Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Ed. note: As with Part 1 of Larry's episode, a reminder that we recorded under the BART tracks, so we took pauses when trains passed by overhead. We left that audio in the final edit and we hope you enjoy. In this podcast, Larry picks up where he left off in Part 1. He talks about going to Lowell High School in The City and then Academy of Art University, where he first got to know people very unlike himself. In his high school days, Larry had started to question things he was into as well as stereotypes of Black young men such as himself. He took some acting and movies courses at AAU and then went on to actual theater school. But Larry didn't wanna be an actor. A chance ride one day turned out to be fortuitous. He got an in at The Punchline. As he was coming up in comedy, as he puts it, he "disappeared from the world" to hone his craft. It was around this time that he also got an internship at KMEL. Larry traces his activism to his time at City College. He worked with Black Lives Matter, various Black student unions around The City, fed houseless folks. He makes light of his activist work, but ties it back to his comedy. He shares stories of some of his first times on the comedy stage. He lets us know about his 101-year plan. 2020 being 2020 threw things off a little, but thanks to his week-by-week plan, Larry was able to pivot. And he ends the podcast sharing his hopes for San Francisco to get its soul back through culture and youth and how he wants to focus on reparations. Follow Larry on social media @larrydorseyjr. Related Podcasts Marcell Turner, Part 1 / Part 2 We recorded this podcast at Cayuga Park under the BART tracks in April 2021.
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Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Ed. note: This one is special for a couple reasons. First, Larry blew us away with his kindness, energy, and knowledge. Also, we recorded under the BART tracks, so we took pauses when trains passed by overhead. We decided to leave that audio in the final edit because, well, it was part of the experience that day. We hope you enjoy. Larry Dorsey, Jr.'s parents came to the Bay Area from the South and South America. In this podcast, the SF born-and-raised comedian and radio personality shares the story of his parents' migration to San Francisco. His dad played football in the NFL before his move west; Larry's mom, a lawyer, left her home country of Columbia because of political reasons. They arrived in Oakland separately and met at SF State. Larry is their first-born, one of two sons. Larry has vague memories of his first years on Earth, which he shares with us. One is a pretty hilarious (and hilariously cute) playground-type story. Larry tells us what it was like to go to a "hippy" elementary, and then contrasts that with his time at Aptos Junior High. But he also spent many school lunchtimes in the library. His curiosity and pursuit of knowledge was just getting started. He ended up at Lowell, during a time when he started getting into "a lot of trouble." Larry wraps up Part 1 sharing the first time he got in trouble with a cop. Join us Thursday for Part 2 and the continuation of Larry Dorsey, Jr.'s story. Related Podcast Arthur Gaus, Part 1 and Part 2 We recorded this podcast at Cayuga Park in April 2021.
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Marcia Gagliardi could've ended up in LA. In fact, if it weren't for the 1994 Northridge earthquake, there might be no Tablehopper. In this podcast, Marcia picks up where she left off in Part 1. She came back to the Bay Area and found a place in the Western Addition (where she still lives today!). She chronicles various jobs at design firms before the 2000 "dotbomb." Not long after that, she started Tablehopper. We asked Marcia to name three of her favorite San Francisco bars or restaurants in 2006 when she launched her newsletter. Then Marcia tells us how she got started in 2018 doing My Milligram, a media brand featuring reviews of low-dose and high-quality cannabis products made in California. She ends the podcast with her outlook on San Francisco in the near future. Related Podcasts SF Roots' Morris Kelly, Part 1 / Part 2 We recorded this podcast at an apartment in the Western Addition in April 2021.
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Marcia Gagliardi's family used to own a pizzeria and Italian deli in the Sierra foothills. In this podcast, the Tablehopper creator and author goes a couple generations back to trace her family's story and how they ended up in Northern California. Her Italian grandparents went back to their homeland shortly before Marcia was born, but we'll get back to that. Marcia grew up on the Peninsula, one of two daughters for the Gagliardis. She recounts what that experience was like for her, and shares the story of the time she spent in Italy during college. It was at a Christmas dinner there that she discovered just how diligently her dad had kept up their Italian customs in California. She talks about her family's move to the foothills and back and shares how she and a friend would drive up to The City and arrange deals for their high school classmates, long before the internet. Marcia ends Part 1 with the story of her year in Venice and her return home to finish college at UCLA. Please check back Thursday for Part 2, when Marcia will tell us how she got started doing Tablehopper, and later, MyMilligram. Related Podcasts Laura Meyer's Wedge of Parmesan We recorded this podcast at an apartment in the Western Addition in April 2021.
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In this podcast, Matt picks up where he left off in Part 1, with his involuntary foray into placing temp workers. Turns out, he loved the job. He moved around from job to job over the next few years, but returned to thank the person who pushed him into this new career. A trip to Paris led, in a very roundabout way, to Matt starting his own French recruiting firm. With that, he moved to Europe and lived there for the next 11 years, while keeping his place (and job) here in the Bay Area. Jumping back a bit, Matt describes meeting Sister Roma shortly after he moved up to San Francisco. Then we fast-forward to Matt's return from Paris to Glendale to help care for his ailing father. After his dad passed away and his marriage broke up, Matt moved back to The City. After trying unsuccessfully to buy an Italian restaurant in the Castro, he and his chef partner went in search of a new place of their own. Matt closed escrow on the spot where Roma's is on March 16, 2020.* He describes how, in light of the quarantine order, he shifted his business approach—he added an Italian market to the restaurant he had already established. Matt is quick to point out what a communal effort it was to get the place off the ground. Please visit their website for more info, including their "Roma's Drag Deliveries" on Wednesdays. He ends this podcast looking into the future, both for his business and for San Francisco. * the date that San Francisco's shelter-in-place order went into effect. Related Podcasts Sister Roma, Part 1 and Part 2 We recorded this podcast at Roma's Ristorante Italiano in South of Market in April 2021. 
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Matt Leum has more friends from his school days now than he did back then. Matt grew up in Glendale, a suburb north of LA. His family's swimming pool was the only one on that block. His dad owned a chain of supermarkets in the greater Los Angeles area. His parents met at the flagship store of that chain back when it was just a corner market. Matt grew up the youngest of six; his younger brother died at 4. In the podcast, he shares stories of his mom's bad-assery as we dive into her history quite a bit, including her French and Inuit parents. After college in Santa Barbara, Matt sent an unsolicited letter to a law firm in San Francisco asking about jobs, and got offered work as a response. Please check back Thursday for Part 2, when Matt will tell us all about opening his restaurant in The City during the pandemic. We recorded this podcast at Roma's Ristorante Italiano in South of Market in April 2021.
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In this episode, Morris picks up where he left off in Part 1, sharing some of the pot edibles he was making with a friend. This was back when California had legalized medicinal marijuana, but not yet recreational. And the US government, as they still do to this day, more than frowned upon even this limited use. Morris walks us through the evolution of his business, from a medicinal marijuana cultivation and delivery company known as "San Francisco Roots" through to what SF Roots is today—an equity cannabis company based right here in The City. He tells us about San Francisco's Cannabis Equity Program, whose stated goal is to "lower barriers to cannabis licensing to those hit hardest by the War on Drugs." We chat about how COVID has impacted the business. And then Morris ends the episode with his take on the future of San Francisco. Related Podcasts Uncle Damien, Part 1 and Part 2 We recorded this podcast at SF Roots HQ in April 2021. 
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Morris Kelly's great-grandfather was a sharecropper who bought his own freedom. In this podcast, Morris, who today owns SF Roots cannabis company, shares the story of how he came to grow up in The City. He chronicles the various schools he went to, talks about Muni rides to arcades and movie theaters all over town, and car rides with his grandparents on which they'd visit non-chain stores and restaurants. He shares stories of leaving San Francisco—to visit family in Milwaukee, or to go to Baptist conventions in the South with his grandparents—and the lessons he learned on those trips. Uninterested in conventional high school, Morris found Urban Pioneers—an outdoor program for students that got them out backpacking and exploring various spots around California. Morris got out of high school and, as he puts it, went on to "goof off" at City College. Related Podcast Ricky Rat, Part 1 and Part 2 We recorded this podcast at SF Roots HQ in April 2021.
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In this podcast, Alia picks up where she left off in Part 1, sharing stories of joining her mom on pot-brownie runs in The City in the late-'70s. She pivots from there to just a few years later, when Alia witnessed the devastation of AIDS first-hand. She also speaks of communities coming together around the epidemic to provide support for those who needed it. We fast-forward to around 2000, when Alia began traveling in Europe for many years. While walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain, she began writing. She started a writing program but left that to spend some time in Cuba and later, different parts of South America. She left her travels when her mom got ill. Spending time with her and recording would eventually lead to Alia's book, Home Baked, which she briefly discussed in Part 1 and which comes out on paperback next week. Look for it at your favorite local bookstore. Alia shares the story of her and Kevin Hunsanger's (Season 2, Episode 10—links below) wedding, which is quite the San Francisco tale. We end the podcast with Alia's thoughts on what's next for her hometown of San Francisco. Related Podcasts Kevin Hunsanger Part 1 and Part 2 We recorded this podcast in Alia's backyard in April 2021.
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It isn't every episode that we get to learn more about the main character in a book. First of all, if you haven't already read Home Baked, Alia Volz's autobiography about her mom, her dad, and the pot brownie business they had in San Francisco in the 1970s, please do. In this podcast, Alia, who was born and raised amid that booming business four decades ago, dives deeper into her parents' stories, both individually and as a couple. As she does in her book, she sets the stage for her eventual arrival, back when her parents lived and cooked baked goods in a warehouse in the Mission. And then Alia wraps up Part 1 with the story of her birth. Related Podcast Alan Kaufman Part 1 and Part 2 We recorded this podcast outside of Alia's home in the Inner Richmond in April 2021.
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This one's pretty much all about San Francisco politics 20 years ago. Matt talks about how it was that he ended up running for political office to begin with. He walks us through Tom Ammiano's write-in campaign for mayor in 1999 and Matt's eventual ascension to the Board of Supervisors the next year. What brought him into my sphere was Matt's run for mayor in 2003 against Willie Brown heir-apparent Gavin Newsom. Other topics discussed in the podcast include:
We end with Matt's thoughts and hopes for what comes next in San Francisco. Related Podcast Hillary Ronen, Part 1 / Part 2 We recorded this podcast over Zoom in March 2021.
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Matt Gonzalez's life could've turned out very different. Born in McAllen, Texas, and raised there and across the river in Reynoso, Tamaulipas (Mexico), Matt recalls spending a lot of time camping and playing football when he was a kid. His family moved around a bit—Louisville, Baltimore, New Orleans—before returning to South Texas, where Matt finished school and played more football. The sport eventually took a back seat to debate class, and he decided to go to college at Columbia in New York City. Matt talks about arriving wide-eyed in New York. He spent four years getting his undergrad, with summers in Maine and Minnesota leading camping expeditions. Then, he decided to come to California for law school. Check back Thursday for Part 2, when Matt will share more memories from his roughly 30 years in San Francisco, which he begins to touch on here. We recorded this podcast over Zoom in March 2021.
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Arthur Gaus came of age in the Golden Era of comedy in San Francisco. Picking up where he left off in Part 1, Arthur sets the stage for his beginnings doing stand-up by describing the comedy scene in The City in the 1980s. He rattles off a list of funny folks who got their starts here—Will Durst, Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Greg Proops—and talks about comedy venues in San Francisco, some of which still exist today. Arthur got started at open-mic nights around town and in Santa Cruz, where he ended up going to college. He got his SF break at Cobb's, but he extols the virtues of The Punchline, especially Sunday nights, where, in the before-times, the club features up to 10 local comedians. He tells us about his comedy album, Nice Jokes for Smart People, which you can find on Spotify, Pandora, and other streaming services. Arthur ends this podcast reflecting on changes in The City in last couple decades, culminating with where we are today. We recorded this podcast over ZenCastr in March 2021.
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Arthur Gaus grew up on a famous block in The City. In this podcast, the native San Francisco comedian traces his story back to his parents' choice to buy a house on Ashbury just off Haight Street in the late-'70s. Arthur shares stories of growing up in his family's Victorian and hanging out on Haight Street, in Golden Gate Park (despite how dangerous everyone said it was back then), and in his backyard. His grade school was near the gate to Chinatown, a neighborhood he and his friends spent a lot of time exploring. Arthur talks about his high school years and ends the podcast with a funny story about being one of the the only boys in a play at a girls' school. Check back Thursday for Part 2, when we'll hear all about how Arthur Gaus got started doing comedy. Related Podcast Dara Kosberg Part 1 This podcast was recorded on ZenCastr in March 2021.
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Renel grew up going to Giants games at Candlestick Park. So when the team reached out to her in 1999 about the possibility of becoming the PA announcer in their brand-new stadium, she immediately thought her family and the long line of baseball fans she's a part of. Renel shares her experience auditioning for the job at Candlestick in November 1999 and takes us through her journey as she approaches her 22nd year in the PA booth. We do a lightning round of Giants World Series experiences and move on to talk about the pandemic and the movement for racial, social, and economic justice. Related Podcasts Mario Alioto Part 1, Part 2 Bertha Fajardo Part 1, Part 2 We recorded this podcast over Zoom in March 2021.
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Renel has always enjoyed entertaining people. Born in Oakland and raised there, in Berkeley, and in Richmond, Renel suffered when her family moved to Menlo Park on the Peninsula. She went to Mills for college, where she studied classical voice and sang in a band with some guys who went to UC Berkeley. After college, she got an entry-level job at KCBS radio and worked her way to writing copy for on-air talent. Four years later, she got a sales job at KFRC, but ended up running the station's public affairs department, an opportunity that got Renel on the air while filling in for a colleague out on maternity leave. She later got her own show on the station--Bayview: A Look at the Issues and Concerns of the Bay Area Black Community. That lead to Renel's first music set: She debuted as "Rockin' Renel" at midnight on a Friday in 1985. After a format change at KFRC, she got in at KMEL. Renel was with KMEL when it became one of the first stations in the country to play hip-hop. She eventually got the morning show on the station, the job she held until helping to launch 98.1 KISS FM (now "The Breeze" ... ya keeping up?). And then ... The San Francisco Giants came a-knockin'. Tune in Thursday for Part 2 and the continuation of this amazing woman's journey. Related Podcast: Fellow Bay Area radio personality Dayna Keyes: Part 1 and Part 2 We recorded this episode over Zoom in March 2021. 
A couple days ago on this show, Chronicle journalist Kevin Fagan told you all about his latest project: the untold story of the Doodler, a new documentary podcast series from Ugly Duckling Films. On his show, Kevin dives into the archive of his paper and the San Francisco Police Department in search of a serial killer known for drawing portraits of his victims. This killer, known as the Doodler, targeted his attacks against gay men in the Bay Area between 1974 and 1975. He brutally beat and murdered at least five gay men and got away with it due to little evidence and lack of attention from the media and the police at the time. SFPD re-opened the case in 2018 and it's still ongoing today. Police believe the Doodler is still alive and have released an age-progressed sketch of the suspect, which you can see in the image above. Follow this new hunt for a forgotten serial killer and subscribe to The Doodler on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. Take care, and we’ll see ya here on Storied: San Francisco next week. 
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Welcome to the soft launch of Storied: San Francisco, Season 4! We love catching up with friends and past guests of the show. For Kevin Fagan (S1E13), we were kinda blown away by what he's been up to, though we probably shouldn't be surprised. In San Francisco in 1974 and '75, there was a serial killer on the loose. His MO was to sketch or doodle his victims in public—in cafes, bars, and the like. The drawings then served as an "in" with his targets. Police believe he killed at least five men in the spree, with the potential for more. Kevin shares with us how he came to the story of the Doodler, set to debut as an eight-part serial podcast hosted by Kevin today (Parts 1 and 2 should be available wherever you get your podcasts). Check back here Thursday for an excerpt from "The Doodler" podcast. We recorded this special podcast on Zoom in March 2021. In this special episode of our podcast, Jeff reads three of our favorite love letters to San Francisco written in January 2020 at our event of the same name. You'll get a sample of our new Season 4 theme music, created and curated by Joe Bagale. And we're pretty sure that the third letter was written by Season 3 storyteller P. Segal. We hope you enjoy these as much as we do. They speak to the complexity of loving a city like ours, and they offer a glimmer of hope for what's next in San Francisco. See you soon for Season 4 of Storied: San Francisco! xoxo Michelle + Jeff In this podcast, our very last of Season 3, Jesus and Randy pick up where they off in Part 1. They talk in more depth about the challenges that Gay American Indians (Randy's group) and Gay Latino Alliance (Jesus's) faced, despite the fact that San Francisco was already a more accepting place than most in the United States. The two spend the remainder of the podcast reflecting on the evolution on the LGBTQIA community. We want to thank Randy and Jesus for their time and for sharing their stories. We want to thank all the storytellers we've ridden with us over the course of our third season of this show. Last but certainly not least, we want to thank you for listening, reading, liking, commenting, signing up for our newsletter, coming to our shows (back when we could still have those safely), and sharing what we do with your friends and family. We're taking a short break, but we aim to be back at it introducing you to more of your San Francisco neighbors in a few weeks. Until then—stay healthy, stay safe, wear a mask, Black lives matter, stay weird, and stay strong! We recorded this podcast over Zoom in January 2021. If you've been with us for a while, you already know Randy Burns (Part 1, Part 2). Randy is definitely a friend of the show. He introduced us to his friend, Jesus Barragan, whom we had on the show earlier this season (Part 1, Part 2). To close out our third season, we wanted to have these two longtime friends to talk about the POC gay rights movements they were each very much a part of back in the 1970s and '80s—Randy's Gay American Indians (GAI) and Jesus's Gay Latino Alliance (GALA). It was the fall of 1975, and at that time, no such groups existed here. What would eventually become the Pride parade was in its infancy. But these two young queer activists and their allies organized, not only making their existence known, but fighting for basic rights some might take for granted today. In Part 1 of this two-part podcast, Randy and Jesus each share the background stories of getting their groups started. Please check back Thursday for Part 2 (and the final new episode of Season 3!), when the two friends will talk about meeting each other and working together toward equality for the POC LGBTQIA+ community. We recorded this podcast over Zoom in January 2021.
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In this podcast, Tony Carracci picks up where he left off in Part 1, talking about closing his kitchen inside the Cat Club and using that space instead as a second dance floor. It was around this time that the '80s-themed night 1984 started. But Tony wanted a live-music venue. He found a spot in Hunter's Point that happened to have a kitchen, and so, The Pound SF was born. After running that place for a few years, Tony left and, after not doing much "for a minute," he became a wedding planner. In his mind, it has a lot in common with running a restaurant or a club. Fast-forward to 2017. He had been living in Marin since the mid-1990s, and, as a food person, was always making sauces. One day, he noticed an empty storefront and "inquired within." While he awaited permits to do food in the space, he acquired a food truck, and, inspired by David Bowie's last LP, named it Black Star Bakehouse and Smokery. Tony's story of meeting his partner, Suzie Vasko, coincides with his discovery of Point San Pablo Harbor. Tony would take the Black Star truck to the harbor and he had just won best food truck in Marin when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. In the summer of 2020, the harbormaster told Tony that Nobilis, a restaurant down on the water, was closing and that Tony's barbecue would be a perfect fit. Suzie shares the story of their meeting, and the two end the podcast talking about opening Black Star Pirate BBQ. The restaurant is open for takeout from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday through Sunday. They of course hope to reopen once it's safe and legal to do so. Please support them if you can—the food and location are truly special. We recorded this podcast at Black Star Pirate BBQ in Point San Pablo Harbor in December 2020.
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Tony Carracci's life revolves around water. Tony's parents met in Seattle, where his mom was from. His dad, who is from from New Orleans, met his mom up north during a stint in the Merchant Marines. When they were expecting their first child, Tony, the young couple decided to relocate to another port town: San Francisco, away from the cold and rain of Seattle and the heat and mugginess in New Orleans. Tony did most of his growing up in the 1960s and early '70s in The City, and he shares some of his impressions of that era. He played baseball, football, and soccer, and excelled at sports in general. But because he had a hard time sitting still and focussing for a long time, school wasn't Tony's favorite. He graduated and left home in the mid-'70s. He worked in the now-defunct SF shipyards but hated it. He moved up to Portland (yet another port town!) for a couple years, started working in kitchens, and started doing hair and make-up. Then he went farther north, to his mom's hometown of Seattle. But a girl he met there and started dating got a job back in The City, and Tony decided that it was his chance to come home. After restaurant jobs here and there, Tony learned about a new restaurant in the Haight that needed an opening chef. That place was Cha Cha Cha. Tony spends the last part of this episode talking about Haight Street and South of Market back in the day. He ends with the story of opening the Cat Club. Join us Thursday for Part 2, when Tony will share the story of opening his BBQ joint in the East Bay. We recorded this podcast at Black Star Pirate BBQ in Richmond, California, in December 2020.
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In this podcast, Gillian picks up where she left off in Part 1, with some bartending jobs she had while she went to college. After she graduated, she took up an offer to go to the Dominican Republic. What started off as a trip turned into four years on the island. Next came her move to The City in 2005. Gillian shares some of her first impressions of San Francisco, contrasting those with ideas she had formed mostly from TV and movies growing up. Upon moving here, she immediately fell in love with the "artists and dreamers" she was lucky enough to meet. Then Gillian shares the story of opening Casements. She met her eventual business partner, Séan O'Donovan, when they both worked at Nickie's in the Lower Haight. The two often talked about opening their own place back in the day. Gillian left Nickie's to help open Virgil's on Mission about 10 years ago, and she left Virgil's to go into business with a friend making Bloody Mary mix. She then helped Wes of Wesburger and also helped open a few other bars around town, but she always held onto the idea of opening her own Irish bar. After getting support from Séan and another bar owner, Gillian asked the owners of Gas Light if they would sell. They did, and Séan and Gillian got the keys in early November 2019. They had a soft opening and ran for a couple of months, having their official opening on Jan. 19, 2020. Six weeks or so later, COVID-19 hit and they had to shut down. Now that we're on Lockdown 2.0, Casements is offering food and drink for pick-up every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Please support this rad indy bar and help it ride out this storm so that it can open on the other side of the madness. We recorded this podcast at Casements Bar in the Mission in December 2020. 
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Gillian Fitzgerald was born in Hospital (a town in Ireland). In this podcast, the owner of Casements Bar in the Mission traces her lineage back to when her Irish parents met. The family moved from County Limerick in the southwest to County Meade, just north of Dublin. That is where Gillian did most of her growing up, smalltown stories she shares in this episode. In addition to playing many sports, Gillian also had her own horse: Flash Gordon. She tells us a wild story about Flash that you really have to hear to believe. After talking about her time in high school and college, which brought her to Dublin, she ends this episode with some of the family bars and pubs she worked in as a young adult back in Ireland. Please join us Thursday for Part 2, when Gillian will talk about leaving Ireland, her arrival in San Francisco, and her opening Casements just before the pandemic took hold. We recorded this podcast outside of Casements Bar in the Mission in December 2020. |