Herb Caen: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Loyal royal.jpg|thumb|Herb Caen's "Loyal Royal" typewriter on display at ''San Francisco Chronicle'' offices]] |
[[File:Loyal royal.jpg|thumb|Herb Caen's "Loyal Royal" typewriter on display at ''San Francisco Chronicle'' offices]] |
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'''Herbert Eugene Caen''' (April 3, 1916 – February 1, 1997) was a [[ |
'''Herbert Eugene Caen''' (April 3, 1916 – February 1, 1997) was a [[San Francisco]]-based American [[journalist]] whose daily [[columnist|column]] of local goings-on, social and political happenings, |
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local anecdotes, and insider gossip appeared in the ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'' for almost sixty years, except during a relatively short stint at the ''[[San Francisco Examiner]]''. Caen's name was a household word throughout the [[San Francisco Bay Area]] for decades. |
local anecdotes, and insider gossip appeared in the ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'' for almost sixty years, except during a relatively short stint at the ''[[San Francisco Examiner]]''. Caen's name was a household word throughout the [[San Francisco Bay Area]] for decades. He was a [[Pulitzer Prize]]-winner. |
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== "Three-dot journalism" == |
== "Three-dot journalism" == |
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Revision as of 01:34, 15 June 2012
Herbert Eugene Caen (April 3, 1916 – February 1, 1997) was a San Francisco-based American journalist whose daily column of local goings-on, social and political happenings, local anecdotes, and insider gossip appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle for almost sixty years, except during a relatively short stint at the San Francisco Examiner. Caen's name was a household word throughout the San Francisco Bay Area for decades. He was a Pulitzer Prize-winner.
"Three-dot journalism"
Born in Sacramento, Caen came to prominence with his It's News to Me column, which first appeared July 5, 1938 in the San Francisco Chronicle. Except for 1950 to 1958 (when he wrote for the San Francisco Examiner) he remained with the Chronicle his entire life. Caen called his work "three-dot journalism" in reference to the ellipses which separated his column's short items. (His son Christopher's publishing company is Ellipsis Media.) He had a considerable influence on pop culture, particularly its language. He coined the term beatnik in a 1958 column[1] and popularized hippie during San Francisco's 1967 Summer of Love.[2] He was interviewed in Jack O'Connell's 1968 film Revolution.[3] He also playfully popularized many other (if more obscure) concepts and terms, such as Frisbeetarianism.
His popular "Namephreaks" feature presented people whose names were related to their occupations or hobbies (such as a Nancy Canceller who operated a post office cancellation machine). Namephreaks are also known as aptronyms. Caen credited many namephreak entries to a mysterious "Strange DeJim," who frequently submitted jokes as well. DeJim was suspected by some to be Caen's invention, used for the most off-beat items, but it was revealed after Caen's death that DeJim was the pen-name of an otherwise anonymous Castro District writer.[4][5]
When Caen received a special Pulitzer Prize in 1996 ("for his extraordinary and continuing contribution as a voice and conscience of his city") he referred to it in his column as his "Pullet Surprise."[6]
Herb Caen Way...
Caen often referred to San Francisco as Baghdad by the Bay, a term he coined to reflect the city's exotic multiculturalism. A collection of his essays, Baghdad-by-the-Bay, was published in 1949, and in 1953 he published the book Don't Call It Frisco after a 1918 Examiner news item of the same name.[7]
For many years, San Francisco had a double-decker freeway along much of its waterfront on the east side of the city, called the Embarcadero Freeway because it was built over the street named the Embarcadero. Many residents, Caen among them, considered it an eyesore as it blocked views of the bay. The freeway was never completed to its original design, although the portion that was completed was heavily used because it provided access to Broadway and Fisherman's Wharf. Caen frequently lambasted it in his column, dubbing it The Dambarcadero. In 1989 the Loma Prieta earthquake severely damaged the freeway, and the decision was made to demolish it rather than repair it. Remaining in place, but now open to the sky, is the Embarcadero, a small portion of which is named "Herb Caen Way...," with the three dots included in honor of his writing style. The wide promenade serves as the most eastern street in San Francisco, wrapping the city from the northeast corner, proceeding along the waterfront, and terminating near the new stadium for his beloved San Francisco Giants.[8]
Caen willed to the city a fireworks display which was given at Aquatic Park in front of Ghirardelli Square following his death. The fireworks display concluded with a pyrotechnic image of a typewriter on the bay. This tribute was attended by many of his friends and fans, who gathered on Herb Caen Way ... on the Embarcadero, lit candles protected from the wind by dixie cups, and walked north along the waterfront to Aquatic Park.
Caen can be seen in Jack O'Connell's San Francisco documentary The Hippie Revolution (1996), a reworking of O'Connell's earlier Revolution (1968).
Bibliography
- Baghdad by the Bay Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company. 1949
- Don't Call It Frisco Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company. 1953.
- The Cable Car and the Dragon, illustrated by Barbara Ninde Byfield. Doubleday (1972), reprinted by Chronicle Books (1986) (children's picture book)
References
- ^ SFGate.com. Archive. Herb Caen, April 2, 1958. Pocketful of Notes. Retrieved on June 4, 2009.
- ^ SFGate.com. Archive. Herb Caen, June 25, 1967. Small thoughts at large. Retrieved on June 4, 2009;
- ^ Haight's Fate on Screen accessed 3rd July 2011
- ^ [1]
- ^ Ford, Dave (January 23, 2004). "Strange but true: A character from Caen's column captures the character of the Castro". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved June 13, 2012.
- ^ [2]
- ^ San Francisco Examiner, April 3, 1918. Don't Call It Frisco. Judge Mogan Rebukes Angeleno for Using Slang in His Petition for Divorce. "No one refers to San Francisco by that title except people from Los Angeles." Retrieved on March 31, 2009.
- ^ [3]
External links
