone who luxuriates in primitive, medieval, renaissance and modern art; who enjoys rock, country, rap and opera; who is interested in every culture, every boundary name and every change in war and in peace; and who reads books on a myriad of subjects, from action figures to cartoon characters. But lacking such a word, just know that Dick Whitlock was that man and much, much more.
COVID-19 financially crippled many hundreds of Bay Area arts-and-entertainment performers over the past year.
The âstarving musiciansâ category swelled exponentially, for example, because many lacked digital skills needed to overcome gig loss triggered by in-person venues closing. Noteworthy exceptions exist, however.
Pianist-singer Mike Greensill draws roughly 1,000 viewers each Monday, Wednesday and Friday to his livestreams on Facebook. They take a lot of time, he says. I have to plan and plan.
His viewers ante up via PayPal and Venmo for shows that extract tunes from the 20s to the early 60s. Greensill says he s been doing well, but it s up and down. Some weeks, he makes a lot, while during others, he makes practically nothing. Even so, he enjoys streaming.
Tony Bravo April 21, 2021Updated: April 21, 2021, 7:19 am
Poet and publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti Photo: Deanne Fitzmaurice, The Chronicle
When Lawrence Ferlinghetti died in February, for some it felt like the poet and City Lights Booksellers & Publishers co-founder took a piece of San Francisco with him.
Like the store, Ferlinghetti was a literary landmark, his presence in North Beach and around the city as much a given as the fog or cable car bells. While his death at age 101 was perhaps not surprising, the loss came with a kind of shock that this living institution would no longer be here.
In his century of life, Ferlinghetti was many things: San Francisco’s poet laureate, a book merchant, an activist, a visual artist and a neighbor. Memories shared by the community with The Chronicle and on social media reflect those multitudes. Here are a few tributes celebrating Ferlinghetti’s place in the city and his lasting impact on our culture.
Housing guide: Where to live in San Francisco (east)
From North Beach to the Mission District, this is the city s exhilirating urban heart
San Francisco (East)
Credit: Justin Sullivan via Getty Images, Hal Bergman via Getty Images
By Leilani Marie Labong |
April 14, 2021 10:00 AM
Why do people move to San Francisco? Is it for the singular landscape, all dramatic hills and breathtaking coastline, the perfect topography for fog to cling to or completely engulf? Is it for the chance to live in proximity to that world-famous bridge, a monumental feat of engineering in International Orange, a gateway for people and ideas from all over the world? Perhaps it’s the city’s history as the birthplace of counterculture after all, progressive views in politics, the arts and technology are constantly percolating here, brewing entire movements and new industries.
How Bay Area musicians have kept music alive in the year of COVID-19
By Woody Weingarten article
Caption: Clarinetist John Stafford and guitarist David Sturdevant, a.k.a. Medicine Ball Duo, have played music together for more than 40 years. (Courtesy of Rory Dean)
OAKLAND, Calif. - COVID-19 financially crippled many hundreds of Bay Area arts-and-entertainment performers over the past year.
The starving musicians category swelled exponentially, for example, because many lacked digital skills needed to overcome gig loss triggered by in-person venues closing.
Noteworthy exceptions exist, however. Pianist-singer Mike Greensill, widower who lives in St. Helena (after years in San Francisco with his wife, singer Wesla Whitfield), draws roughly 1,000 viewers each Monday, Wednesday and Friday to his livestreams on Facebook.