February 24, 2006
by now just about every san franciscophile has been alerted to the fact that april 18th of this year will mark the centennial of the 1906 earthquake — the “big one” which destroyed the city that once was, and gave rise to the one which we inhabit today.
but that “great quake” of 1906 was only the second to bear the name.
the first great quake happened in 1865, and though its memory has faded somewhat, the coincidental presence of the young sam clemens (or mark twain, as the nation would soon discover) in san francisco has preserved it. in this week’s podcast we’ll travel back to october of 1865 and listen to an american literary icon reminisce about that day.
for further edification:
» 1856 earthquake newspaper reports - sfmuseum.org
» mark twain in the west - pbs.org
» the celebrated jumping frog of calaveras county
random episode from the archives:
#19: the mission burrito
musical support:
thanks to tom joad for the banjo tune “jaybird” — provided under a creative commons license
February 27, 2006 at 11:18 am
It was a thrill to learn that Mark Twain was once a resident of San Francisco. I loved his colorful descriptions of the earthquake and aftermath. I liked his article so much that I’m now interested in reading more of the articles he wrote for newspapers.
I live an hour away from SF and love to spend time in this my favorite city. I now make it a habit of burning a few sparkletack episodes onto a CD whenever I visit and listening during my drive.
In one of your earlier shows you said that words cannot express how much you appreciate us taking the time to listen to the show. But that goes for me too, as a listener - I cannot express how much I appreciate your efforts in putting together this fine podcast. sparkletack has become such an invaluable source for learning about and deepening my appreciation for this great city.