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-Richard

Frances McDormand & Cynthia Nixon read Tales Of The City!

From Beatstreet Productions

Over the past month, we’ve recorded several titles from Armistead Maupin’s classic series Tales Of The City.  Oscar-winner Frances McDormand read the first and third books in the series, Tales Of The City and Further Tales Of The City, and Sex And The City star Cynthia Nixon recorded the second, More Tales Of The City.  Scott Sherratt directed the books for Harper Audio while Jared O’Connell & Jeff Malinowski engineered.

http://beatstreetnyc.com/?p=422

"Tours of the Tales" Walking Tour

Larry Rhodes, of the Tours of the Tales website, is conducting a walking tour Monday January 21, 2013.  I highly recommend anyone interested in visiting the locales mentioned in the "Tales of the City" series to RSVP right away.

The tour begins at 9:00 a.m. at the Aquatic Park and will end approximately 4:30 p.m.  Locations include:  Russian Hill (the fictional location of 28 Barbary Lane and other landmarks), North Beach, Telegraph Hill, Nob Hill and Union Square.  There will be a lunch break in North Beach.

For more information, or to RSVP for the tour, visit Larry's page at http://www.toursofthetales.com/GuidedTours.html 

Aimee Mann - Charmer

I'm a little late posting this, but here's the Amiee Mann video for "Charmer" featuring Laura Linney (aka Mary Ann Singleton)

My Tales of the City

9.25.2012
BY OLYMPIA DUKAKIS
Published in OUT Magazine


A reflection on playing one of the first transgender characters on television, Anna Madrigal.

I got the call that they wanted me to do it. I was almost in shock because I knew there were many actresses in America who wanted to play that part. I acknowledged that I knew nothing about it, so I started to read. There were a couple of biographies and autobiographies around -- not much at that time. I felt somewhat prepared, and then as the [filming] got closer, I thought, I don’t really know anything. I have got to talk to someone who has gone through this. I have to really find out what this is all about. [The producers] arranged a meeting between me and this [transgender] woman who was now a sex/gender therapist.

So I bought a couple of croissants and invited her over for breakfast. And in through the door walked a woman who was 6-foot-2 with enormous hands and the softest voice. We sat down and were chitchatting, and then I finally said to her, “Look, I have read something about what you’ve been through, and I have to ask you, what was it that you wanted or needed so deeply, so profoundly, that made it possible for you to first of all have the courage to do it and secondly to endure it?” And this is what she said to me: “All my life I yearned for the friendship of women.”

I cannot tell you… I instantly started to cry. I know what it is to want the friendship of women. I know how difficult sometimes that is to make happen, especially when you are competing heterosexually with women for men. There are all sorts of things that it brought out for me, and I understood something about Anna Madrigal and her relationship to other women that are around her.

For example, we were shooting a scene -- the first time I invite Maryann (played by Laura Linney) into my bedroom to talk. I say “Come on, let’s go over here. We can talk.” They wanted us to go over to the bureau and talk at the bureau. And I walked into the room and the bed had been dismantled and put to the side, and I said, “If we were gonna talk, we would sit on the bed and talk. We wouldn’t go over to the mirror and talk.” The guy stopped for a moment and then he made them assemble the bed. We did the scene on the bed, and I understood that scene was my wanting her friendship, that this is the thing Anna had not had and was looking for, always.

As told to Jason Lamphier

http://www.out.com/entertainment/television/2012/09/25/Olympia-Dukakis-my-tales-city

Armistead Maupin Store

From Armistead Maupin's Facebook Page 

These days publishers aren't exactly chomping at the bit to send authors on book tours, so my hubby Chris has found a clever way around that. He's set up an online store where you can buy any of my books and have them signed and personalized by me. (I love e-books too, but you can't get them autographed, can you?) We're also offering an elegant little blank journal where you can begin your own novel on actual paper. There are rumors that T-shirts and hats are on the way, so please don't give me any shit. Times is hard, children.

Click here to start shopping

www.armisteadmaupin.gostorego.com

Special only-in-S.F. homes on the market

Carolyn Said
Updated 03:54 p.m., Sunday, July 22, 2012


The woodsy retreat of a writer who captured San Francisco in all its wacky splendor. A landmark Painted Lady on Postcard Row. A socialite's "mini Versailles" on Billionaire's Row. A Gold Coast mansion with echoes of "Downton Abbey."

A city as storied as San Francisco is filled with houses that are renowned in their own right. Every so often, some of them go on the market, offering tantalizing glimpses inside and chances to fantasize about inhabiting a legend.

Some current and recent listings illustrate the breadth of residences with historic, cultural and architectural significance. Some buyers are famous themselves, presaging new chapters in the homes' sagas: social media moguls, a trailblazing chef.

Many mega-mansions in the city sit on the market "for ages," said Sally Kuchar, editor of real estate website Curbed SF. "But now there is a flush of tech cash, just like the first boom, and people are buying these big abodes because they can."

Maupin lived here
-- 27 Belmont Ave., home of author Armistead Maupin (TalesOfTheCityHome.com)

Maupin, the literary icon whose "Tales of the City" series held a mirror to San Francisco from the 1970s to the present, is moving to Santa Fe with his husband, Christopher Turner. Their Parnassus Heights three-bedroom Craftsman just hit the market for $1.198 million, with open houses this weekend.

"I loved being able to write on that top floor and walk out on the deck and just stare into Sutro Forest," said Maupin, who penned three novels during his two-decade residence there, including the semiautobiographical "The Night Listener," which describes the house as "three narrow stories notched into the wooded slope."

"The house has grown and changed organically over the years," Maupin said. "It feels like my handwriting all over the place. Whenever I got a check, if it was a good check, I could buy myself a door. (If smaller) I would buy, say, a doorknob - not just any old one, but a hammered copper doorknob from an artisan.

"Many of my friends have visited me there over the years and their memory is stamped on it for me," he said. "People connected with the first 'Tales of the City' miniseries: Laura (Linney) and Olympia (Dukakis). Ian McKellen once stayed and left a note: 'Gandalf slept here with Magneto.'

"I hope it goes to someone who loves it well and long as I have done."

http://www.sfgate.com/realestate/article/Special-only-in-S-F-homes-on-the-market-3725561.php#photo-3225228

Teatime with Armistead Maupin

Teatime with Armistead Maupin

Date/Time: 7/20/12 4:00 pm

Location: Paramount, 247 Commercial St.

A lively afternoon with the author - featuring an early sneak preview of the next novel in his legendary "Tales of the City" series.

Ticketholders to TEATIME WITH ARMISTEAD MAUPIN can expect an afternoon of free-wheeling anecdotes and lively conversation with the audience – as well as a reading from Maupin’s current work-in-progress, The Days of Anna Madrigal.  The author’s books will be available for purchase and signing.


http://www.onlyatthecrown.com/events/event.php?id=1224

Armistead Maupin Speaks In P-Town

Posted by Joe My God

Today I attended Tea With Armistead Maupin, where the famed author entertained a standing-room only crowd with anecdotes from the history of his legendary Tales Of The City series. One highlight was his reading of a chapter from the upcoming The Days Of Anna Madrigal, which traces the history of one of his most beloved characters. The following Q&A from the rabid fanboys (and fangirls) could have gone on forever as questioner after questioner grilled Maupin about myriad aspects of the series. Leaving a lot of dangling hands in the air, the crowd then moved outside to the Crown & Anchor's pool deck where Maupin's hubby (and BearCentral.com owner) Chris Turner handled the crowd clamoring for signed books. A great afternoon.

See Joe My God for pictures of the event

http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2012/07/armistead-maupin-speaks-in-p-town.html

ChicagoPride.com launches episodic fiction series, Boystown

GoPride.com’s official geekologist Danny Bernardo branches out with new series

Mon. July 9, 2012  8:39:21 AM

Chicago, IL — Celebrating 10 years as the leading provider of online news and entertainment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in the Midwest, ChicagoPride.com today announced the launch of Boystown, a new episodic web series written by Danny Bernardo.


Bernardo is best known in Chicago for his work in the burgeoning theatre scene, most recently with a yearlong stint with Silk Road Rising and as a new collective member and resident playwright with Bailiwick Chicago. ChicagoPride.com readers have followed his coverage of gay comic book news and his blog Geek Out. This summer, he will add fiction writer to his list of accomplishments when his episodic series Boystown debuts on ChicagoPride.com and the GoPride.com Network on Monday, July 16.

Following the lives, loves and hijinks of a trio of diverse gay men living in the heart of Chicago's famed gay neighborhood, Boystown marries the subversive intrigue of Tales of the City with the sexy escapades of Gossip Girl. In fact, Tales of the City, Armistead Maupin's serial take of San Francisco life in the 70's and 80's was a huge inspiration point for Bernardo.

"The first time I ever saw two men kiss romantically was when PBS aired the miniseries based on Tales of they City," he recalls. "I got the books from the library the next day and was hooked. The honesty and humor with which he created his characters just made me fall in love with San Francisco."

In fact, Bernardo spent the first summer out of high school living in the Bay Area and studying theatre at the famed American Conservatory Theater.

"It was the first time I was out on my own and I thought, ‘I'm like these characters. This is my story.' Then I moved away for college and fell in love with another city: Chicago. I hope that Boystown will have the same impact for those visiting or living in Chicago."

Taking a page from his literary hero, Bernardo's Boystown will run Monday through Friday on ChicagoPride.com, with a new installment posted every day. Bernardo will utilize many of the tools of new and social media, which weren't available thirty-some years ago when Maupin's Tales series ran in the San Francisco Chronicle.

"I really want it to be an interactive piece," says Bernardo. "As the series progresses, reader comments will help shape future story lines. In the future, I want readers to share pictures through social media sites and get their stories out there. This story is for all of us."

Recognizing the visual nature of today's readership, Bernardo is partnering with many local photographers, both established and emerging, to showcase their images of gay Chicago life with each installment.

For more updates and developments of Boystown, follow @BoystownSeries on Twitter.

http://chicago.gopride.com/news/article.cfm/articleid/31103761/chicagopridecom-launches-episodic-fiction-series-boystown

This Monday! - Tea Time with Armistead Maupin

Teatime with Armistead Maupin

Date/Time: 7/9/12 4:00 pm

Location: Paramount, 247 Commercial St.

A lively afternoon with the author - featuring an early sneak preview of the next novel in his legendary "Tales of the City" series.

Ticketholders to TEATIME WITH ARMISTEAD MAUPIN can expect an afternoon of free-wheeling anecdotes and lively conversation with the audience – as well as a reading from Maupin’s current work-in-progress, The Days of Anna Madrigal.  The author’s books will be available for purchase and signing.

Book signing and After Party at the Wave Video Bar.

Sponsored by BearCentral.com


http://www.onlyatthecrown.com

Like Rose Water and Lysol, An Evening With Armistead Maupin is Breathtaking

by Tony Hobday in Arts News


Having been in the esteemed company of author Armistead Maupin, for a short two hours, on June 23, I left with the sensation of actually having been at a party at 28 Barbary Lane. Housed in an airy gallery located in the 15th and 15th district, Maupin stood over a crowd of 100 or so adoring fans like the gay alter ego of Jesus, the white-washed walls illuminating him, and read from the second chapter in the ninth volume of his ‘Tales of the City’ series, titled The Days of Anna Madrigal – the final book he irresolutely stated, summoning a few dubious chuckles from the audience.

Two decades ago, Maupin believed, after six books, the series had reached its culmination. “When I left the series in 1989, (the character of) Michael Tolliver was found to be HIV positive – at that time it was pretty much a death sentence. I didn’t want the series to end with which ‘the gay man dies,’ because that was the scenario with so many books, so many movies, year to year to year,” he pointed out.  “I wanted Michael to sort of be a beacon of hope. I wanted to leave the series with him living his life, consuming it and being strong.”

Come 2007, Michael Tolliver Lives — however, the book received much criticism. This seventh book was initially written as a stand-alone from the series, according to Maupin; hence the backlash on the author for having written MTL in first-person narrative, unlike all previous incarnations of Tales. Maupin simply explained to the audience, “I wrote MTL in first person because I really wanted to celebrate my generation of gay men. I don’t regret it.”

Then, in 2010, came Mary Ann in Autumn; the eighth installment, in which we find an embittered Mary Ann returning to San Francisco seeking solace from Michael. “Who really is Mary Ann,” asked a fan, hinting to the nonfictional basis of the character, “and what did she do to piss you off so bad?” Maupin replied with an observation about himself made by a friend: “I think that Michael Tolliver is the person you wish you were, and Mary Ann Singleton is the person you’re afraid you are.”

An astonishing cliffhanger in Mary Ann in Autumn, seemingly puts the ex-residents of 28 Barbary Lane on a precipice. Set among present day San Francisco and 1936 Winnemucca, Nev., The Days of Anna Madrigal, will open many more windows into the beloved character, from her younger years in a brothel to the ripe old age of 92.

“We just came from Winnemucca, by the way,” Maupin opened the evening, referring to himself, his husband Christopher and their dog Philo, who’s named after Philo T. Farnsworth. They were there researching for the book a place called “The Line” – an area of Winnemucca lined with whorehouses, he said. (Decades ago it consisted of five brothels in a row, and of which only two remain today.) He told of the uses of Lysol and rose water, “Lysol was sold as a feminine hygiene product in the 1930s and 40s.  It was also believed to prevent pregnancy.” He also suggested to the audience, with scads of enthusiasm, to google “1930’s whorehouse menu.” Which I did and wished I hadn’t.

Maupin’s stop in Salt Lake City was the first in a national tour called the Madrigal Mystery Tour, and which will eventually drop off Maupin and his family to settle in Santa Fe, N.M., via The Burning Man, he said, uprising a roar of laughter from the crowd. The announcement prompted more anecdotes – he reflected on a dinner party he attended and was seated next to “Shirl” (Shirley MacLaine), “… she said (to me) ‘I’m trying to figure out who your gorgeous husband reminds me of.’ So I had to sit there and play the guessing game with her and she finally said, ‘Christian Bale, Christian Bale!’ I said Christian Bale’s an asshole! And she said ‘No, he’s an actor.’” She then preceded to tell me that it was very important to move off the coast because something terrible was going to be happening very soon. And I asked which coast and she said ‘any coast.’”

“So I told this story to Olympia (Dukakis),” Maupin continued, “and Olympia said ‘I’m 82 fucking years old, I don’t have time for the apocalypse!’”

Olympia, whom as it became readily apparent that Maupin holds in the highest of regard, was (and is) Anna Madrigal. Olympia played the part of the pot-smoking landlady of 28 Barbary Lane in the 1993 miniseries of Tales. “Oly, she went out and hired a transgender consultant for her role,” Maupin told us, “and talked to this women about why she did it and how difficult was it and what emotional journey did she make. She asked ‘why would you go through this process, given that you know how hard it would be to live in this society as that person?’ And she (the consultant) said, ‘all my life, I’ve wanted a friendship with women.’”

Following the reading and spirited conversation copies of the first two chapters of The Days of Anna Madrigal were put on auction: “Who’s going to help me with the auction, I’ve never sold myself before,” Maupin joked. Auctioned off at $325 per chapter, with the total of $650 plus a percentage of the ticket proceeds benefiting the Trevor Project, the evening ended in great success.

Two days prior to Maupin’s visit to Salt Lake City, he was presented with San Francisco’s Silver Cable Car Award. The San Francisco Travel Association, each year, honors an individual or organization that has made a significant contribution to San Francisco’s visitor industry.

“Through newspapers, books, films and the stage, Armistead Maupin has introduced people around the world to a place that is as unique as the person reading about it. In his descriptions of people and places, he imparts a sense of acceptance and tolerance that lets the reader know that all are welcome here,” said Joe D’Alessandro, president and CEO of San Francisco Travel, during the ceremony. “It’s no wonder that so many people say they knew they wanted to visit – or even live – in San Francisco after reading his books.”

In Maupin’s acceptance he said, “I’m so happy to have this opportunity to stand here and thank you, all of you, and this city for giving me my life, for giving me my story, for allowing me to be me, allowing me to find who I was, and for continuing to do that. That’s scornfully referred to as ‘San Francisco values’ in other parts of the country. Here it’s something we’re proud of and you can see it here in this amazing amalgamation of gay and straight and ‘traveling,’ as I refer to it.  I’m just so grateful to you San Francisco, thank you so much. I will always, always consider myself a San Franciscan, no matter where I am. San Francisco made me a citizen of the world. And I’ve learned this from people who read my books. Even people who don’t come here love it for the same reasons that those of us who live here love it. And that’s why it’s so magical. I’ve very honored. Thank you very much.”

The Days of Anna Madrigal is scheduled to be published in 2013.

http://gaysaltlake.com/2012/07/05/like-rose-water-and-lysol-an-evening-with-armistead-maupin-is-breathtaking/

The Madrigal Mystery Tour with Armistead Maupin

SATURDAY, 30 JUNE 2012 13:48 STEPHEN DESROCHES


Armistead Maupin stunned San Francisco when he announced last month that he was leaving the city by the bay, the very city with which he is synonymous for his legendary series Tales of the City. Maupin is as San Francisco as are the Golden Gate Bridge, Beach Blanket Babylon and the hippies of Haight-Ashbury. Maupin leaving San Francisco is like moving the Statue of Liberty out of New York. But alas, it’s true. Maupin and his husband Christopher Turner are moving to Santa Fe, New Mexico. But first, they will criss-cross the country, landing in Provincetown before heading to the Land of Enchantment.

“Yes, it was a huge decision,” says Maupin, riding in a car leaving Lincoln, Nebraska, where he stopped with Turner for a veggie wrap. “We need more sky and more nature. We don’t have a place to live yet. It’s curiously liberating. I needed to shake the cobwebs and go on a new adventure.”

To cleanse the mental palate, Maupin and Turner are traveling around the United States on what some have dubbed “The Madrigal Mystery Tour,” so named for the beloved landlady in his novels. The mid-point destination of the trip is Provincetown, where the two have rented a house in the far East End where Maupin plans to write. He will also present two readings from his next book in the Tales of the City series, a work-in-progress titled The Days of Anna Madrigal, at the Crown and Anchor this month.

This next tale focuses on Mrs. Madrigal, the transgender, pot-smoking owner of 28 Barbary Lane, jumping back and forth through time as an old woman and back to her childhood as a little boy growing up in a Nevada brothel. On their road trip, Maupin stopped in Winnemucca, Nevada, a town that was once home to fabulously ornate bordellos, to do research on brothels for the book.

“Oh dear, we’re passing a chicken truck. It’s the saddest thing,” says Maupin, momentarily distracted by the sights of the Nebraska highway. “Brothels aren’t what they used to be. [The] 1930’s Winnemucca would be embarrassed by the sad state of whorehouses today.”

Despite the decline in the sophisticated brothel, Maupin says he is excited by this latest continuation of a storyline that has meant so much to so many readers, as well as to the culture of San Francisco and for documenting the LGBT experience. His work grew from a column in the San Francisco Chronicle in the 1970s to a series of bestselling books, to movies, and now a stage musical. It’s been thrilling to watch his work and characters grow legs of their own, says Maupin.

“It’s heavenly to have other artists to come on board with your work,” says Maupin. “I’m a huge fan of most of the artists that have interpreted my work over the years. It makes you believe in the mythology.”

Maupin first arrived in San Francisco in 1971, still a time of hippies and be-ins, and also on the cusp of the days of Harvey Milk and gay rights. His start at writing fictionalized serials in the newspaper was, even for the time, an aging art – one he reinvigorated. But in today’s world, where technological changes have shifted writing to the Internet and corporate media ownership is strangling that creativity, Maupin sees these live readings as so important for writers to personalize the stories, rather than have them only on the page, or on a glowing screen.

“I was basically blogging my life through fiction for 36 years,” says Maupin of his Tales of the City stories. “All the action is really online these days, which is harder as there are so many options. It was easier to reach an audience before. It’s good and bad as far as I’m concerned. There are so many options, good stuff gets lost. I tell new writers just to reach a human audience. Print it and put it in a coffeehouse. Just reach a human audience. That’s why I do the readings. It is so important to have that eye-to-eye contact.”

Maupin has been to Provincetown several times before, but this marks the first time he is doing any public event. Fascinated by Provincetown, he chose to stay a month to be able to learn more about the town as a community rather than a tourist destination. He also plans to get work done, and plan for his next phase of life in New Mexico.

“Thinking about my work has me reflecting on my own personality,” says Maupin. “A friend once told me Michael Tolliver was the person I wish I was and that Mary Ann is the person I’m afraid I am. It takes a close friend to observe and be able to tell you that.”

Teatime with Armistead Maupin is at the Paramount at the Crown and Anchor, 247 Commercial St. on Monday, July 9 and Friday, July 20 at 4 p.m. Tickets are $25 for general admission and $35 for VIP and are available at the box office or at www.onlyatthecrown.com. A book signing and after party will be at the Wave Bar at the Crown and Anchor immediately following the event. For more information call 508.487.1430 or visit www.onlyatthecrown.com.


http://provincetownmagazine.org/Books/the-madrigal-mystery-tour-with-armistead-maupin

San Francisco Travel Association presents Silver Cable Car Award to Armistead Maupin

By: Laurie Armstrong


June 21, 2012 - At its 102nd Annual Luncheon meeting today, the San Francisco Travel Association presented the Silver Cable Car Award to Armistead Maupin, author of Tales of the City and many other books set in San Francisco.

The Silver Cable Car Award is presented annually by San Francisco Travel to an individual or organization that has made a significant contribution to San Francisco’s visitor industry.

“Through newspapers, books, films and the stage, Armistead Maupin has introduced people around the world to a place that is as unique as the person reading about it. In his descriptions of people and places, he imparts a sense of acceptance and tolerance that lets the reader know that all are welcome here,” said Joe D’Alessandro, president and CEO of San Francisco Travel. “It’s no wonder that so many people say they knew they wanted to visit – or even live – in San Francisco after reading his books.”

In accepting his award, Maupin said, “I’m so happy to have this opportunity to stand here and thank you, all of you, and this city for giving me my life, for giving me my story, for allowing me to be me, allowing me to find who I was, and for continuing to do that. That’s scornfully referred to as ‘San Francisco values’ in other parts of the country. Here it’s something we’re proud of and you can see it here in this amazing amalgamation of gay and straight and ‘traveling,’ as I refer to it. I’m just so grateful to you San Francisco, thank you so much. I will always, always consider myself a San Franciscan, no matter where I am. San Francisco made me a citizen of the world. And I’ve learned this from people who read my books. Even people who don’t come here love it for the same reasons that those of us who live here love it. And that’s why it’s so magical. I’ve very honored. Thank you very much.”

Maupin was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. A graduate of the University of North Carolina, he served as a naval officer in the Mediterranean and with the River Patrol Force in Vietnam.

Armistead worked as a reporter for a newspaper in Charleston, South Carolina, before being assigned to the San Francisco bureau of the Associated Press in 1971.

In 1976 he launched his groundbreaking Tales of the City serial in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Maupin is the author of ten novels, including the eight-volume Tales of the City series, Maybe the Moon, and The Night Listener. He’s currently working on his next book (the ninth Tales novel), entitled The Days of Anna Madrigal.

Two critically-acclaimed miniseries starring Olympia Dukakis and Laura Linney were made from the first three Tales novels. The Night Listener became a feature film starring Robin Williams and Toni Collette.

The musical version Tales of the City had its world premiere at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco in June, 2011. It was greeted so warmly, the run was extended. Previous recipients of the Silver Cable Car award include Herb Caen, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist with the “San Francisco Chronicle”; Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants; Jackson K. Hu, one of the impresarios behind the Chinese New Year parade and festival; Ruth Asawa, noted Japanese American artist; U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein; the San Francisco 49ers; Steve Silver of “Beach Blanket Babylon”; Kary Schulman, Grants for the Arts; the San Francisco Pride Celebration; Carol Shorenstein Hays, SHN, and last year’s recipients, the cable car operators.

The San Francisco Travel Association is a private, not-for-profit organization that markets the city as a leisure, convention and business travel destination. With more than 1,500 members, San Francisco Travel is one of the largest membership-based tourism promotion agencies in the country. Tourism, San Francisco's largest industry, generates in excess of $8.46 billion annually for the local economy. The San Francisco Travel business offices are located at 201 Third St., Suite 900, San Francisco, CA 94103. ST Travel also operates the Visitor Information Center at Hallidie Plaza, 900 Market Street at the corner of Powell and Market streets. For more information, call 415-974-6900 or visit www.sanfrancisco.travel.

The San Francisco Travel Association’s 102nd Annual Luncheon was made possible by Wells Fargo with additional support from American Express®, the official credit card partner for the San Francisco Travel Association.

Join the more than 450,000 people who follow San Francisco Travel on Facebook at www.facebook.com/onlyinsf. Follow “OnlyinSF” on Twitter at http://twitter.com/onlyinsf.

Armistead Maupin Is Leaving San Francisco: Our City Just Lost A Legend

Carly Schwartz
6/21/2010


Armistead Maupin announced this week that he's leaving San Francisco for good.

Somewhere in the thicket of Macondray Lane, a fairy lost its wings.

Mr. Maupin is, to me, our original literary hero. His iconic Tales of the City series, a magical romp through 1970s SF, transcends the generations of readers he's inspired and entertained and taught to love San Francisco as much as he does.

It was through his books that I, too, came to love San Francisco as much as he does.

Now, after more than 40 years here, he's packing up his Labradoodle and moving to Santa Fe with his husband. (Naturally, they're spending the summer in Provincetown and making a stop at Burning Man before settling down in their new home.)

And I'm staying in town, left with nothing but a stack of his dusty books from the Chinatown library, five years' worth of late fees, and dozens of unanswered interview requests to both his agent and his personal email address.

When my best friend and I moved here in 2007, fresh out of college and wide-eyed at our alien, enchanting surroundings, we decided to book-club all six of his original novels.

From our shoebox apartment above Golden Boy Pizza, we devoured his writing, discussed it obsessively, retraced the steps of the main characters from the Searchlight Market to Club Fugazi to that endless line that still snakes around the corner of Mama's and all the way out to the Sutro ruins.

Our favorite place to perch and stare idly down at the Bay became the top of the rickety staircase where Leavenworth meets Macondray, Mr. Maupin's inspiration for Barbary Lane, where his heroes lived in a ramshackle house run by the prolific Anna Madrigal.

I was Mary Ann Singleton, the wayward and yet surprisingly resilient protagonist, chasing a career at all costs. He was Michael "Mouse" Tolliver, my loyal sidekick. We'd breathlessly reference scenes from the stories in our everyday life.

"Should we eat these sandwiches at that spot in Washington Square where Anna first met Edgar?"

"Stay out of the Broadway Tunnel. That's where Beauchamp Day met his fate!"

"Don't sleep with him, Mary Ann. Didn't you learn anything? He's probably gay."

Tales of the City unlocked San Francisco for me before I could unlock it for myself.

Just like Mouse lost Mary Ann to a career in Manhattan, I lost my own Mouse to law school in Brooklyn, and San Francisco is losing a legend to Santa Fe.

But our friendship, like Mary Ann and Mouse's, is far greater than the distance between us. Hopefully so is Maupin's San Francisco -- he already has a new Tales book in the works.

In the mean time, die-hard fans like me can appease themselves by clicking through our ultimate Tales of the City tour of SF below.

And if you haven't read the books yet, get the eff over to your nearest library immediately. (Just not the one in Chinatown. To the really nice librarian who helped me out that day: I promise to return them eventually. I'm really sorry. Really.)

Good luck on your next chapter, Mr. Maupin. Your city misses you already.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carly-schwartz/armistead-maupin-is-leaving-san-francisco_b_1617426.html

Maupin to leave San Francisco

Leah Garchik
Tuesday, June 19, 2012


Armistead Maupin, who on Thursday will be honored with a Silver Cable Card award from San Francisco Travel, leaves town the next day as step one of a move to Santa Fe. Maupin, husband Christopher Turner and their Labradoodle, are driving cross-country to Provinceton, where they'll spend a chunk of summer, before returning west for a stop at Burning Man before winding up in New Mexico, where they plan to re-settle.

The re-location has "been percolating for a while," he said by phone Monday. Santa Fe "has a different magic from San Francisco, but it has magic, and I need an autumnal adventure." Turner, in the background, wisecracked that the movie reflects Maupin's "retirement and my mid-life crisis." But "retirement" isn't really accurate because the author is working on a new "Tales" book, "The Days of Anna Madrigal." He'll be giving a series of readings while they drive cross-country on what they call "the Madrigal Mystery Tour."


The move is "nothing I'm taking lightly," says Maupin. "It's been 41 years since I landed here and it gave me my story. ... I keep reminding myself that Barbary Lane is portable and everything I learned here became part of me and is something I'll always have."

He and Turner are "both craving a little more space and some nature," he said, and the move is "giving us new dreams. There's nothing wrong with that."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/06/19/DDCN1P4DG2.DTL

Author of famed "Tales of the City" series to visit Salt Lake

by Tony Hobday


It’s almost inconceivable that a man of 68 years, born and raised in a conservative Christian family, and whom he says was once a typical conservative and segregationist (of the time) – having been mentored by, and hobnobbed with, Jesse Helms – could today be considered a pioneer in bringing homosexuality into mainstream literature and, in contrast, gay activism. Author Armistead Maupin, a fine and benevolent storyteller, will be in Salt Lake City, June 23, to read and discuss the next chapter in the Tales of the City series, The Days of Anna Madrigal.

It wasn’t until Maupin was close to 30 years old that he decided to come out as a gay man, and during that same period he began writing a serial column for a San Francisco newspaper that eventually blossomed into a series of novels involving a mishmash of colorful and unforgettable characters, both gay and straight, living in San Francisco. Over the following 35 years, Maupin’s books have been translated into several languages, and today there are over six million copies in print.

Maupin, a veteran naval officer, is married and lives in San Francisco with is husband Christopher and their dog Phillo. You can find Maupin on Facebook, and for more info visit armisteadmaupin.com.
Armistead Maupin will be at the King’s English Bookshop, June 23, 7 p.m. to read from his new novel and speak to his LGBT activism, life and work.  Tickets are $25, with percentage of the proceeds benefiting The Trevor Project. Tickets are available at kingsenglish.com.

http://gaysaltlake.com/2012/06/18/author-of-famed-tales-of-the-city-series-to-visit-salt-lake/

San Francisco and the Silver Screen

I had the pleasure of co-conducting a “Tours of the Tales” tour with Larry Rhodes over Memorial Day Weekend to celebrate the 36th Anniversary of “Tales of the City”.  During our tour, we mentioned several films that take place in and around San Francisco, and in particular, places near and dear to the folks at 28 Barbary Lane.  Here is a partial list of the films we discussed.  Please feel free to add more in the comments, San Francisco must be a film-makers dream.

Dark Passage (1947) - Lauren Bacall lives in the Malloch Apartments, these are the same apartments Dede and Beacham reside in the “Tales” novels.

Vertigo (1958) - Kim Novak’s character, Madeline, is scouted by Scotty, James Stewart, at the Brocklebank apartments.  In the “Tales” miniseries, these are the apartments where Dede and Beacham live.

Woman on the Run (1950) - Ann Sheridan and Dennis O’Keefe.  Locations include Washington Square Park and the “meeting of the lines” on Nob Hill.

House on Telegraph Hill (1951) - filmed on location on Telegraph Hill.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) - Starring Donald Sutherland, Jeff Goldblum and Veronica Cartwright, locations include 32 Napier Lane, Alamo Square and the Transamerica Pyramid.

The Conversation (1974) - A Francis Ford Coppola gem featuring Gene Hackman, filmed in Union Square and Embarcadero Center.

D.O.A. (1950) - Film Noir starring Edmond O’Brien, Powell and California Cable Car Line, 

There are literally a ton of movies filmed in location in San Francisco.  Mistersf has a wonderful section on “Cinematic SF”.  Let’s not forget one of my favorites, “What’s Up, Doc?”

Judy Kaye Wins Best Featured Actress in a Musical for NICE WORK

Judy Kaye is this year's recipient of the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical for NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT.


Judy Kaye has been a star of the theatre for over 40 years. Her Broadway credits include Phantom of the Opera (Tony Award), Mamma Mia (Tony Nomination), Ragtime (LA Ovation Award), On the 20th Century, Souvenir (Tony Nomination), Grease, Sweeney Todd and The Pajama Game.

She recently starred as Mrs. Madrigal in the new musical Tales of the City at A.C.T in San Francisco and in Saving Aimee in Seattle.

Ms. Kaye has sung with major orchestras around the world and recorded numerous albums, both cast and solo. She has sung in concert, opera and cabaret and twice at the White House. She has recorded all of Sue Grafton's Alphabet Mystery Series for Random House Audio of which V Is For Vengeance is the latest.

The new musical comedy NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT, featuring music and lyrics by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin and a book by two-time Tony Award-winner Joe DiPietro, stars Matthew Broderick and three-time Tony Award nominee Kelli O’Hara. The production is directed and choreographed by three-time Tony Award-winner Kathleen Marshall. The production is playing at Broadway’s Imperial Theatre (249 West 45th Street).

In addition to Matthew Broderick as Jimmy Winter and Kelli O’Hara as Billie Bendix, the production also stars Academy Award-winner Estelle Parsons as Millicent Winter, Tony Award-winner Judy Kaye as Estonia Dulworth, Tony Award nominee Michael McGrath as Cookie McGee, Tony Award nominee Jennifer Laura Thompson as Eileen Evergreen, Chris Sullivan as Duke Mahoney, Robyn Hurder as Jeannie Muldoon, StanleyWayne Mathis as Chief Berry and Terry Beaver as Senator Max Evergreen.

The cast also features Cameron Adams, Clyde Alves, Kaitlyn Davidson, Jason DePinto,Kimberly Faure, Robert Hartwell, Stephanie Martignetti, Barrett Martin, Michael X. Martin, Adam Perry, Jeffrey Schecter, Jennifer Smith,J oey Sorge, Samantha Sturm, Kristen Beth Williams and Candice Marie Woods.

The creative team includes scenic design by Derek McLane, costume design by Martin Pakledinaz, lighting design by Peter Kaczorowski, sound design by Brian Ronan and orchestrations by Bill Elliott. The music supervisor is David Chaseand the music director Tom Murray.


This new musical features a veritable hit parade of iconic George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin songs as well as some unknown gems in their catalog, and a book by Joe DiPietro. NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT follows Billie Bendix (Kelli O'Hara), a bootlegger who meets wealthy playboy Jimmy Winter (Matthew Broderick) on the weekend of his nuptials. Mayhem ensues.

NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT is produced on Broadway by Scott Landis, Roger Berlind, Sonia Friedman Productions, Roy Furman, Standing CO Vation, Candy Spelling, Freddy DeMann, Ronald Frankel, Harold Newman, Jon B. Platt, Raise the Roof 8, Takonkiet Viravan, William Berlind/Ed Burke, Carole L. Haber/Susan Carusi, Buddy and Barbara Freitag/Sanford Robertson, Under the Wire/Jim Herbert, Emanuel Azenberg, TheShubert Organization.

http://broadwayworld.com/article/Judy-Kaye-Wins-Best-Featured-Actress-in-a-Musical-for-NICE-WORK-20120610

Tales of the Tales

This article originally appeared in The Advocate May 22, 2001

An oral history of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City, which marks its 25th anniversary with this month's debut of the Further Tales of the City miniseries By Michael Giltz

Further Tales of the City-the third miniseries based on Armistead Maupin's Tales novels-begins its four-week run May 6 on Showtime, just in time to mark a quarter century since the stories first appeared as a serial in the San Francisco Chronicle.  To mark the occasion, The Advocate spoke to some of the people connected with the serial, the books, and the miniseries.

ARMISTEAD MAUPIN, author of six Tales of the City novels and cowriter of the three miniseries:  in 1974 I wrote this single functional piece, and an editor at the Pacific Sun [a San Francisco weekly] suggested that I do it on a weekly basis.  I think I did an episode on the baths with Michael, and I can't even remember what the other four were, but the paper folded after five [installments].  When the editors at the San Francisco Chronicle told me they were interested in continuing it [in 1976], I had one of those great revelatory moments when you run down the street and click your heels in the air--and I mean that literally--because you know you're on to something really good.  I was filled with excitement because I had an idea that was completely fresh and subject matter that had not been tapped.

EDITH STEIN, Maupin's coworker at the Chronicle:  I worked in the People department of the Chronicle, [which] had evolved from the old "women's pages."  We were all in our 20s and early 30s--very conservative and all on our first marriages.  When Armistead first wrote the serial, he used to come in every day and bat out these stories--these wicked, wicked "Tales of the City."  We'd all gather around and he would spill the beans about everything--the true stories behind what he was writing.  We'd say, "Is this true?  Is this true?"  He was larger than life.

MAUPIN, This first five years in the city bouncing from job to job had given me all the material I could possibly need--not to mention that I'd been working at the opera and witnessing the peregrinations of San Francisco society up close.  It was as if every crappy little job that had ever bored me silly was suddenly going to be put to use.

The deadlines were enormously useful because they got me past my natural instinct to be self-critical.  I had to do 800 words a day, come hell or high water.  There were times when the editor of that section would come by and tap her fingernails on my typewriter out of sheer impatience.

My parents subscribed to the newspaper in order to follow the column.  So as the hairpins began to drop, they got more and more concerned.  And I eventually used the column as my vehicle for coming out.

STEIN, He was terrible with deadlines.  [But] he's a very, very fast writer.  It was like a sportswriter--he was writing on deadline but producing this really beautifully written copy.

MAUPIN, Rock Hudson [the basis for the Cage Tyler character in the Further Tales miniseries] showed up in San Francisco and took a bunch of [us] out for dinner.  Then we went up to his suite at the Fairmont hotel.  I had bragged to him that my column was going to start running the next morning.  He secretly went to the desk clerk and bought an early edition of the Chronicle.  So here's a dozen guys in Rock's suite, and he rises rather drunkenly to his feet and says, "I have a reading I'd like to do," and he read the first chapter [of Tales] to the group, attempting to approximate the voices of Mary Ann Singleton and her mother.  The great irony was that Mary Ann's mother warns her that San Francisco is a dangerous place because she just saw this horrible thing that happened on McMillan and Wife.

TODD HARGIS, resident of San Francisco during most of the Tales era and friend of Maupin's:  I [left San Francisco] to help my sister move to Arizona and ended up getting stuck in Phoenix.  A friend of mine came out to visit and brought me the first Tales  in book form.  I read it in one sitting.  I could not put it down.  I remember reading it and thinking, God, look what I'm missing.

After I got back to San Francisco, one of my roommates took me out to [the gay bar] Badlands.   I looked across the pool table and saw this guy sitting there reading the newspaper, and he kind of lowered the paper and looked over at me.  We smiled, and I went over and said hello.  It was Armistead.

MAUPIN,  [As the fourth novel, Babycakes, was being serialized], people were very, very angry with me for killing off Jon Fielding, their favorite character.  I had lost a very close friend in 1982, one of the very first victims of [AIDS-related] pneumocystis:  Daniel Katz.

HARGIS,  I had friends who were really upset.  "How could he do this?  We know he's got to make a political statement.  But why do it with our friends?"

MAUPIN,  Jon Fielding's death was, as far as I knew, the first AIDS death in fiction when it appeared in the Chronicle in 1983.  I knew that I had to be faithful to the rules that I had laid down for myself, mainly that I would try to reflect the reality of my own life as much as possible within the context of this protracted fairy tale.  I wanted to make other people feel some of the pain that I was feeling over this loss--the pain and the panic.

HBO had optioned the books in 1982, [but as they developed the project, it] felt like they couldn't do a story about the freewheeling days of 1976, and they couldn't update it without making AIDS a part of the equation.  So it sat on a shelf at HBO for many, many years.

ALAN POUL,  executive producer of all three miniseries:  HBO actually took it to the script stage.  But the rights fell to [the U.K. Producers] Working Title [and its U.S. production partner, Propaganda, where Poul worked].  I jumped up and down and screamed at the possibility of being involved.

OLYMPIA DUKAKIS, who has played Anna Madrigal in all three miniseries:  I hadn't read the books, and I was advised by the director [of the first series, Alastair Reed] not to read them until it's over.  So I did what he said; I waited until it was over.

MAUPIN, You can imagine Olympia's amazement when she began reading the novels and discovered her own family being discussed in [Sure of You, which includes a visit to the Greek island of Lesbos].

DUKAKIS,  I know, isn't that interesting?  That my paternal grandfather and grandmother come from that Island?  Then, of course, you know Anna gets involved later on with a Greek fisherman.  I'm waiting for that.

MAUPIN,  I remember the night that we final shot the kiss scene [in the Tales miniseries] with [Marcus D'Amico, who played Michael "Mouse" Tolliver, and] Billy Campbell [as Jon Fielding].  I was standing at the top of the Barbary steps, looking down on the car where the kissing was going on.  In between takes, Billy would come up and join me and talk about his current heartbreak, because he'd just broken up with Jennifer Connelly.  I remember thinking how blessed I was that this simple act of a kiss between men was finally being filmed.

POUL,  The first series [which was financed by British television and aired on PBS in the United States], we did 12 days in San Francisco, and the rest of it was shot on stages and locations here in Los Angeles.  Barbary Lane completely occupied a big stage.  At the time, it's just crazy and you never have enough money and you're trying to cobble together a production.  So the depth of the reaction from the critics and the incredible ratings success that PBS had with it took us by surprise.  And then we were completely flummoxed by the hostile reaction it got from certain parts of the country.  At first we were just kind of amused, and then we realized it was not necessarily a laughing matter.  Then PBS got cold feet.

DUKAKIS,  PBS said, "We don't like to repeat them."  Meanwhile, we had six years of Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect with stories about murder and pedophilia.  And this is just about people struggling to find love and be loved.

POUL,  We had absolutely given [a miniseries sequel] up for dead.  There was about three years of somewhat cautious hope followed by absolute despair and resignation.  And then we made the [second] show.  [Laughs] The way we were able to finance the second series was by shooting it primarily in Montreal, and financing dictated that we must hire a Canadian director who qualified as a resident of Quebec.  So I must have looked at the work of a dozen directors before we found Pierre [Gang, who directed More Tales and Further Tales].

HARGIS, I was working with computers in a hotel accounting office.  It was good pay, but it wasn't very stimulating.  Armistead and my mom both said I should do something with horticulture.  It really wasn't because [the character] Michael did it; I just really enjoyed it.  [But] one of the things about Tales I learned early on is that you never know where the fiction leaves off and reality starts, or vice versa.

STEIN, The Chronicle has talked over the years about doing something like Tales of the City [again].  but it won't work now.  Silicon Valley?  Those people aren't going to be interesting in that same way.  Everyone was living on the edge, and if they weren't, they wanted to know all about the people that were.  It was an outrageous time.  Armistead was just the right person at the right time.  now, when you think about those days you can hardly believe that they were true.

Giltz writes regularly for the New York Post and other publications.