• Edith Newman was born in Brighton in 1932 and joined her father’s business
• She worked in the 50s and 60s for stars such as George Robey
• Ms. Newman also worked in famous hotels such as the Metropole and the Grand
• Her son said he would miss “her wicked sense of humor”
• This included the request for a stripper gram as a gift for her 70th birthday

One of Britain's few female chimney sweeps who cleaned for the stars of the 1950s and 1960s has died.

Edith Newman worked for stars such as comedian and music hall star George Robey and met Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill while working in a number of major hotels.

Mrs Newman, who was 84 when she died, used traditional chimney brushes and more modern chimney vacuums to remove soot and ash from the chimneys of the Metropole Hotel, the Grand and the home of actor George Robey.

Edith Newman, one of the few female chimney sweeps in Great Britain. She died at the age of 84.

Her son Will Newman, 56, said his mother would be missed for her “mischievous sense of humor,” which led to her requesting a stripper profile for her 70th birthday.

Mrs Newman was born Edith Martin in Woodingdean, Brighton, East Sussex on 12 May 1932 and worked as one of the few female chimney sweeps in the country for Bru-Vac, her father William Martin's Brighton business.

She was just 22 when she joined her father's company and is considered the first female cleaner in Brighton.

Mr Newman remembers that as a child his mother introduced him to Winston Churchill, who was staying at the Dudley Hotel.

He said: “Through Mum's connection to the Dudley Hotel, she learned that Winston Churchill stayed there in the early 1960s.”

“She took us all there to meet him and he patted me on the head.”

She worked for stars such as comedian and music hall star George Robey and met Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill while working in a number of major hotels (pictured with her great-grandfather).

Mrs Newman's work also included hair-raising moments, such as crawling through the narrow, horizontal chimneys of the Cox Pill factory in Lewes Road, Brighton.

Mr Newman, who runs the Facebook history group Brighton Past, believes Edith was the only female chimney sweep at the time.

He said: “She was very proud of her work. I think she worked with her father for about 10 to 12 years.”

“As far as we know, she was the only one, and we had a newspaper clipping from Australia – even there they knew about her.”

Mrs. Newman was married to Fred Newman, cared for her three children full-time, and enjoyed her hobbies, fishing, and musicals.

Mrs Newman, who was 84 when she died, cleaned soot and ash from the chimneys of the Metropole Hotel, the GrandThis and the home of actor George Robey using traditional chimney brushes and more modern chimney vacuums. Mrs Newman was born Edith Martin in Woodingdean, Brighton, East Sussex on 12 May 1932 and worked for Bru-Vac, her father William Martin's Brighton business

She later lived in Whitehawk and met her partner Daniel Brown.

Mr Newman said he would miss his mother's mischievous sense of humour.

He added: “As my mother approached her 70th birthday, we asked her what she wanted. 'A stripper-gram,' she said. 'I've never seen one.'

“And that's what she got, a guy dressed as a cop – and she loved every second of it. That was my mother.”

Edith, who lived at Ireland Lodge Nursing Home in Woodingdean, died after a short illness on 23 December 2016.

She leaves behind her children Will and Ruby and nine grandchildren.

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Cotton Coulson, a National Geographic photographer and filmmaker, died on Wednesday, May 27, after losing consciousness while diving off the coast of Norway.

The dive was part of a 17-day National Geographic expedition to the Norwegian fjords and the Arctic Svalbard archipelago on a 150-passenger cruise ship operated by National Geographic Expeditions and Lindblad Expeditions.

Coulson, 63, has directed more than 40 stories for National Geographic and National Geographic Traveler. He spent most of his career in Europe, shooting and filming a number of missions ranging from the Arctic and Scandinavia to Italy and France.

In recent years, Coulson and his wife, photographer Sisse Brimberg, have served as experts on National Geographic expeditions, leading photo walks, training tourists in photography and telling stories about their time there.

“National Geographic is devastated by the loss of our longtime friend and collaborator,” said Lynn Cutter, executive vice president of travel and licensing at National Geographic.

Coulson and Brimberg, Cutter added, “were adored by the crew, staff and guests who were fortunate enough to travel with them.”

The incident occurred on Sunday, May 24, on the fifth day of the cruise. According to members of the cruise team, Colson and his diving partner were diving into cold water to capture images to be shared with passengers on the cruise when Coulson signaled his partner to surface.

Shortly afterwards, Coulson lost consciousness. He was helped to the surface and onto a rubber dinghy and taken back to the ship. He was then transported to a local hospital in Sandnessjoen, Norway, and then transferred to a larger facility in Tromsø. He died on Wednesday evening.

Coulson graduated from New York University Film School in 1975 and joined National Geographic as a contract photographer in 1976. His assignments included stories about Ireland, Berlin and the Brendan Voyage, a sixth-century Irish monk's sailing voyage across the Atlantic. Coulson has won numerous awards from the National Press Photographers Association and the White House Press Photographers Association.

He was also an assistant cameraman at US News & World Report and a cameraman at the Baltimore Sun.

In the mid-1990s, Coulson joined the Internet revolution and moved his family to San Francisco, where he became vice president of CNET Networks, a media website focused on technology news.

The family then moved to Paris and later to Denmark, Sisse's home country.

“The wonderful thing about Cotton was how completely he immersed himself in his stories,” said Cathy Newman, author and editor of National Geographic. “When he wrote a story about Italy, he came back completely Italian, with this tailored, elegant Italian suit and exquisitely polished leather shoes. While writing a story about Kansas, he came back chewing on a stalk of wheat. Sisse used to say that she never knew who she would meet when she got off the plane after completing an errand.”

Coulson and Sisse met at a National Geographic photography seminar and worked together often over the course of their 30-year marriage. They own a media company, KEENPRESS, which produces photographs and HD films on the topics of the environment, climate science and international travel.

“Most of us divide our time between family and work,” said Ford Cochran, program director for National Geographic Expeditions. “They found a way to combine those things and do the things they loved.”

In addition to his wife, Coulson is survived by their adult children, daughter Saskia and son Calder; his parents, Robert Coulson and Mary Evangelista; two sisters and three brothers.

Service plans will be announced at a later date.

Check out some of Cotton Coulson's works

A ride at dawnA fisherman cuts through the morning light on Lake Hallstatt in Austria in 2009. “His photographs were imbued with a really subtle beauty,” says Moran.

Photo by KEENPRESS/Nat Geo Image Collection

The post Cotton Coulson, Nationwide Geographic Photographer, Dies appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — An extremely dangerous atmospheric river has moved into the San Francisco Bay Area and the first round of rain is already causing flooding on roadways and highways around the region.

However, ABC7 Meteorologist Drew Tuma says that the first wave won’t be the worst of it. The second round which arrives anywhere between 2 p.m. – 9 p.m. will slowly crawl over us with heavy rain which will make our flooding threat high.

TIMELINE: Wednesday’s very strong storm upgraded to Level 5; NWS says could cause ‘loss of life’

This storm is ranking a Level 5 on the exclusive ABC7 Storm Impact Scale. This is the first level 5 storm in the history of the scale.

Jan. 4, 2023

10:46 p.m.
Evacuation warnings in Santa Clara County

Santa Clara County has issued evacuation warnings to community members residing in the watershed areas of the Uvas Reservoir and Pacheco Pass River Basin due to weather conditions and risks to the general public and property. For more details, visit the county website here.

10:35 p.m.
Infant dies in Sonoma County home hit by falling tree

An infant has died after a tree fell onto a home in Occidental Wednesday night, fire officials said. The toddler aged 1 or 2 was home with their mom and dad when it happened.

Firefighters performed CPR while waiting for medics to arrive but the infant did not make it.

9:00 p.m.
Dam failure prompts Flash Flood Warning in San Benito Co.

The National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood Warning for a dam floodgate release in northwestern San Benito County.

Dam operators reported the spillway of the North Fork Dam being compromised just after 6 p.m. and predict that water will overtop the spillway by tomorrow morning. This will impact areas, including Lovers Lane, Pacheco Creek and Santa Ana Creek.

Flooding is already being reported along the Pacheco Pass Reservoir.

NWS says residents who are in low lying areas below the North Fork Dam are urged to move to higher ground immediately.

7:25 p.m.
Wind gusts knock over gas station canopy in Daly City

This video of wind gusts so strong they knocked over the canopy of a gas station came in just minutes ago. This happened a short time ago in Daly City. At this time, we’re not hearing of any reports of injuries, but you can see the gas pump was crushed by the fallen canopy.

7:10 p.m.
Shelter-in-place in order lifted in San Rafael

The earlier Shelter in Place from Canal to mid-block Novato St due to multiple blown transformers and downed live wires has been lifted, according to San Rafael officials. Roadways have re-opened, however the power line had to be cut by PG&E and power is now out in the area, possibly expected to be out until tomorrow.

6:04 p.m.
Shelter-in-place in order in San Rafael

Officials issued a shelter-in-place order from Canal to mid-block Novato Street in San Rafael due to multiple blown transformers and live high voltage wires down. No vehicle or pedestrian traffic is allowed. For more information, visit here.

5:56 p.m.
Lanes blocked on I-280 in San Bruno

The southbound lanes of I-280 just north of Skyline Blvd in San Bruno is blocked due to multiple downed trees, CHP said.

Only one of the far left lane is open. CHP are asking drivers to avoid the area.

5:40 p.m.
Evacuation warnings for Russian River area

Officials issued an evacuation warning for residents living near the Russian River and its surrounding areas from Healdsburg to Jenner amid flooding threat. For the full list of evacuation warning zones, visit here.

Oakland, Milpitas declare State of Emergencies

The cities of Oakland and Milpitas declared local state of emergencies amid the powerful Level 5 storm. The declaration of the emergencies will enable cities to utilize all resources necessary to prepare and respond to the storm.

5:15 p.m.
San Francisco officials urge residents to stay off roads, limit 911 calls

Mayor London Breed joined city leaders to urge residents to stay off the roads as the storm intensifies Wednesday night. Officials are asking residents to limit 911 calls except for in emergency situations, as all crews are on hands-on-deck responding to weather-related incidents. For all non-emergency calls, you can dial 311.

4:30 p.m.
Mandatory evacuations ordered for multiple areas in Santa Cruz County

Evacuation orders for multiple areas of Santa Cruz County were issued Wednesday afternoon as more rainfall hit the county, bringing higher flood risks.

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office issued evacuation orders for unincorporated areas including the Paradise Park area in zone CRZ-E081 and the Felton Grove neighborhood in zones FEL-E008 and FEL-E012.

The following evacuation zones are also under an immediate evacuation order: CTL-E010, CTL-E014, CTL-E015, CTL-E018, and CTL-E019 zones in the Soquel area north of state Highway 1, the CTL-E050, CTL-E051 zones in the La Selva Beach area, PAJ-E015, PAJ-E024, PAJ-E026, PAJ-E027, PAJ-E028, PAJ-E029 zones near Pajaro, and WTS-E017, WTS-E018, WTS-E019 zones in Watsonville.

Evacuation zone CRZ-E001-C near Whitehouse Canyon Road has also been ordered to evacuate.

Evacuation orders in those areas are mandatory and the areas are closed to public access.

In addition, areas around Capitola Village and Felton are under evacuation warnings, as are areas of Boulder Creek, the area around Last Chance Trail and the Lompico and Zayante areas. Those who require additional time to evacuate and people who have pets and livestock should evacuate now, per the Capitola Police Department and Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office.

For a complete list of evacuation zones, visit https://aware.zonehaven.com/search.

3:30 p.m.
Evacuations urged for parts of Alameda County

Residents of Kilkare, Palomares and Niles Canyon roads in Alameda County are urged to evacuate because of the storm, saturated soils and runoff, county officials said on Twitter at 2:31 p.m. Wednesday.

Rain is expected to become heavy Wednesday afternoon and stretch into Thursday. A wind warning is in effect until 10 a.m. Thursday.

3 p.m.
NOAA sending hurricane hunters into storm

ABC7 Meteorologist Drew Tuma says NOAA is sending their hurricane hunters into our atmospheric river right now to gather data on the storm’s strength.

2:30 p.m.
Departure, Arrival flights grounded at SFO

Departures and arrivals at San Francisco International Airport are grounded due to wind until at least 3 p.m., according to a representative.

2:15 p.m.
Several Bay Area counties under State of Emergency due to storm

Sonoma, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties have all declared an emergency. In Contra Costa County, the city of Danville is under a state of emergency. The city of Watsonville in Santa Cruz County has also declared a state of emergency.

11:15 a.m.
Newsom declares State of Emergency to support storm response, recovery efforts

Gov. Gavin Newsom has issued a State of Emergency for California to help with the response and recovery efforts to the large winter storm moving through the state. This will allow California to respond quickly to support local governments, authorities in their ongoing response.

11:10 a.m.
CHP issues high wind advisory for Golden Gate Bridge

The California Highway Patrol has issued a High Wind Advisory for the Golden Gate Bridge.

10:55 a.m.
CA officials give update on Level 5 storm

State officials will provide update on the state’s response to the impacts to California communities following a strong winter storm. Officials will also discuss the continued efforts the state is making to keep Californians safe.

10 a.m.
Several Bay Area schools announce closures for Wednesday, Thursday

Several schools across the Bay Area have announced they will be closed either Wednesday or Thursday due to the severe storm moving through the area. Here’s a look at the closures so far:

• Horicon School in Annapolis in Sonoma county – closed today Wednesday 1/4
• The South San Francisco Unified School District – closed Thursday 1/5 – (Classes will resume on Friday, Jan. 6)
• San Mateo Foster City School District – closed Thursday 1/5 – (Classes will resume on Friday, January 6)
• Pacifica School District closed Thursday 1/5 (Classes will resume on Friday, Jan. 6)
• Portola Valley School District – all schools will be closed Thursday 1/5 – (Classes will resume on Friday, Jan. 6)

9:45 a.m.
Crow Canyon Road in San Ramon closed, open to residents only, police say

San Ramon police say Crow Canyon Road is closed to traffic in both directions between San Ramon and Castro Valley. There is limited access for residents only.

9:30 a.m.
CHP issues High wind advisories for Bay Bridge, San Mateo Bridge and Dumbarton Bridge

The California Highway Patrol has issued high wind advisories issued for three Bay Area bridges: Bay Bridge, San Mateo Bridge and Dumbarton Bridge.

8:50 a.m.
BART warns up to 20-minute systemwide delay due to wet weather

BART is warning riders there may be up to 20-minute delays systemwide due to wet weather conditions.

8:30 a.m.
East Bay Regional Parks District closed through Thursday

The largest regional park system in the country is closing down because of the strong storm hitting the Bay Area. East Bay Regional Parks District has closed down all parks from today through tomorrow. Residents are advised by the park district to not enter the parks.

Parks are expected to reopen on Friday after officials asses the weather conditions. For reopenings and more information on east bay regional parks you can head to their website.

8 a.m.
SF out of sandbags, hope to have more later Wednesday

The San Francisco Department of Public Works said Wednesday morning that no more sandbags are currently available for residents and businesses seeking them to prevent flooding from an atmospheric river hitting the city this week.

Public Works officials said more sandbags are expected to be available at the operations yard later Wednesday, but the exact time was to be determined.

7 a.m.
Marin County activates emergency shelter for unhoused residents

Marin County activated its severe weather emergency shelter starting Wednesday for people experiencing homelessness in anticipation of more heavy rain hitting the Bay Area this week.

The overnight warming shelter is located at the Marin County Health and Wellness campus located at 3240 Kerner Blvd., in San Rafael. It will be open from 5 p.m. Wednesday to 6:30 a.m. Thursday. Individuals are encouraged to sign in by 8 p.m. Wednesday.

The nearest public transportation to the campus, according to Google Maps, is the bus stop at Bellam Boulevard and Lisbon Street, which is served by Marin Transit’s 580 and 23 routes. It is also near the stop at Kerner Boulevard and Larkspur Street served by Marin’s 23, 29, 35, 36 and 645 routes.

VIDEO: Marin Co. announces emergency shelter for unhoused community

6:30 a.m.
Danville declares local emergency through Jan. 10

The Town of Danville has proclaimed a local emergency in response to the ugly storms expected to start Wednesday, while the city is still cleaning up after last weekend’s wet weather that included flooding and mudslides.

Acting as the city’s director of emergency services, Town Manager Joe Calabrigo signed the proclamation just before noon Tuesday, according to a statement from city officials. The proclamation will remain in effect until noon on Tuesday, Jan. 10.

The declaration allows Danville greater flexibility to contract for and obtain supplies for more expedient disaster response.

Residents can contact the police department for safety concerns at (925) 820-2144. To request non-urgent assistance for clean-up or other concerns, call Danville Maintenance Services at (925) 314-3450 or go to www.danville.ca.gov/danvilleconnect.

For assistance with county-maintained or privately-maintained creeks, call county public works at (925) 313-7000 or email admin@pw.ccounty.us. For power outage information, go to www.pge.com/outagealerts. Weather can be monitored at www.weather.gov/mtr.

Jan. 3, 2023

7:18 p.m.
Evacuation orders for unhoused living near creeks

San Jose has issued a mandatory evacuation order for unhoused people living in creek areas, police tweeted. SJPD says officers are responding to creek areas and making announcements to evacuate. Shelters will be provided.

7 p.m.
An area of Santa Cruz Co. being evacuated ahead of storm

An area near Whitehouse Canyon Road in Santa Cruz County is being evacuated due to concerns with a culvert, the sheriff’s office announced on Tuesday evening.

A culvert under Whitehouse Canyon Road became undermined during the last storm and that caused a part of the roadway to fail. The sheriff’s office anticipates that the upcoming rains pose a “significant concern” that the entire culvert could completely fail, making the roadway impassable for medical and law enforcement resources.

The zone being evacuated is CRZ-E001-C. To pinpoint its location, go to https://aware.zonehaven.com/search.

Road closures can be monitored at https://sccroadclosure.org.

6:50 p.m.
San Jose announces State of Emergency before historic storm

On Tuesday, the City of San Jose proclaimed a State of Emergency ahead of the atmospheric river weather event. The proclamation provides emergency powers to the city needed to respond to the storm events, and simultaneously issues an evacuation order to people living within or along waterways for their safety.

“We want to make sure all residents are informed and prepared to stay safe, and that city staff has the ability to move quickly to relocate encampments that are in harm’s way,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said.

5:50 p.m.
Mandatory evacuation orders issued for parts of Watsonville in Santa Cruz Co. at high risk of flooding

The City of Watsonville issued mandatory evacuation orders Tuesday evening for neighborhoods with a high risk of flooding ahead of Wednesday’s storm.

The city tweeted a map highlighting the areas ordered to evacuate in Santa Cruz County.

“If your residence is located within this map’s blue-shaded area, you’re asked to evacuate NOW or as soon as possible to safely get ahead of the storm’s flooding,” the tweet wrote.

An overnight shelter opened at Cesar Chavez Middle School (440 Arthur Rd.). This site will serve as the central location to accommodate residents. Shelter space will be limited, so pets must be dropped off at the Animal Shelter (580 Airport Blvd.) before the storm or make arrangements with friends or family.

Ramsay Park (1301 Main St.) is also now open and serves as a place for residents to meet up with family members and get information on available services. There will be limited onsite services.

For those who need transportation services, Lift Line will be available to assist. Please call 831-688-9663.

5:10 p.m.
SF Bay Ferry suspending service for 2 routes affecting Alameda, Oakland on Wednesday, agency says

The San Francisco Bay Ferry will be suspending service to two routes affecting Alameda and Oakland on Wednesday due to the storm forecast, the agency said on Tuesday.

The Harbor Bay and South San Francisco routes will not be sailing in either direction.

“Big southerly winds have outsized impacts at Harbor Bay and SSF terminals,” said the agency on Twitter.

All other routes will operate as scheduled, the agency said.

RELATED: Here’s how Bay Area is preparing for dangerous Level 5 storm taking aim at region

5 p.m.
Flood Warning issued for the Russian River in the North Bay

A Flood Warning has been issued on the Russian River near Johnson’s Beach in Guerneville, according to Meteorologist Drew Tuma. River forecast to crest at 35.4 feet Thursday evening causing moderate flooding.

4 p.m.
Pleasant Hill announces several sandbag locations ahead of storm

Pleasant Hill officials said Tuesday that city sandbag locations have been refilled and asked residents to respect the city’s 10-bag limit per household ahead of Wednesday’s storm.

Sandbags are located at City Hall at 100 Gregory Lane, the community center at 320 Civic Drive, and on Hawthorne Drive near Pleasant Oaks Park.

Pleasant Hill experienced flooding during last weekend’s storm and is expected to have similar issues once the next storm hits Wednesday. City officials asked people to not drive through flooded areas and around roadway closure signs and barricades.

3 p.m.
Orinda residents can fill sandbags at 2 locations

The city of Orinda has sand and empty sandbags available Tuesday at Moraga-Orinda Fire District Fire Station No. 43 at 20 Via Las Cruces, and at Fire Station No. 44 at 295 Orchard Road ahead of Wednesday’s storm.

Residents should bring their own shovels.

2:30 p.m.
Sandbags available at 2 San Ramon locations for residents

San Ramon police said sandbags are available Tuesday at two locations in the city ahead of another large storm forecast in the area.

The sandbags are available at Central Park at 12501 Alcosta Blvd. and at Athan Downs Park at 2975 Montevideo Drive.

2 p.m.
Santa Clara Co. offering free sandbags are several locations

Santa Clara County residents can get free filled sandbags from sandbag sites operated by the Santa Clara Valley Water District ahead of more heavy rainfall expected this week.

At the five Valley Water sandbag sites scattered throughout the county, residents can pick up free filled sandbags or fill their own with bags and sand the district has provided.

There are also 20 city and county public works yards with bags and sand that residents can fill themselves. A shovel and someone to help lift the sandbags is recommended since they are heavy.

Some sites may require proof of residency. More information and site locations can be found at https://www.valleywater.org/flooding-safety/flood-ready/sandbags.

12:45 p.m.
SF leaders give update on how city is preparing for storm

San Francisco leaders provided an update on how the city is preparing for the incoming atmospheric river. This comes after the city saw more than 5 inches of rainfall on New Year’s Eve causing widespread flooding making it the second wettest day in recorded history in San Francisco. Mayor London Breed says Wednesday’s storm will be significant. She is urging people to limit travel if possible. She warns of localized flooding. The mayor also says to use 911 for life-threatening emergencies, and 311 for reports of flooding in one’s home or business.

SF Department of Emergency and Management Mary Ellen Carroll says the National Weather Service has upgraded the wind gusts for Wednesday to 60 to 70 mph. There will be a Flood Watch from Wednesday at 4 a.m. to Thursday at 4 p.m. This could mean power outages and falling trees.

Officials are also recommending people to stock up on batteries and flashlights.

12:30 p.m.
SF warns sandbags are running low

SF Public Works says it is running low on sandbags. Residents asked to only get them if you really need them, limit of five per address.

“We have a limited supply of sandbags available for San Francisco residents whose properties are prone to flooding. Limit 5 per address. Pick up at our Operations Yard, Marin and Kansas streets gate. We’ll stay open until 8 p.m. Please only get sandbags if you really need them.”

Sandbags are available for residents and business owners. More details are available through “SF72” here.

8:30 a.m.

Most of Bay Area under moderate risk of flooding

The National Weather Service has placed most of the Bay Area under a moderate risk of flooding tomorrow for excessive rainfall. ABC7 Meteorologist Drew Tuma says given our wet soil conditions produced by recent heavy rains, flooding is likely.

Jan. 2, 2023

3 p.m.
NWS says powerful storm could cause ‘loss of life’

The National Weather Service said Monday that this upcoming storm will likely be “the most impactful system on a widespread scale that this meteorologist has seen in a long time.”

NWS officials say not only will this storm bring flooding, power outages and “disruption to commerce,” it will also most likely cause loss of human life. They say this system will be brutal and needs to be taken seriously.

Watch the latest AccuWeather forecast and take a look at recent weather stories and videos.

If you’re on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live

Copyright © 2023 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.

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“And then at the age of 80, he starts a career as a fine art photographer,” Meza said, referring to a career that was active right up until Lyon’s passing. “He died working on two book projects. And just this last April, he had two books out — mine, and he was the largest contributor to another book, “San Francisco: Portrait of a City.”

Fetterman said he had not encountered Lyon’s work before seeing an image called “Foggy Night, Land’s End.”

“I thought I knew a lot about photographers and the history of photography,” Fetterman said. When he came across “Foggy Night,” he said, “I was totally blown away by it. I thought, ‘Why haven’t I heard of this man? Who is this man? This man is a giant — anyone who could make that kind of composition, I have to know more about him.'”

‘Foggy Night, Land’s End,’ a 1953 image shot by San Francisco photographer Fred Lyon. (Fred Lyon/Peter Fetterman Gallery)

L

yon told KQED’s Pat Yollin in a 2017 profile that he became fascinated with photography early in his teens.

“Cameras were shiny objects,” he said. “I knew a guy who had one and he always seemed to have a lot of cute girls around him. I thought that if I had a camera, maybe I’d get girls, too.”

Lyon skipped two grades, graduated from Burlingame High School, apprenticed at a San Francisco photography studio at age 14 and then, a year later, attended the Art Center School in Los Angeles, where Ansel Adams was a teacher.

In a 2020 interview with “California Look” collaborator Philip Meza, Lyon recalled how he joined Adams and a select handful of other students on a summer trip to Adams’ home in Yosemite. He said he took from Adams certain artistic tenets, such as Adams’ famous admonition, “There’s nothing worse than a very sharp image of a very fuzzy concept.” But even then, Lyon said, he knew he needed to become his own photographer.

“My feeling was that I knew I could never learn all Ansel,” Lyon said. “I could never be more than a miniature Ansel Adams if I tried to be like him. I was never going to become a landscape photographer. I always seem to need to include some of the works of man in my work. Ansel was terrific and inspirational, but I didn’t want to emulate what he was doing.”

Lyon was a Navy photographer during World War II, an assignment that took him to the White House, where he took a Christmas portrait of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his extended family in 1944. He photographed President Harry S. Truman on his first day in the Oval Office following Roosevelt’s death in April 1945.

After the war, Lyon shot fashion assignments in New York City before returning to the Bay Area in 1946, where his family’s thriving real estate business awaited him. But he had other ideas.

“Photography wasn’t really an honorable profession,” Lyon told KQED in 2017. “It wasn’t a profession at all. When our family physician found out what I was doing, he said, ‘Oh Frederick, that’s no work for a you.’ But it’s the ideal pursuit for an inherently nosy person. You get to peek into everyone else’s life.”

A

ll through his career, Lyon was very busy getting those glimpses into the lives of others.

“We looked at his work logs — he logged in every shoot he did from maybe 1940 on,” Rozis, who married Lyon 20 years ago, said Saturday. “There were all kinds of interesting people, from sports to fashion to architecture to films. It’s just amazing. He said, ‘When I look at these job logs, it makes me tired.’ Every day there were two or more shoots.”

Meza says that Lyon set out to become a working photographer, a mission at which he was fabulously successful, but did not consider himself an artist.

“Nevertheless, he did become one,” Meza said, the proof being the enduring attraction of the images he captured. “If it is a generation or more removed from the viewer, like some of Fred’s fine art photography, it retains these powers and is not just a curiosity because it is antique. I think his artistic sense was derived from his abundant empathy, curiosity and intelligence.”

Children street-sledding down steep hill, North Beach, San Francisco, 1952. (Fred Lyon)

Fetterman says that, beyond the quality of his work, Lyon stood out as someone who embraced life and other people.

“He was a joyous character,” Fetterman said. “He was like Cary Grant. He was from another era of charm and manners and gracefulness — all of it genuine.”

The post Fred Lyon, Famend San Francisco Photographer, Dies at Age 97 appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

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A Brisbane man in custody for allegedly assaulting someone last month in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood may also face manslaughter charges now that the victim has died from his injuries.

The assault was reported about 2:11 am Oct. 6 on the 500 block of Broadway, where officers found the victim on the ground. He was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, San Francisco police said.

At the time, a witness told police they had seen someone spit on the victim and pointed out a suspect, later identified as Alexis Octavio Meneses, 37.

Meneses was taken into custody on suspicion of misdemeanor battery at that time, and was cited and released.

Investigators later reviewed camera surveillance and developed evidence that Meneses allegedly punched the victim, causing the man to fall and hit his head on the ground. While the man was lying unconscious, Meneses allegedly kicked him multiple times and spit on the victim.

Meneses was arrested Oct. 31 on the 800 block of Bryant Street and booked on suspicion of multiple crimes that include assault likely to cause great bodily injury.

The victim died from his injuries on Nov. 4 at a hospital, police said. His name was not released.

On Monday, a complaint against Meneses was amended to include manslaughter.

While an arrest has been made, the investigation is still active. Anyone with information is asked to call the SFPD Tip Line at (415) 575-4444 or Text a Tip to TIP411 and begin the text message with SFPD. Tips may remain anonymous.

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A young man died and another was arrested following a solo-vehicle collision Saturday night in South San Francisco, police said Sunday.

Officers responded at 11:40 pm to the first block of South Linden Avenue after someone reported the collision.

A passenger in the vehicle died and the 18-year-old driver was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and DUI, according to police. The victim was also 18 years old, police said.

The driver may have been under the influence of alcohol and drugs, according to the police. The suspect lives in South San Francisco. He was taken to the San Mateo County jail, police said.

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Emilio Delgado, an actor and singer known to generations of “Sesame Street” viewers as Luis, the gentle handyman ever able to fix what was broken, died March 10 at his home in Manhattan. hey what 81

The cause was multiple myeloma, said his wife, Carole Delgado.

Millions of children have grown up watching “Sesame Street,” the educational series that premiered on public television in 1969, seeking to harness the power of TV to help teach the medium’s youngest viewers to count, read and make their way in life.

Mr. Delgado joined the show in 1971, during its third season, and remained a mainstay of the cast for more than four decades. His character, Luis Rodriguez, owned the Fix-It Shop and proved as skilled at repairing toasters as he was at singing and dancing.

From the start, “Sesame Street” was notable for the racially diverse cast of live actors who appeared on-screen with Big Bird, Bert and Ernie, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch and other Muppets created by Jim Henson.

A Mexican American whose early life straddled the US southern border, Mr. Delgado served for Latino children as a television role model at a time when Hispanic actors, in his words, were largely consigned to playing “banditos, gang members, lowlife characters and sleeping Mexicans under a cactus.”

“I’d been trying all my professional life to be somewhere I can change that, whether I was talking about it or trying to get into a project that showed Latinos in a good light,” Mr. Delgado told the Houston Chronicle in 2020. “That’s why ‘Sesame Street’ was such a good thing. For the first time on television, they showed Latinos as real human beings.”

“We weren’t dope addicts. We weren’t maids or prostitutes, which [was] the way we were being shown on television [and] film,” he added. “Here, on ‘Sesame Street,’ there were different people who spoke different languages ​​and ate interesting foods, and they were all Americans.”

Mr. Delgado, who often accompanied himself in song on the guitar, gave many English-speaking children an introduction to Spanish. He referred to Big Bird, the canary-yellow avian played for many years by puppeteer Caroll Spinney, as “pájaro,” the Spanish word for “bird.”

Caroll Spinney, puppeteer who gave life to Big Bird of ‘Sesame Street,’ dies at 85

Mr. Delgado “did a really good job at erasing the boundaries between ethnicities … but not in a way that erased the culture,” Kathryn A. Ostrofsky, a scholar of media history who has studied “Sesame Street,” said in an interview.

He “used Chicano culture,” she added, “and made it part of the common … experience that all American children had watching ‘Sesame Street’ for generations.”

“Sesame Street,” still airing today, became the longest-running children’s program on American television. One of its most memorable episodes remains the 1988 installation in which Luis marries his on-screen love, Maria, who was played by actress Sonia Manzano. In an episode during their courtship, Luis dons a tuxedo to dance with an elegantly dressed Maria in the manner of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers to a song about the Spanish greeting “Hola.”

Luis and Maria later had a daughter, Gabriela, who was played for a period by Manzano’s real-life daughter by the same name. “Sesame Street” writers used her arrival to explain to young viewers how a baby develops but not — in deference to many parents — how one is conceived.

“Luis and Maria’s relationship appeared so real on television, that for decades since, when fans saw them out and about with their actual spouses, Emilio Delgado and Sonia Manzano had a lot of explaining to do,” read a tribute to Mr. Delgado released by the Sesame Workshop after his death.

Mr. Delgado was born May 8, 1940, in Calexico, Calif., the eldest of six children raised by a single mother. He spent part of his bringing up with his mother’s family in Mexicali, Mexico, crossing the border by foot every morning to attend school in Calexico.

“The border wasn’t the way we think borders are or need to be,” his wife remarked in a phone interview. “All he said was, ‘American citizen,’ and they just smiled and waved him on.”

“I heard him say that he had mariachis on one side and rock-and-roll on the other,” she added, describing the bicultural world of Mr. Delgado’s youth. “He embraced it all.”

Mr. Delgado was interested in theater from an early age and was encouraged in his artistic pursuits by his mother. When he was in high school, he moved to Glendale, Calif., where he participated in musical groups and the theater club.

Mr. Delgado served for six years in the California National Guard before enrolling at the California Institute of the Arts in Santa Clarita to study theater. He appeared on the TV drama “Canción de la Raza,” about a Mexican American family, before receiving an invitation to try out as Luis on “Sesame Street.”

At the time, he said, he was out of work, with a young child to support, and saw the opportunity to join the cast as evidence that an angel was “looking out” for him.

“I had been staring at my last unemployment check when someone from ‘Sesame Street’ called to ask if I would like to audition for the show,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2018. “There was no agent involved. It came out of nowhere.”

Interviewed for the book “Street Gang: The Complete History of ‘Sesame Street’ ” by Michael Davis, Mr. Delgado said he was given little instruction in how to portray Luis on-screen.

“Therefore, there’s a lot of Emilio in Luis,” he said. “They wanted reality, and that’s what they got from the cast.”

In addition to his role in “Sesame Street” and the program’s related live performances, Mr. Delgado had a recurring part as newspaper editor Rubin Castillo on the TV series “Lou Grant” starring Ed Asner. Mr. Delgado also appeared on programs including “Hawaii Five-O,” “Quincy, ME” and “Falcon Crest” and, more recently, the “Law & Order” franchise and “House of Cards,” playing Ambassador Davila.

Before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, he performed onstage in Octavio Solis’s play “Quixote Nuevo,” an adaptation of “Don Quixote” by the Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes.

Mr. Delgado’s marriages to Barbara Snavely and the actress Linda Moon Redfearn ended in divorce.

Survivors include his wife of 32 years, the former Carole Webb Gillespie of Manhattan; a son from his first marriage, Aram Delgado of Penzance, England; a daughter from his third marriage, Lauren Delgado of Tucson; two brothers; two sisters; and a grandson.

At the Fix-It Shop, ready with a screwdriver in hand, Mr. Delgado repaired radios, clocks and flashlights. Sometimes an object arrived that could not be made whole, and on those occasions he explained why and what lesson could be drawn from that truth.

However honest his portrayal of Luis, Mr. Delgado confessed to the Chronicle there was one fundamental difference between him and his character.

“I will admit it,” he said. “I am not a fixer in real life. My wife is a better fixer than I am. She can fix anything.”

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“And then at the age of 80, he starts a career as a fine art photographer,” Meza said — a career that was active right up until his passing. “He died working on two book projects. And just this last April, he had two books out — mine, and he was the largest contributor to another book, “San Francisco, Portrait of a City.”

Fetterman said he had not encountered Lyon’s work before seeing an image called “Foggy Night, Land’s End.”

“I thought I knew a lot about photographers and the history of photography,” Fetterman said. When he came across “Foggy Night,” he said, “I was totally blown away by it. I thought, ‘Why haven’t I heard of this man? Who is this man? This man is a giant — anyone who could make that kind of composition, I have to know more about him.'”

“Foggy NIght, Land’s End,” a 1953 image shot by San Francisco photographer Fred Lyon. (Fred Lyon/Peter Fetterman Gallery)

L

yon told KQED’s Pat Yollin in a 2017 profile that he became fascinated with photography early in his teens.

“Cameras were shiny objects,” he said. “I knew a guy who had one and he always seemed to have a lot of cute girls around him. I thought that if I had a camera, maybe I’d get girls, too.”

Lyon skipped two grades, graduated from Burlingame High School, apprenticed at a San Francisco photography studio at age 14, then attended the Art Center School in Los Angeles, where Ansel Adams was a teacher, a year later.

In a 2020 interview with “California Look” collaborator Philip Meza, Lyon recalled how he joined Adams and a select handful of other students on a summer trip to Adams’ home in Yosemite. He said he took from Adams certain artistic tenets, such as Adams’ famous admonition, “There’s nothing worse than a very sharp image of a very fuzzy concept.” But even then, Lyon said, he knew he needed to become his own photographer.

“My feeling was that I knew I could never learn all Ansel,” Lyon said. “I could never be more than a miniature Ansel Adams if I tried to be like him. I was never going to become a landscape photographer. I always seem to need to include some of the works of man in my work. Ansel was terrific and inspirational, but I didn’t want to emulate what he was doing.”

Lyon was a Navy photographer during World War II, an assignment that took him to the White House, where he took a Christmas portrait of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his extended family in 1944. He photographed President Harry S. Truman on his first day in the Oval Office following Roosevelt’s death in April 1945.

After the war, Lyon shot fashion assignments in New York City before returning to the Bay Area in 1946, where his family’s thriving real estate business awaited him. But he had other ideas.

“Photography wasn’t really an honorable profession,” Lyon told KQED in 2017. “It wasn’t a profession at all. When our family physician found out what I was doing, he said, ‘Oh Frederick, that’s no work for a you.’ But it’s the ideal pursuit for an inherently nosy person. You get to peek into everyone else’s life.”

A

ll through his career, Lyon was very busy getting those glimpses into the lives of others.

“We looked at his work logs — he logged in every shoot he did from maybe 1940 on,” Rozis, who married Lyon 20 years ago, said Saturday. “There were all kinds of interesting people, from sports to fashion to architecture to films. It’s just amazing. He said, ‘When I look at these job logs, it makes me tired.’ Every day there were two or more shoots.”

Meza says that Lyon set out to become a working photographer, a mission at which he was fabulously successful, but did not consider himself an artist.

“Nevertheless, he did become one,” Meza said, the proof being the enduring attraction of the images he captured. “If it is a generation or more removed from the viewer, like some of Fred’s fine art photography, it retains these powers and is not just a curiosity because it is antique. I think his artistic sense was derived from his abundant empathy, curiosity and intelligence.”

Children street sledding down steep hill, North Beach, San Francisco, 1952 (Fred Lyon)

Fetterman says that, beyond the quality of his work, Lyon stood out as someone who embraced life and other people.

“He was a joyous character,” Fetterman said. “He was like Cary Grant. He was from another era of charm and manners and gracefulness — all of it genuine.”

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As the annual Carnaval San Francisco parade came up 24th Street in the Mission District, the energy level always swelled with the appearance of Ginga Brasil — a costumed performance troupe of more than 100 men, women and children, a drum corps and a band on a truck, all dancing and swaying to the samba.

Off to the side, in her own unique costume, with her arms in constant motion as she conducted the dancers, what the troupe’s artistic director, Conceição Damasceno, a dance instructor and choreographer, costume designer and float decorator, community leader and cultural ambassador for all things Brazilian.

Damasceno, who last walked the mile-plus route at Carnaval in 2017 and was waving from a float a year later, had long suffered from lupus, an autoimmune disease. A long decline finally ended on April 24, when Damasceno died at her home in North Oakland, said her husband Nick Harvey. she was 61

“One of her greatest gifts was that she could introduce (Brazilian) dance and the culture to Americans,” said Harvey. “She taught people to find inner happiness in their own creative movement and comfort in their own bodies.”

As a bookend to Carnaval on Memorial Day weekend, Damasceno created and directed the SF Bay Brazilian Day/Lavagem Festival, which folds a 45-minute sacred ceremony into an 8-hour party during Labor Day weekend in Berkeley.

Ginga Brasil dances year-round at street fairs and parties centered around Casa de Cultura, a warehouse in West Berkeley connected to a nonprofit arts foundation called BrasArte. Children start in a program called “Borboletas” (Butterflies). Parents often start out watching the kids before they, too, are absorbed in the spirit of it and enroll in classes.

Damasceno appreciated students who started with nothing. She emigrated from the Brazilian state of Bahia in 1985 with $50 to her name. As the youngest of 12 children whose father died when she was just a few months old, Damasceno was raised amid poverty and hunger in a small town without electricity.

To entertain herself she “watched shadows by candlelight at night and butterflies in the daytime to imitate the movement,” Harvey said. An Englishman, he was on a post-collegiate walkabout when he met Damasceno in Fort Lauderdale in 1985. Two years later, they visited San Francisco and decided to move there.

She opened her dance studio in Berkeley in 1998, and founded BrasArte two years later as a nonprofit in order to preserve authentic Brazilian culture and to facilitate cultural exchange. Those two organizations were merged into Casa de Cultura, the Brazilian cultural center and dance studio still operating in Berkeley.

“I hope I help people see that Brazil is not just about beautiful women in bikinis and feathers,” she told The Chronicle in an interview before Carnaval, in the late 1990s. “It represents a whole attitude of being happy and relaxed — and Americans need to be relaxed.”

Interest in Brazilian culture hit a frenzy in 1994 when Stanford Stadium was one of the venues for the soccer World Cup. The Brazilian team stayed in Los Altos and played several games en route to winning the Cup at the Rose Bowl.

Graphic designer Anne-Marie Praetzel of Berkeley had been a soccer player and seen the games at Stanford and hit the spontaneous street parties afterwards. At one soirée she saw a flyer on a telephone pole advertising a Samba class conveniently located at Bahia Brazil, a bar in San Francisco.

She’d never taken a dance class before and was curious. “In comes this very graceful and stunningly beautiful woman, long arms and legs with a shock of black, wild hair,” Praetzel said. “Her movements were so mezmerizingly beautiful that I was hooked instantly.”

Praetzel ended up studying under Damasceno for 17 years. There was much to learn as Damasceno’s choreography incorporated the flight of birds and the movement of women doing laundry. Praetzel ended up performing in costume during several Carnaval parades.

“Samba is a very difficult dance to do unless you grew up doing it,” Praetzel said. “But (Damasceno) made it so fun and so addictive that I just kept going and going until I got it, eventually.”

There was more to it than Samba. There were parties at Damasceno’s home, and larger street parties at Casa de Cultura. Something was always happening with Ginga Brasil.

“There was a very warm and welcoming vibe to it,” Praetzel said. “There were old people, young people, kids. It was very inclusive. All ages and sizes of people with varying abilities to dance were welcome at her events and her classes.”

Damasceno was born Feb. 1, 1961 in Alagoinhas, a city in Bahia. The family moved to the capital city of Salvador when she was 9, and she began studying folkloric dance traditions. After migrating to Miami and then San Francisco, Damasceno made her first appearance in Carnaval in 1988.

“Her genius is something she brought from Brazil, which is the entire conceptualization of a Carnaval contingent,” said Aida Salazar, an Oakland writer who included Damasceno in her illustrated children’s book “In the Spirit of a Dream: 13 Stories of American Immigrants of colour.”

“She would be there with her glowing smile and her big hair flowing in the wind with the most graceful arms you’ve ever seen, moving along and flowing and directing.”

Salazar became enthralled when she and her husband, musician John Santos, brought their daughter Avelina Santos, then 7, to a performance produced by Damasceno at the Casa de Cultura.

Afterward Damasceno approached them and suggested Avelina was the right age for the summer day camp offered at the Casa. That was the beginning of five years of dancing and performing for Avelina, followed by her younger brother Joao. Then their mother became a producer of the Carnaval Ball, The Brazilian Day Festival, and Yemanja Arts Festival, all affiliated with BrasArte.

“The Brazilian people were always there but it was also white, Black and Asian people who supported all of their activities,” said Salazar. “She really believed that the arts were a bridge for peace and understanding.”

The 2018 Carnaval, which was Damasceno’s last, also marked a first. Her daughter, Tainah Damasceno, was crowned the queen of that same parade. Since then she has taken over for her mother as artistic director of BrasArte, the nonprofit umbrella which includes the dance school, various festivals and stage shows, and all forms of outreach.

Carnaval San Francisco returns after a two-year absence on May 29. Ginga Brasil will be there in costume, 60 or 70 strong, dancing and swaying the samba as if their founder were still there beside them.

“When I think of my mother, I think of the sun. Everyone and everything was drawn to her,’ said Tainah. “Her willpower and sincerity pulled people in and generated a community of love that will long outlast her short stay here on earth.”

In addition to her husband and daughter, both of Oakland, survivors include sisters Lourdes Damasceno and Rita Damasceno, also of Oakland, Antonia Damasceno of Rivarolo, Italy, and Neuza Damasceno of Salvador, Brazil; and a brother, Magno Damasceno, also of Salvador.

Tax deductible donations in her honor may be made to BrasArte, 1901 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley, CA, 94702.

Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SamWhitingSF

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