Letter to the editor

Tearful farewell to ‘Beach Blanket’

Regarding “It’s bye-bye for ‘Babylon’” (Datebook, Jan. 2): Beach Blanket was a lifelong friend. I first saw it in its very earliest days as I was a college student when it opened. I returned with friends, relatives and, in one particularly hilarious example, with my husband’s executive director and his wife. They were here visiting from England and got absolutely none of the humor.

I distinctly remember looking over, hysterical with laughter, seeing their faces, which were a combination of mild shock, confusion and utter cluelessness. To me, this was just what “Beach Blanket” was: an intimate, local portrait of our politics, gestalt and overall love affair with the city of San Francisco.

Thank you, Jo Schuman Silver, for keeping it going for 45 wonderful years. I cried when I read The Chronicle’s description of Tammy Nelson’s rendition of Patsy Cline’s “Crazy.” I could hear it. We’re all crazy here. That’s why it works.

Jennifer Blackburn, San Rafael