Sutter Hotel, San Francisco

[Bruce Day]

I was a nuke bomber pilot and did rotations dropping conventional iron bombs in VN, south and north. I loved SF, people knew what I did and I never had any problems in San Francisco or anywhere else. My big issues were dating girls who were not doing drugs when I was around and staying out of parties where there were open trays of hash or coke. If I saw that I cleared out immediately regardless of my prospects for later and went back to the bar at the Presidio or to the old Italian restaurants in North Beach and up and down the streets in the old 240Z. What a great city.

Francis, the Bogart Maltese Falcon, you need to read the Hammitt novel, much better.

Or play chess with David Niven. Or snag Lauren Bacall--boy could she 'whistle" a tune while old Howard Hoagland Carmichael was on the Steinway-- those were the days-- Bogart was- in a word- "Bogie" never has been another actor even close to him, IMO!!

And a footnote for my "Gent'man friend from NC--sure wish I could attend the Southern this year- maybe next. Do you ever get "Nawth" and attend the DamnYankee shoots in Michigan's UP or the Puglisi fest in MN??

Also, and I'll keep it short here. My feelings about the SF "hippies" of the '60's pale in comparison to the religious zealots who disrupted the funeral and Honor Guard for a young L/Cpl. (only the USMC has that enlisted rank) from MD-and our Courts ruled in their favor. To disrupt a grieving family under the aegis of the First Amendment- is akin to urinating on the headstone of any Veteran at Arlington, or defecating on Our Flag-an INFAMITA !!

[Bruce Day]

One of our members, who is a long time officer in the L C Smith Collector's Association, has Bogart's L C Smith, which has a cigarette burn on the stock where he put the cigarette down and left it burning.

We had a PGCA regional meeting in York, Nebraska some years back and those there got to see and pass around the Bogart gun.