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In the 1970’s my husband and I moved into Eureka Valley and bought a house on 18th Street just below Castro. The local film developing place was called Castro Camera. Who knew what was to come? Harvey Milk, a charismatic fellow with a shaggy beard and a lover named Scott and a dog named Kid were to become a part of our lives. Harvey was dynamic, had a biting wit, and was always on the go, organizing the merchants, lending a hand to neighbors, and generally expounding on current events to anyone who would listen. The camera store was ground zero.
I never knew how Harvey would see an issue. A businessman who looked like a hippy, he was an ex-Wall Street type who knew business must be strong, yet neighborhoods were the heart of the city. Generally perceived as liberal, he wasn’t anti-business, but had a strong social conscience. The ultra liberal element in the neighborhood wanted the whole place to be gay. He disagreed. He call that a ghetto! He wanted to have schools, senior citizen centers, lots of strong small businesses, and a neighborhood that was free of blight and crime. Well, so did my husband Bill and I and that’s why we supported him. Bill became his Treasurer for two elections—yes, it took Harvey a long time to achieve officehood. He nearly made it to the California Assembly, but at the last minute some big money came in for Art Agnos and Harvey lost by a hair. Onward… he ran for Supervisor and made it.
Along the way, Harvey changed his act, became clean-shaven and wore suits purchased from the local second hand store. I was working for the Democratic Party and gave his scheduler tips on where to send him, and sometimes got him tickets to different events. He ran on the cheap, painted his own house signs, silk screened T-shirts, painted banners on canvas. Those were fun times!
Eureka Valley changed so much in the 70’s that it became known as The Castro. Many of our friends cautioned us against living in a “gay” neighborhood. How could we raise children there? Well, we found it to be a peaceful place to raise children. Our neighbors were educated, well-mannered, and lovely. The stores and shopkeepers were superb. We stayed for 20 years.
When the horrible killings happened at City Hall in November of 1978, the world seemed to shift. A supervisor killed the mayor and Harvey Milk in cold blood. In 1982, I was interviewed for the documentary, The Times of Harvey Milk. It’s a remarkable movie and won an Oscar in 1984. If you’ve never seen it, rent it. You won’t be disappointed. It still plays on Public Television.
Right now, Sean Penn is making a movie called Milk. It will be out at the end of 2008. Sean Penn, I know, will be fabulous. I had the pleasure of having dinner with him last January with about 8 other “Milkites.” We all told Harvey stories so Penn could get a feeling for the character. He was excited and really getting into it. The makeup people changed his nose (Harvey had a big one!) and re-furbished Castro Camera to look like the old days. Wow. That was déjà vu! Nearly had vertigo walking in. A month later, all of it was gone! Back to normal. The miracle of Hollywood!
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