Photo of Irwin Swirnoff by Kevin Hume, courtesy of The San Francisco Examiner
My Sunday Examiner column S.F. Lives, continues to chronicle the comings and goings of people I’ve determined to be of The City, Franciscan or how we say, Frisco Kids. This week’s subject, Professor Irwin Swirnoff, and his story of multiple displacements that’s culminating in a job search and possible relocation away from the Bay Area really hit close to home for me. Irwin and I share many of the same interests, from broadcasting, DJ-ing and interviewing to a love of books, records, and films. We’ve crossed paths at various cultural institutions and alternative retail outlets in town and we’re interested in the history of the arts here, as well as in preserving and passing on the underground esthetic we gravitated to and continue to develop via our respective crafts (he’s a filmmaker). I have no doubt he’ll land exactly where he needs to, and that his outcome will be better and more beautiful than anything we could predict for him, but if you have a moment, send a shout-out to the universe, launch a flare and say a little prayer for Irwin and the artists like him who’ve made The City’s reputation sparkle and shine, far beyond our seven super-square miles and western horizon.
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Filed under: Arts and Culture, Tales of the Gentrification City, column, film, Irwin Swirnoff, KUSF, SF Examiner, SF Lives
Denise Sullivan 