San Francisco History

Hearst Building - San Francisco  2012

John's Grill - San Francisco  2012

Two photos conjuring up the olden times. For the Hearst Building: Mark Twain, Ambrose Bierce, etc etc.

For John's Grill: jazz 'n steaks! Whoa! Timeless! Someday I must eat there.

Speaking of Ambrose Bierce, we will all recall that:

In October 1913, the septuagenarian Bierce departed Washington on a tour to revisit his old Civil War battlefields. . . . After a last letter to a close friend, sent from that city [Chihuahua] on December 26, 1913, he vanished without a trace, becoming one of the most famous disappearances in American literary history. Subsequent investigations to ascertain his fate were fruitless and, despite many decades of speculation, his disappearance remains a mystery.

In one of his last letters, Bierce wrote:

"Good-by — if you hear of my being stood up against a Mexican stone wall and shot to rags please know that I think that a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease, or falling down the cellar stairs. To be a Gringo in Mexico — ah, that is euthanasia".

(Readeasily.com)