{"id":47065,"date":"2026-03-06T12:02:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T20:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=47065"},"modified":"2026-03-06T12:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T20:02:08","slug":"diamond-dave-whitaker-a-san-francisco-icon-and-legend-dies-at-88-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/03\/06\/diamond-dave-whitaker-a-san-francisco-icon-and-legend-dies-at-88-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Diamond Dave Whitaker, a San Francisco icon and legend, dies at 88"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

He turned Bob Dylan onto pot and Woody Guthrie. He organized underground poetry and political protest. He was part of the city’s radical soul, and we will miss him<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Tim Redmond<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

March 4, 2026 (48hills.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diamond Dave Whitaker died March 2, and with him went a part of San Francisco\u2019s soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diamond D, as he called himself whenever he got me on the phone, was an icon, the kind of person who made this city a beacon for the wild, the crazy, the poets, the artists, the radicals, the beats, and the hippies. He was all of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was also one of the sweetest, kindest people I have ever met.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legends are more than legend, they are true: Diamond D was, indeed, the first person to smoke pot with Bob Dylan. He introduced Dylan to the writing of Woody Guthrie, which Dylan freely admits changed his life. Some of Dylan\u2019s earliest songs were recorded at Diamond D\u2019s house in Minneapolis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Diamond D never lost faith in San Francisco\u2019s promise. I have no idea who took this photo, but Dave was not a believer in copyright so I am not going to worry about it; contact me and I\u2019ll give you credit. (Update: CreditGabreila Remy,, The Guardsman<\/a>.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Michael Donnelly has a great obit here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diamond Dave lived much of his life in San Francisco. He did pirate radio, and I was on a bunch of his shows. He organized underground poetry readings. He lived in later years in a place that was somewhere between a squat and a converted warehouse behind the Farmer\u2019s Market on Alemany; out the window of his room was an unpermitted skateboard park. He didn\u2019t skate, but he loved the outlaw skaters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, Diamond Dave seemed to love everyone. He had that old, wonderful, hippie vibe that hate and anger were just a waste of time and energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every time he read poetry or presented or lead a demonstration, he would end by saying, \u201cdon\u2019t panic; keep it organic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The guy loved learning. Every year, well into his late 70s, he would register for classes at City College. (He would also help organize demonstrations when the administration tried to make cuts<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was, on every level a part of the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once upon a time, San Francisco had plenty of room for people like Diamond D, and John Ross<\/a>, and folks who cared more about peace and love and art and rebellion than about income and wealth. The city is much, much poorer without them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t panic; keep it organic. Rest in peace and power, Diamond Dave. The city you made into your home will miss you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

48 Hills welcomes comments in the form of letters to the editor, which you can submit\u00a0here<\/a>. We also invite you to join the conversation on our\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tim Redmond<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tim Redmond has been a political and investigative reporter in San Francisco for more than 30 years. He spent much of that time as executive editor of the Bay Guardian. He is the founder of 48hills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

He turned Bob Dylan onto pot and Woody Guthrie. He organized underground poetry and political protest. He was part of the city’s radical soul, and we will miss him By Tim Redmond March 4, 2026 (48hills.org) Diamond Dave Whitaker died March 2, and with him went a part of San… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47065"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47065"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47065\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47066,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47065\/revisions\/47066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}