This book would have been far less fun to write without the amazing companionship, support, and pavement pounding of people I love. I am so lucky to have friends and neighbors willing to share favorite haunts and alleyways, and a few deserve a special shout-out.
Scott Nair downed endless cappuccinos and traversed countless stairways with me, rain or shine. Rebecca Sudore laced up her shoes and provided pithy insider information about her favorite neighborhoods. Tria Cohn proved once again that she has the most amazing sense of direction of anyone in the Presidio. Leah Doherty allowed her vacation to be co-opted into direction checking and cream puff tasting.
Melanie Cantarutti and Ellen McGlynn gamely clocked many miles in search of the ideal Golden Gate Park experience. Ann Cleaveland was with us in spirit, packing extra snacks and peanut butter. Kristina Malsberger and Marisa Gierlich added humor, bourbon, and encouraging words that stretched from The Interval at Long Now all the way to Piccino. Jenn Fox and Josh Mangum provided crucial literary and cinematic inspiration.
My mom, Mary Dodge, was an entertaining (if slightly dubious) source of first-person recollections of North Beach bars and Playland at the Beach. If my dad, John Dodge, were still with us, I know he’d be wearing an Aloha shirt and enjoying a mai tai at the Tonga Room. He is incredibly missed. Johnny and Magnolia, my favorite pint-size walking companions, allowed themselves to be plied with ice cream and hilltop swings in the name of Mom’s work. And I’m forever grateful to my husband, Eric, for holding down the fort when he wasn’t hoisting a beer during bar-hopping research.
Finally, I want to thank the fine folks at Wilderness Press, particularly Tim Jackson, Ritchey Halphen, and Scott McGrew, for their wit, warmth, and wonderful support of this project.
—Kathleen Dodge Doherty