Barry Jacobs (Jacobs' Ladder)   September 1968

#4 Winfield Street, San Francisco

So here we are on our first day in San Francisco...on vacation. Shirley's tail was wagging as she happily introduced us to her new West Coast friends Barry Jacobs and his wife Judy, a potter who made these wonderful cartoon like "walking teapots."

Barry was an intense but pleasing man and in a few minutes he had this unusual smirk on his face as he said "Hey, I gotta show you guys something."

He leads us upstairs to this all white carpeted jewel of an apartment high on a hill with a terraced sweeping panoramic view of San Francisco. "So. How would you guys like to have  this flat?"

"Whaaa?"

Peter looks at me. I look at Peter. Neither of us blinks. Then we slowly smile, eyes locked until we break into a shit eating grin and we quietly turn around to Barry and out of our throats we simultaneously hear "Sure. How much?"

"While visiting Barry 18 years ago, Judy left him a note telling him she was leaving him for another man. Barry, needless to say, was extremely upset. That was the last time that I saw him..."

Proceed