By Johnny Ray Huston
Good things come in twos, so after writing about it last week, Blaine Dixon’s new book, Polk Gulch (Blurb, 144 pages, $44.95), is appearing in the Intro twice in a row. Why? It’s a perfect match for "Polk Street: Lives in Translation," a new audiovisual exhibit at the GLBT Historical Society. Both reveal the changing face — and faces — of Polk Street, the thoroughfare that once inspired me to write a millennial poem entitled "Pinocchio on Polk Street" (half the landmarks name-checked in it are now gone). A month or so ago, I found an old gay magazine. The headline of one article asks, "Castro Street — the New Polk Street?" The answer is yes — and no.
Thurs/15, 5:30 p.m. talk by Susan Stryker, 7 p.m. reception; free
GLBT Historical Society
657 Mission, Suite 300, SF
(415) 777-5455
>>Click here to read J. Plaster’s controversial 2007 piece in the Guardian, “The Death of Polk Street”