The Brown twins (San Francisco Chronicle photo)
Oct. 21, 2012—
Every big city has people like the Brown twins.
Marian and Vivian Brown, 85 and 85, are San Francisco icons. The twins wear matching outfits and share the same hair style. They often would greet pedestrians with hand shakes, which locals believed led to good luck. For the past 15 years the sisters have sat at the same window seat at Uncle Vito’s pizzeria in Nob Hill.
Their smiles brighten the foggiest day on “Baghdad by the Bay,” as late San Francisco columnist Herb Caen called his city.
Familiar characters like the twins give every city a small town touch.
So when humble, [...]
Oct. 10, 2012—-
HANNIBAL, Mo.—We all live on an island.
Sometimes you just have to sail away on a stream of consciousness.
Capt. Steve Terry has been at the helm of the Mark Twain Riverboat since the summer of 1977. That is a lot of ups and downs along the Mississippi River.
From April through November the boat sets off from the landing at the foot of Center Street in Twain’s quaint Hannibal, Mo.
Towards the end of summer I jumped in my car in Chicago, drove to Springfield, Ill., cut west on I-70 and a little more [...]
