But the biggest tribute to San Francisco is the fact that once all of these geniuses became known to the world, and could have lived anywhere, most chose to stay in the city by the bay.
San Francisco is a place that supports its oddballs, celebrates differences and stokes inventive thought, and the city has benefited from this credo since the first innovators and eccentrics emerged in the wake of the Gold Rush.
There were innovators such as Andrew Smith Hallidie, who designed the city’s cable car system using engineering from mining equipment in the Sierra. There were eccentrics such as Emperor Norton, who created his own currency, declared himself ruler and was embraced by a 19th century San Francisco population that appreciated his moxie.
And then there were the San Franciscans who combined the two traits. Adolph Sutro was a very successful businessman who used his powers for good, supporting public parks while building a great bath house/museum/skating rink/arcade, which is still talked about nearly 50 years after it burned to the ground.
Success is often paired with courage, as was seen by the city’s banking leaders, whose leadership was instrumental in the rebuilding of San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake. Risk-taking is a San Francisco trait, whether it’s in comedy (Mort Sahl and Lenny Bruce in the 1950s), music (Janis Joplin in the 1960s), sports (Bill Walsh in the 1980s) or technology (Marc Benioff today).
But above all, our innovators and eccentrics have maintained a level of humanity.
There are spiritual ties between banker-for-the-poor A.P. Giannini in the latter half of the 19th century and gay-rights leader Harvey Milk in the 1970s. There are spiritual ties between the art of musician Carlos Santana and the artist’s heart of legendary Golden Gate Park Superintendent John McLaren.
There is no mistake that San Francisco is home to so many innovators and eccentrics. It’s an investment that generations have paid into. It’s culture that you are born into — or adopted after moving here. Our culture of maverick thinking will continue long after we are gone.
©2015 the San Francisco Chronicle Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
