Greg Knotts: This abstract was culled from the back of the book and table of contents.
The focus of this groundbreaking 352-page book (in large sized format) is on historical and present day events, activism and personalities associated with The Castro gay neighborhood in San Francisco. In choosing material for this anthology the editor has concentrated on event highlights of the past fifty years, especially the decades since 1970 when The Castro emerged as a mainly queer neighborhood.
The book consists of articles, essays by some 35 writers (women and men), as well as over 150 photos, the earliest from the 1930s, the most recent from 2001 chronicling this neighborhood.
"Out in the Castro" is divided into 5 main sections:
The first is THE CREATION OF THE CASTRO: AN OVERVIEW which descirbes how the Eureka Valley district of San Francisco metamorphosed into The Castro, beginning with the entry into The City of many gay servicemen after World War II. The second is THE 1970S: HARVEY MILK AND GAY POWER. The focus here is on three articles by people who worked closely with Harvey Milk in his Castro activism and campaigns for supervisor: Anne Kronenberg, Frank M. Robinson, Harry Britt. Also included is an in-depth photo essay on The Castro Street Fair from 1974 to the present by Rink Foto and two other photo essays by Greg Day and Crawford Barton. The third is THE 1980s — 1990s: AIDS, ACTIVISM, INNOVATION. This section includes an in-depth piece on how The Castro came together supportively on the issue of AIDS. Also Rev. Jim Mitulski's "The Castro Is a Sacred Place," Gilbert Baker's history of the Gay Flag, two articles by Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, profiles of The Gay Games and Freddie Niem's "Shanghai West Studio" Richard Labonte's history of A Different Light Bookstore, Castro photo essays by Rink Foto and Rick Gerharter and much more. The fourth is titled CASTRO LITERARY ESSAYS, FICTION and includes Jewelle Gomez' poignant essay "Mighty Real," plus fiction, poetry, Donelan cartoons and more. The fifth, A NEIGHBORHOOD IN TRANSITION: THE CASTRO IN THE EARLY 21ST CENTURY includes "Shadows of Our Souls: Young and Homeless in The Castro," articles by Tommi Avicolli-Mecca on Tom Ammiano and on the issues around evictions and sky high prices, essay "A Castro Family," plus an in-depth illustrated walking tour of The Castro.
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