San Jose and Other Famous Places

Welcome to the Memorial Edition of SAN JOSE and OTHER FAMOUS PLACES~ the Lore and Lure of the South Bay ~ By Veteran Newsman and Long-Time Political Editor of the SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, Harry G. Farrell. Follow Harry as he witnesses the growth and development of that "other place," San Jose, the toddling town with an "inferiority complex" that grew up in the shadow of its big brother to the north, San Francisco, to become one of the most influential communities in California. Farrell's chronicle stretches from the old neighborhoods - Goosetown, Tar Flat, College Park, Hyde Park, Robertsville, Meridian Corners - to the surge of Silicon Valley, and is peopled with heroes, knaves, cops, robbers, eccentrics and celebrities. Among the most respected and popular news personalities in the Golden State, Harry Farrell moved in the circles of the greatest names in the 20th century, hob-nobbing with presidents, rubbing elbows with celebrities. Keeping his homegrown perspective, he garnered a devoted readership who still speak of him adoringly. SAN JOSE and OTHER FAMOUS PLACES is as much Harry's story, as the story of a city. The adventures and misadventures of a go-getter reporter intertwine with the psychology and ambiance of a unique place, as he and the city cope with the comings and goings of the likes of Richard Nixon, Eldridge Cleaver, and Robert Kennedy. Ride with him as he leads a presidential motorcade on a high-speed chase through the Santa Cruz mountains; listen in as he fields phone messages from a news tipster who claims to get her scoops "straight from God," or as he and Pierre Salinger chat with a political unknown, John Kennedy. Forty years of chronicling the story of San Jose earned him the privilege, in 1983, of producing this book for the San Jose Historical Museum Association. Nobody could have done it better. This Memorial Edition will fill a void on the shelves and in the hearts of those who love all things Californian.