FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Chris Carlsson, Director, Shaping San Francisco
415-608-9035 or foundsf (at) yahoo.com

May 10, 2011, San Francisco: In anticipation of the June release date of Ten Years That Shook the City: San Francisco 1968-1978, a Reclaiming San Francisco title published by City Lights Foundation Books, Shaping San Francisco invites you to take a Ten Years Audio Walking Tour through the content of the book.  This tour of 24 historical sites chosen from the book showcases what happened during that decade in these locations, found mostly in the Mission District, as read by the authors.  Ten Years That Shook the City: San Francisco 1968-1978, a collection of first-person and historical essays spanning the tumultuous decade following the Summer of Love, shows how various social, environmental, and labor movements shaped and shook the City today. 

26 authors who either lived during or researched the 1970s, a time when transformative social values burrowed deeply into society and spread far beyond San Francisco, contributed to this anthology.  The release of the book will be held at City Lights Books on Thursday, June 2nd at 7 PM, where many of the authors will be present to talk about their pieces.  Eleven separate readings are planned in the Bay Area through August, featuring different groupings of contributors to highlight the variety of themes that run throughout the collection.  Shaping San Francisco hosts three free Wednesday night Public Talks (at CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission at 9th 7:30 PM) on May 18, May 25, and June 8 featuring three distinct thematic clusters: Mission Politics of the 1970s (May 18); political posters, underground comix, and lost murals (May 25); Ecology (June 8).

On Friday, June 10th, there will be an inaugural walk of the Ten Years Audio Walking Tour featuring ten sites along 24th Street from Valencia Street to Bryant Street.  The tour will start from 23rd and Valencia at 1 PM.  In general, the tour can be followed in situ using a printed map (enclosed) or a smartphone to scan special codes at the various sites.  Historical seekers can also call in to a toll-free number to hear various stops or visit the locations online, where they can listen to audio excerpts from the book.

Shaping San Francisco, a project of CounterPULSE, is a living archive of the city providing people with access to its overlooked history.  It facilitates the discovery, presentation, preservation of, and access to local history, incorporating the past into a rapidly changing future.  Shaping San Francisco hosts a Wednesday night Public Talks Series, Bicycle History Tours on Ecology, Dissent, Labor, Transit, Food, and the cemeteries of Colma.  Shaping San Francisco also developed the online historical archive, FoundSF.org which it co-sponsors with the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society.  CounterPULSE provides space and resources for emerging artists and cultural innovators, serving as an incubator for the creation of socially relevant, community-based art and culture.

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