The San Francisco Experience

Tommy Lightfoot Garrett is a veteran Hollywood publicist who has worked with the great stars of screen and stage: Bette Davis, Doris Day, Charlton Heston, Glenn Ford, Joan Fontaine, Jane Wyman as well as Julia Roberts and Jude Law, to mention but a few. And over the years, he has amassed the second largest collection of Hollywood photographs, second only to Ted Turner. With 4 celebrity biographies to his credit, he is finishing up his latest on Antony Perkins, due out in 2022. In this episode,  he raises the curtain on Hollywood's behind the scenes history. Tommy is an engaging raconteur who really knows Hollywood !

Dallas native Tom Keener talks about Dallas as it is today and as he remembers it in 1963. And he shares his personal memoir of Friday, November 22, 1963 when he and his mother went to Love Field to await the arrival of Air Force One, President Kennedy and the First Lady. What a day ! Even 58 years later his memories are fresh and vivid. The episode cover picture features the Keeners in the rope line greeting JFK and Jackie.

Quentin Tarantino's 9th film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie gives set in 1969 Hollywood, gives a Through the Looking Glass ending to the Sharon Tate/LaBianca murders by the Manson Family.

San Francisco's city government has been described as dysfunctional by the influential news magazine,  The Economist. And other global newspapers like The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Daily Telegraph and The Daily Mail, regularly highlight our many travails like homelessness, City Hall corruption, rampant crime, inept school governance and stratospheric housing prices. Yet our civic leadership seems incapable or unwilling to fix them. Sam Singer, one of the nation's top Crisis Management consultants shares his analysis with us and his pragmatic  solutions. 

Anchorage is the largest city of the 49th state, with a population of 291,000. Close to 5 national parks, 60 glaciers and enjoying the Northern Lights, the great outdoors plays a major role in this diverse city. Tim McGargill is a recent transplant to Alaska, following 19th Century advice to Go West Young Man, he is living life on the Last Frontier. An ultra marathon runner, he is learning to share his running trails with Moose and bears !

California legalized involuntary sterilizations in 1909. Between 1919 and 1952, 5500 such procedures were performed, representing 25% of the involuntary sterilizations which occurred in California.

Arson arrests in California were up to 120 in 2020 versus 70 in 2019.  To paraphrase our guest, the wildland arsonist is the most dangerous criminal in the country and can burn down a whole town in one hour. Yet such cases are not considered in the same destructive category as a weapon of mass destruction. Why not ? And what makes an arsonist tick ?

Carol Lynley had a remarkable 40 year career in films, TV and on the stage.  And who could ever forget The Poseidon Adventure ? She was a hardworking actress who graduated from model to teen actress to adult roles during the turbulent 1960s when social and cultural norms were changing. But she adapted to the times.

Three recent arson cases in Northern California's forests, during our dangerous annual wildfire season, have raised the fear that deliberately set fires are on the rise and contributing to the megafires plaguing the Golden State. Cal Fire says that arson arrests jumped from 70 in 2019 to 120 in 2020. How can we stop this trend ?

Liverpool is located 178 miles North West of London. A port and a city of colorful history, it has produced two Premier League Soccer Teams, The Beatles, countless actors and artists and has always been an immigrant melting pot. A key transportation artery during the Industrial Revolution, it played a role in the American Civil War facilitating the cotton trade, hosting a Confederate consulate and overseeing the building of a Confederate warship. Lincoln's assassin John Wilkes Booth is rumored to have fled to Liverpool, his ancestral home and lived incognito avoiding capture.