AT ORIGINAL JOE'S IN the Tenderloin this week, former police chief Earl Sanders ... his attorney, Phil Ryan ... and Hollywood screenwriter Bennett Cohen, poring over the first 15 pages of script that Cohen has written about S.F.'s terrifying days of the Zebra killers back in 1974. ... Five black men -- calling themselves the "Death Angels" -- randomly kidnapped, raped and maimed 24 victims -- all white. Fourteen of the victims died. ... Former S.F. Mayor Art Agnos, a social worker at the time, also was shot by the killers. He often credits the Trauma Unit at S.F. General for saving his life. ...
Sanders and the late Rotea Gilford were homicide detectives at the time. ... "This is such an unbelievably riveting story," says Ryan. "I hope a director and producer have the courage to take the project on." ... At play behind the desperate hunt for the murderers were the racial struggles within the San Francisco Police Department itself -- and Sanders' and Gilford's efforts to bring some sort of racial justice to the police force. ...
When the five Zebra killers were finally caught, police took the entire staff of a moving company in the Fillmore called Black Self-Help into custody. ... Phil Ryan likes to tease me because he knows that I hired these guys to move my piano in early 1974. I like to say I was lucky just to get overcharged. Ryan says, "Haven't you ever heard of Delancey Street Movers?" ... I have. And they're much nicer people. ...
Sharon Smith -- whose partner, Diane Whipple, was the victim of the the horrible Pacific Heights dog mauling just over three years ago -- was in the back dining room of Perry's on Union Street yesterday, lunching with her new partner. They were bouncing their new babies, who were born in December and who have the same father, on their respective laps. ...
Speaking of ladies, "Woman" is the subject of a new exhibition of Chet Helms' photography that opens tonight at the Artemis Gallery at 545 Sutter St., with a reception from 6 p.m to 10 p.m. ... Aside from being a gifted photographer with a keen eye, Chet is the amicable and faithful spirit of the psychedelic San Francisco '60s. He was the impresario of the S.F. sound, promoting shows at the Family Dog, the Avalon Ballroom, and at the Fillmore in its nascent days. ... Go see Chet. You don't have to wear flowers in your hair -- not if you don't want to. ...
If there ever was a cheerleader for San Francisco, it was David Donnelly, who wrote a column for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin for 36 years, often describing this city in rhapsodic detail. A few S.F. people are in Honolulu today for Dave's send-off at his beloved Murphy's Bar & Grill. He died on Jan. 24. He was 66. ... "We'll have the weird mix of music that Dave loved," says publican Don Murphy. "Hawaiian slide guitars, ukuleles, and Irish bagpipes." ... Money is being raised for a theater scholarship in Dave's name at the University of Hawaii. ...
Eric Platt is a big cheerleader for literacy. That's why he hosted 25 pre-kindergarteners from Saints Peter & Paul yesterday at his Cold Mine ice cream parlor on Union & Powell. "What better way to teach the alphabet than to remind the kids what 'I' stands for? Yes -- Ice Cream!" ... There might be a lesson in self-worth here, too. ... Herb Caen used to joke about how the "I" was the first key he'd wear out on his Loyal Royal typewriter. ... Aye, the ego of these columnists. ...
"I" might stand for ice cream but I recall the halcyon days in North Beach when "I" stood for Izarra -- that exquisite Basque liqueur that seems to have vanished along with all of those great family-style Basque restaurants. But Mattin Noblia -- who, until recently, was a chef at Gerald Hirigoyen's Piperade on Battery Street -- is opening Iluna Basque later this month. It's smack dab in the middle of North Beach -- at Powell & Union. Mattin will offer tapas and a full bar -- and maybe, just maybe, Izarra (Basque for "star"), as well. ...
And more nostalgia: Susan D'Asaro, who knows more about '60s music than Murray the K, says radio station KFRC is doing something cool tomorrow. The Sun Kings -- that's the Beatles sound-alike band -- will play an hour-long rooftop concert at noon at Tower Records, Columbus and Bay. ... The show marks the 40th anniversary of the Beatles arriving in S.F. Of course, it also pays homage to the famous Abbey Road rooftop concert. So let it be. ...
Overheard on the 45-Greenwich bus in Chinatown yesterday, a young woman talking excitedly into the cell: "You should have heard him. He was Tourettes-ing all over the place!" ...
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