The San Francisco Bay is alive. Currents push in and out of the channels like blood moving through the chambers of a heart. Its floor moves. There is always a slight earthquake happening on the boat ride to Alcatraz, but the movement is soothing. Like any good piece of art, the unsteady tides of the San Francisco Bay create tension and release. I’d be a bit lost without it. Finding one’s sea legs is a good metaphor for navigating the curveballs of the larger world.
You Don’t Know Jack inverts the hilarious book, Shit My Dad Says, and crosses it with “Mad” Magazine-inspired art by Brian Stannard. Go to Bay Area writer and You Don’t Know Jack ringleader, Kevin Finnerty’s, site for more info.
Joshua Norton, San Francisco’s original eccentric who carried himself with the air of a hungover peacock, had the moxie to declare himself emperor of the United States and Mexico, and the mojo to send marriage proposals to Queen Victoria. Despite being a failed businessman at the time of his arrival in San Francisco, the newly christened Emperor Norton persevered and he became a respected and beloved member of the local community.
Donning a second-hand, Union general’s outfit, the printed proclamations from the self-declared emperor nonetheless carried impact and appeared with bated breath in the newspapers of the time period. It was Emperor Norton who first proposed the necessity of a new bridge to link San Francisco and Oakland… in 1872.
Norton also pushed back against the anti-Chinese immmigrant hysteria of the time period, and preferred the black-owned newspaper, the Pacific Appeal, to serve as the “imperial organ” for his proclamations.
Queen Victoria may have rebuffed his wedding proposals, but Norton found no shortage of companionship as evident by the two dogs named Bummer and Lazarus who followed him around town. Norton transcended his poverty by printing up his own currency that carried weight in several San Francisco establishments. Ten thousand people attended his funeral. Norton had no legitimate money at the time of his death, but a fundraising campaign was successfully launched to provide for a coffin fit for an emperor.
Emperor Norton’s Boozeland at 510 Larkin St. in San Francisco is a celebration of all things Emperor Norton, including a painting by Brian Stannard to keep the barflies company.
Before the 1920s found their roar, a charismatic gambler named Roy Gardner dominated news headlines with daring train robberies and escapes from incarceration. Nicknamed the “Smiling Bandit,” Gardner spilled no blood- except his own- as he cut a felonious path across the western United States, as the country hobbled through a recession in the aftermath of the First World War.
Once imprisoned for the long term, including a stint at Alcatraz, Gardner won over some unlikely champions. Both Gardner’s wife, Dollie, and a police officer who once arrested him launched extensive campaigns for Gardner’s release on the vaudeville circuit, claiming a brain operation would cure his lawless ways. Was Gardner a good man who made bad decisions as the victim of injury and circumstance? Or was his charming personality the poker face of a scoundrel?
Alcatraz Ghost Story explores the life of Roy Gardner in the context of his great love story and the larger backdrop of drug addiction, incarceration, and racial and labor violence of the 1920 and 19230s.
Alcatraz Ghost Story by Brian Stannard is available at the Alcatraz Museum Store, in addition to the following locations. It is available at many public libraries, too. Bookstore and library staff can also order copies.
Books Kinokuniya, San Francisco
Book Passage, San Francisco Ferry Building
Green Apple Books, San Francisco (9th Ave. and Clement St. Locations)
Books, Inc. (Alameda Location)
Events:
Alcatraz- Brian Stannard works at Alcatraz Tuesday-Saturdays until 3:00 p.m.
Reviews:
brianstannard.com 