Warren B. Smith - Watering the Greyhound Garden: Stories from the Streets of San Francisco

Watering the Greyhound Garden

Copyright 2013 by Warren B. Smith

First Edition

Mountain Stream Press

P.O. Box 1794

Magalia, CA 95954

greyhoundgarden@gmail.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. Excerpts and quotes may be used without permission as the US Fair Use Act allows.

Cover design by Letizia Albamonte.

Excerpts from the San Francisco Chronicle on pages 56-58, 170, and 173-174. San Francisco Chronicle/copyright.com. Used by permission.

Photo on page 52 by John ONeill. Used by permission.

Photo on page 74 by Gloria Judd. Used by permission.

Photo on page 82 from the San Francisco Chronicle. Stephanie Maze/San Francisco Chronicle/Corbis. Used by permission.

Photos on pages x and 98 from the San Francisco Chronicle. John OHara/San Francisco Chronicle/Corbis. Used by permission.

Photos on pages 4 and 178 from the San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library. Used by permission.

LIKE A ROLLING STONE 1965 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renewed 1993 by Special Rider Music. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Reprinted by permission.

THE GAMBLER 1978 Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC. All rights administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, 8 Music Square West, Nashville, TN 37203. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

CALIFORNIA, HERE I COME (Public domain).

DO-RE-MI 1940 Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC. All rights administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, 8 Music Square West, Nashville, TN 37203. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

PICK A BALE OF COTTON (Public domain).

GOD REST YE MERRY GENTLEMEN (Public domain).

FOREVER YOUNG 1973 by Rams Horn Music; renewed 2001 by Rams Horn Music. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Reprinted by permission.

Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version.

To order additional copies of this book, call (800)247-6553.

ISBN: 978-0-9846461-2-8

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012944128

Printed in Canada

To Travelers Aid International, formed in the mid-1800s when an inspired local citizenry in St. Louis, Missouri provided organized assistance to American pioneers and immigrants who were heading out West to seek their fortunes. Today, Travelers Aid continues to assist travelers with offices and outreach services across the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, and Australia.

At a crucial time in my life, a volunteer position with San Francisco Travelers Aid inspired me to pursue a degree in social work. After I completed graduate school, that same San Francisco Travelers Aid hired me as one of their full-time social workers. I will always be grateful to Travelers Aid for the special work they do and for the deep impact they had in my life.

Special thanks to Chris Schleuss.

And many thanks to everyone who provided me with their own special brand of travelers aid at key times in my own journey through lifeWarren and Betty Smith, Bobby Steel, Robert Steel, Brett Bachman, Bob Smith, Harry Sewall, Hayden and Arlene Evans, Luis Martorell, Ty Bartel, Cheryl Ford, Dave and Carol Winslow, Dana and Katie Anderson, Bill Carlson, Johanna Michaelsen, Pat McCue, Cheryl Marchal, Pat and Helene Sweeney, my beloved wife Joy, and most especiallyGod.

I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone at the San Francisco Travelers Aid SocietyArlin Alger, Carol Bohnsack, Barbara Glesner, Cate Maloney, Marjorie Montelius, Debbie Whitehouse, Dawn, Ginny, Irene, Jackie, and all the other employees and volunteers I worked with.

Thanks also to Billie at FROC for her encouragement and early typing of these stories; Letizia Albamonte for her cover; Gene Nicolelli at the Greyhound Museum in Hibbing, Minnesota and former Greyhound ticket agent Jack Brunelle for answering my many questions; Richard Geiger, Gary Fong, Elly Oxman, and Rick Romagosa at the San Francisco Chronicle and photo curator Christina Moretta at the San Francisco Public Library for helping me to obtain necessary photographs; and Tom Clark, Superintendent of Canyon de Chelly National Monument for his assistance.

And last but not least, thanks to Joy Smith, Bill Carlson, Stephen Poole, Sarah Leslie, and Alison Smith for their editorial help; and to Betty Smith, Heather Powers, Maureen Valdivia, Carol Bohnsack, Kathy Wolfs Stewart, Vernon Rousseau, and Arlene Evans for their suggestions and various contributions.

My one regret is that my mother, Betty Smith, didnt live to see the publication of this book. She so loved hearing these Greyhound stories.

Warren Smith at the Travelers Aid booth
(Photo by John OHara)

All the stories in this book are true. They took place when I was employed as the After-Hours Social Worker for the San Francisco Travelers Aid Society from 1976-1978. Prior to my deep involvement in New Age/New Spirituality and my later conversion to the Christian faith, I was paid to be a Good Samaritan at the San Francisco Greyhound Bus Terminal. It was an amazing first job for a fledgling social worker. Fresh out of graduate school, I was at times overeager and unorthodox in my methods as I always took a hands-on approach in working with people. But I loved my job and I loved the people I was trying to help.

The San Francisco Travelers Aid Society was established in 1914. Our mission at Travelers Aid was to meet the special needs of travelers who had recently arrived in the city and were experiencing problems of almost every imaginable type. Funded primarily by the people of San Francisco through United Way, Travelers Aid provided troubled travelers with short-term housing, food, crisis counseling, transportation, community referralswhatever was necessary to get them back on their feet and moving again.

While our main office at 38 Mason Street was open nine-to-five Monday through Friday, we also had outreach booths at the Greyhound bus station and the San Francisco International Airport. I worked primarily out of the Greyhound Tuesday through Friday evenings and all day Saturday.

Several years after leaving Travelers Aid, I began writing about my experiences with the agency. With pages of personal notes and many stories fresh in mind, I wrote as much as I could in my spare time. However, in 1983 at the height of my writing, certain events in my life forced me to put the book aside. Over the ensuing years I wrote several other booksbut I never got back to this one.

Then, in August of 2005, I found myself helping a childhood friend as he tried to escape New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The next month I assisted another friend who was driven from her Port Neches, Texas home during Hurricane Rita. As I worked with each of them and contacted numerous agencies and organizations to help them relocate, I recalled my job with Travelers AidI also remembered my unfinished book.