{"id":6813,"date":"2017-11-14T15:59:17","date_gmt":"2017-11-14T23:59:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=6813"},"modified":"2017-11-14T15:59:17","modified_gmt":"2017-11-14T23:59:17","slug":"diamond-daves-80th-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2017\/11\/14\/diamond-daves-80th-birthday\/","title":{"rendered":"Diamond Dave’s 80th birthday"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nLeft: Cmdr. David Lazar was honored with the Community Recognition Award by the North Beach Citizens group on Sunday night. Right: \u201cDiamond\u201d Dave Whitaker enjoyed his 80th birthday at Adobe Books on 24th Street. (Left: Courtesy SFPD\/via Twitter; Right: Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez\/S.F. Examiner)<\/em><\/p>\n

By Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez on November 14, 2017 (sfexaminer.com)<\/p>\n

Another beloved San Francisco notable was celebrated this weekend: \u201cDiamond\u201d Dave Whitaker.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The beatnik, hippie, noted poet, and locally famed prognosticator celebrated his 80th birthday Saturday night at Adobe Books on 24th Street. Local free-spirited folks streamed into the doors of the small bookstore, with some hanging out on the sidewalk just to hear Dave speak.<\/p>\n

Dave first found his way to San Francisco when he was 19 and traces his time in The City back to the Diggers and chillin\u2019 with Bob Dylan. Since then, he\u2019s helped organize Poems Under the Dome and lights up the airwaves weekly on Pirate Cat Radio.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also a lifelong learner, influencing many City College of San Francisco students through his poetry (and he\u2019s still a sometime-student).<\/p>\n

Put bluntly: Dave is part of San Francisco\u2019s funky soul, and we\u2019re lucky to have him.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s certainly not known for his fancy style, however, which is why I was surprised to see him in a patterned tie and sportcoat at his birthday.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone just gave it to me,\u201d Dave told me, with a shrug. \u201cI didn\u2019t think I\u2019d ever even wear it.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Dave thanked the crowd of well-wishers, the band behind him, Trio Cambio, strummed like minstrels from the Summer of Love.<\/p>\n

\u201cSalud, Dave,\u201d they chanted. The room chanted back, sing-song style, \u201cSalud, Dave.\u201d<\/p>\n

Salud, Dave.<\/p>\n

On Guard prints the news and raises hell each week. Email Fitz at @sfexaminer.com<\/a>, follow him on Twitter and Instagram @FitztheReporter, and Facebook at\u00a0facebook.com\/FitztheReporter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Left: Cmdr. David Lazar was honored with the Community Recognition Award by the North Beach Citizens group on Sunday night. Right: \u201cDiamond\u201d Dave Whitaker enjoyed his 80th birthday at Adobe Books on 24th Street. (Left: Courtesy SFPD\/via Twitter; Right: Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez\/S.F. Examiner) By Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez on November 14,… 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\/6813"}],"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=6813"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6815,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6813\/revisions\/6815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}