San Francisco: Baghdad by the Bay
Photo by the author “If I do go to heaven, I’m going to do what every San Franciscan does who goes to heaven. He looks around and says,'It ain’t bad, but it ain’t San Francisco. ” – Herb Caen The news about the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge closure this Labor Day weekend , to take the original East Span out of service and to open the new East Span to traffic , brought about a lot of nostalgia and added to an already very emotional week . My sister and I found old newspapers , “The San Francisco Chronicle” and “The Examiner” dating back to the 1940’s while sorting out our deceased loved one’s stuff . Reading Herb Caen's column reminded me of my mother . Herb Caen was a San Francisco Chronicle columnist who coined the term “Baghdad by the Bay” to reflect San Francisco's exotic multiculturalism. Perhaps reading Herb Caen’s column every day , helped mom adapt to her new home . She became an avid fan...