Let us linger on objects in Berkeley belonging, or appropriate to, a period other than today, especially an object that is conspicuously old-fashioned. Know of others? Give us a shout.
Tom Dalzell
Freelancer Tom Dalzell has lived in Berkeley since 1984. After working for Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers for 10 years as a legal worker and then lawyer, he went to work for another labor union in 1981 and has been there since, first as an attorney, and, since 2006, as its elected leader. In his free time he walks the streets of Berkeley, street by street and block by block, recording and photographing the quirky material culture that he finds. Dalzell, who is an expert on slang, writes the Quirky Berkeley blog and contributes to Berkeleyside about his finds, both in the present tense and with an occasional foray into Berkeley’s non-conformist past.
Posted inCommunity
How Quirky Is Berkeley? Second time around quirk at 2819 Prince
The family had created a quirky house on Russell Street. Fortunately, when they moved to Prince Street, they added some quirk to their new surroundings.
Posted inArts
How Quirky is Berkeley? Susan Brooks and her objects of desire and mirth
To visit the Berkeley studio of Susan Brooks is to step into a world of whim and quirk.
Posted inArts
Julia Vinograd, the Berkeley poet known as ‘The Bubble Lady’ dies at 75
Telegraph Avenue was her stomping ground, her nation. She spent her days at the Caffe Med, drinking coffee, watching the world pass by and writing poetry. The City Council gave her a lifetime achievement award.
Posted inCommunity
Barbara Garson’s 7 years in Berkeley: From Cuba to ‘MacBird’
Tom Dalzell talks to the activist and writer who lived in Berkeley at an extraordinary time and was fully engaged in a series of history-changing movements.
Posted inCommunity
How Quirky is Berkeley? The rising star of muralist Angel Jesus Perez
Angel Jesus Perez, whose latest work, “Displacement of Beauty and Migration of Gentrification,” is on Alcatraz, is a bright addition to our city’s cadre of muralists.
Posted inCommunity
How Quirky is Berkeley? Fairyland on Amador Avenue
A charming “small village” in a front yard turns out to be the tip of the iceberg of a creative wonderland, created with the help of children, in North Berkeley.
Posted inCity
May 30, 1969: The final scene in the powerful first act of Berkeley’s People’s Park
On the 49th anniversary of the largest protest marches Berkeley has likely ever seen, Tom Dalzell recalls a day when Berkeley demonstrated “moral outrage” in abundance.
Posted inBusiness
How Quirky is Berkeley? The Federation Trading Post reunion
On Saturday, the owners of a long-closed ‘Star Trek’ oriented store on Telegraph Avenue hosted a reunion. This is a story with many layers of quirk that shows Berkeley at its best.
Posted inCommunity
How Quirky is Berkeley? A time capsule bulletin board
The careful unpicking of a Berkeley bulletin board plastered with years and years worth of flyers from the early 1980s through the 1990s proves to be a fascinating time capsule.
Posted inArts
Flashback: Allen Ginsberg’s ‘Strange New Cottage in Berkeley’
The Beat writer lived in Berkeley from September 1955 until August 1956 and was so impressed with his Milvia Street back cottage he wrote a poem about it.
Posted inCity
In Berkeley: The People’s Park (1968) before People’s Park (1969)
Everybody knows about the People’s Park created in 1969, when thousands of students, activists, and neighbors worked to establish the place. Few know about an earlier park.
