Author: Alfredo Casuso

media contact: David Perry | (415) 676-7007 | news@davidperry.com

San Francisco Maritime National Park Association Host
July 4th Celebration at Historic Pier 45

Public Invited to Celebrate Independence Day on the
 Waterfront Beside USS Pampanito

Tickets are General Admission Tickets: $75
Senior (62+): $60
Children Ages 6-12: $50
Children 5 and under are FREE!
Family (2 adults & 2 children): $225

11 June 2026 – San Francisco, CA: This Fourth of July, San Francisco’s waterfront will offer a star-spangled celebration with a distinctly maritime twist. On Saturday, July 4, 2026, beginning at 8pm, the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association (https://maritime.org/) will host 4th of July at Historic Pier 45, inviting the public to gather beside the historic USS Pampanito and the Triangle at Historic Pier 45 in Fisherman’s Wharf for an unforgettable evening of community, history, and Independence Day celebration.  Advance tickets may be purchased online at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/4th-of-july-at-historic-pier-45-tickets-1991019764713

Presented in one of San Francisco’s most iconic waterfront settings, the event offers guests a special opportunity to experience the Fourth of July surrounded by the city’s maritime heritage, with the historic World War II submarine USS Pampanito as a dramatic backdrop and San Francisco Bay’s annual fireworks display expected to begin at 9:30pm.

“Independence Day on San Francisco Bay is always memorable, but celebrating it at Historic Pier 45, beside USS Pampanito, adds a powerful sense of place and history,” said Darlene Plumtree, CEO of the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association. “This is where San Francisco’s working waterfront, military history, and public gathering traditions all come together. We are proud to welcome the public to celebrate July 4th in a way that is festive, meaningful, and unmistakably San Francisco.”

A Balao-class submarine, USS Pampanito served in the Pacific during World War II and is now preserved at Fisherman’s Wharf as a National Historic Landmark, museum, and memorial. Operated by the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association, Pampanito connects visitors from around the world to the service, sacrifice, technology, and human stories of the United States Submarine Service.

“USS Pampanito reminds us that freedom is not abstract,” said Plumtree. “It was defended by real people, in real places, under extraordinary conditions. On July 4th, as we celebrate the nation’s birthday, we also honor the generations whose service made that celebration possible.”

Set at the heart of Fisherman’s Wharf, 4th of July at Historic Pier 45 also offers visitors a front-row connection to one of San Francisco’s most beloved civic traditions: fireworks over the Bay. The evening is expected to draw residents, families, veterans, maritime enthusiasts, and visitors from around the world to one of the city’s most historic piers.

“San Francisco’s waterfront has always been a place of arrival, departure, industry, celebration, and remembrance,” said Plumtree. “Historic Pier 45 is the perfect place to gather on July 4th — with the Bay before us, the city behind us, and history all around us.”

About the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association:
The San Francisco Maritime National Park Association supports education, public programming, historic preservation, and philanthropic initiatives benefiting the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. Through programs, partnerships, and community engagement, the Association helps preserve and share the maritime stories, vessels, landmarks, and traditions that shaped San Francisco and continue to inspire visitors, students, and residents today.

Members of the public are encouraged to reserve tickets in advance through Eventbrite at the following link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/4th-of-july-at-historic-pier-45-tickets-1991019764713

Event Details:
What: 4th of July at Historic Pier 45, San Francisco
When: Saturday, July 4, 2026, beginning at 8pm
Where: USS Pampanito and the Triangle at Historic Pier 45, Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco
Cost: General Admission: $75
Senior (62+): $60
Children Ages 6-12: $50

Children 5 and under are FREE!

Family (2 adults & 2 children): $225

Tickets:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/4th-of-july-at-historic-pier-45-tickets-1991019764713

Today on the anniversary of his birth, we celebrate the life and legacy of Rainbow Honor Walk honoree Maurice Sendak (June 10, 1928 – May 8, 2012). 

A groundbreaking author and illustrator, Sendak transformed children’s literature with kworks including Where the Wild Things Are, giving vivid, honest shape to childhood’s fears, joys, imagination and emotional depth. A gay man who lived for 50 years with his partner, Eugene David Glynn, Sendak left an enduring legacy of artistry, truth and creative liberation.

#RainbowHonorWalk #MauriceSendak #WhereTheWildThingsAre #LGBTQHistory #LGBTQArts #ChildrensLiterature #QueerLegacy

www.RainbowHonorWalk.org

Media Contact:

David Perry & Associates, Inc.
news@acasusodavidperry-com
(415) 676-7007

Acclaimed Operatic Soprano Breanna Sinclairé Featured Tonight at Built This City: An SF Pride Variety Spectacular at The Castro

San Francisco Pride and Peaches Christ Productions present a celebratory Pride season kickoff at the historic Castro Theatre

10 June 2026 – San Francisco, CA: Internationally acclaimed operatic soprano Breanna Sinclairé will be featured tonight, Wednesday, June 10, at Built This City: An SF Pride Variety Spectacular, presented by San Francisco Pride and Peaches Christ Productions at historic and cherished Castro Theatre.

A dazzling Pride season kickoff celebrating San Francisco’s creativity, resilience and LGBTQ+ cultural legacy, Built This City brings together music, performance, comedy, drag, community and star power on one of the city’s most iconic stages. Sinclairé’s participation adds a soaring operatic voice — and a powerful symbol of transgender artistry and visibility — to an evening designed to honor the people and performers who continue to shape San Francisco.

“San Francisco has always been a city where voices that were once pushed to the margins rise up and transform the culture,” said Sinclairé. “To perform at The Castro for San Francisco Pride is deeply meaningful. This city helped make my voice possible, and tonight is about celebrating the beauty, courage and brilliance of our community.”

Sinclairé’s appearance at Built This City follows a landmark year that included her role as featured soloist in the world premiere of Andrew Yee’s Trans Requiem at Trinity NYC, a major new work for trans voices, choirs and orchestra. The performance marked another historic moment in Sinclairé’s career, further establishing her as one of the most visible and important transgender classical artists performing today.

Built This City: An SF Pride Variety Spectacular takes place tonight, Wednesday, June 10, 2026, at The Castro. Tickets are available at sfpride.org.

Breanna Sinclairé is an acclaimed American soprano and the first transgender woman to sing the U.S. national anthem at a professional sporting event. A graduate of CalArts and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, she has appeared with leading artists and orchestras at major venues across the U.S. and Europe, in productions including Carmen, The Magic Flute, and La Calisto. In 2025, Sinclairé was featured soloist in the world premiere of Andrew Yee’s Trans Requiem at Trinity NYC. Sinclairé was featured in the opera-film Bound (Against the Grain Theatre), starred in PBS’s True Colors: LGBTQ+ Our Stories, Our Songs, and was honored by the San Francisco Business Times as an Outstanding Voice. Media features include The New York Times, NPR, and CNN. More: breannasinclaire.com.

About San Francisco Pride

The San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Pride Celebration Committee is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded to educate the world, commemorate LGBTQ+ heritage, celebrate LGBTQ+ culture and liberation, and advocate for the rights and dignity of all people. San Francisco Pride produces one of the world’s largest and most iconic LGBTQ+ celebrations and continues to serve as a global symbol of queer visibility, resistance and joy.

Event Details:

Built This City: An SF Pride Variety Spectacular

Presented by San Francisco Pride and Peaches Christ Productions

Wednesday, June 10, 2026

The Castro, San Francisco

Tickets: sfpride.org

¿Por qué el español abre las preguntas antes de cerrarlas?
— por David Eugene Perry

Mientras Alfredo y yo volamos rumbo a España para pasar seis semanas de “trabajo y escritura” en nuestra querida Grazalema, me vino a la cabeza una de esas preguntas aparentemente pequeñas que, en realidad, dicen mucho sobre una lengua:

¿Por qué en español usamos dos signos para preguntar y exclamar: ¿ ? y ¡ !?

¡Sigue leyendo y te lo cuento!

Para quienes aprendieron primero el inglés, una de las rarezas más visibles del español es que las preguntas y las exclamaciones no esperan hasta el final para revelarse. Se anuncian desde el principio.

En inglés basta con escribir:

Are you coming to dinner?

En español, en cambio, escribimos:

¿Vienes a cenar?

Y si queremos expresar alegría, sorpresa o entusiasmo:

¡Qué alegría verte!

A simple vista, esos signos de apertura pueden parecer un adorno, una extravagancia tipográfica o incluso una simpática rareza del idioma. Pero no lo son. Son útiles, elegantes y profundamente inteligentes.

La respuesta breve: claridad

El español tiene una flexibilidad que permite que una frase empiece sin que sepamos de inmediato si será una afirmación, una pregunta o una exclamación.

Por ejemplo:

Vienes a cenar.

y

¿Vienes a cenar?

son casi idénticas en palabras, pero completamente distintas en intención.

La primera afirma.
La segunda pregunta.

El signo de apertura ¿ le avisa al lector desde el primer momento: cuidado, esto es una pregunta. Léelo con ese tono.

Lo mismo ocurre con el signo ¡, que prepara la voz para la emoción, el asombro, la urgencia, la alegría o el énfasis.

Una cortesía para quien lee

Los signos de apertura son especialmente útiles en frases largas. Sin ellos, podríamos llegar al final de una oración y descubrir demasiado tarde que aquello debía leerse como una pregunta o una exclamación.

El español evita ese tropiezo.

Nos dice desde el principio cómo debemos entrar en la frase. Nos da la música antes de que empiece la melodía.

En ese sentido, la puntuación doble es una forma de cortesía. No solo organiza la escritura: acompaña al lector.

¿De dónde vienen estos signos?

El uso de los signos de apertura fue promovido por la Real Academia Española en el siglo XVIII. En 1754, la Academia recomendó incorporar el signo inicial de interrogación y el de exclamación a la ortografía del español.

Antes de eso, como ocurría en otras lenguas europeas, lo habitual era colocar solo el signo de cierre al final.

Pero los gramáticos españoles detectaron un problema práctico: si la puntuación sirve para orientar la lectura, no basta con avisar al final. A veces hay que avisar desde el principio.

Así nació una de las señas más reconocibles de nuestra lengua escrita: el sistema que marca el comienzo y el final de una pregunta o de una exclamación.

¿Y por qué no lo hace el inglés?

El inglés suele anunciar las preguntas mediante el orden de las palabras:

Are you coming?
Do you want coffee?
Can we go now?

El español, en cambio, no siempre necesita alterar tanto el orden. Muchas veces una afirmación y una pregunta pueden tener exactamente la misma estructura. Lo que cambia es la intención, el tono, el contexto… y, por supuesto, la puntuación.

Por eso los signos de apertura resultan tan útiles en español.

Además, el inglés nunca tuvo una institución normativa con el peso histórico de la Real Academia Española. Aunque a alguien se le hubiera ocurrido proponer signos invertidos para el inglés, la idea habría tenido que imponerse por uso popular. Y eso nunca ocurrió.

Un pequeño signo con mucha personalidad

Lo maravilloso de ¿ y ¡ es que son prácticos, pero también poéticos.

Son señales para la vista.
Indicaciones para la voz.
Pequeños gestos de atención hacia quien lee.

Nos recuerdan que una lengua no es solo gramática. También es historia, cultura, ritmo y forma de mirar el mundo.

Y así, en algún punto entre California y Cádiz, camino de las calles blancas y la luz serrana de Grazalema, vuelvo a sentirme fascinado por una de las invenciones más hermosas del español.

Porque, admitámoslo:

¿No es maravilloso que una lengua te diga desde el principio cómo quiere ser leída?

Why Spanish Gives You the Question Before the Question

— by David Eugene Perry

As Alfredo and I fly to Spain for a six-week “working and writing” sojourn in our beloved Grazalema, it struck me:

Why are Spanish-speaking countries the only ones to use double ¡ ! and ¿ ?

Read along to find out why!

One of the first things English speakers notice when reading Spanish is that questions and exclamations do not wait until the end to announce themselves.

In English, we write:

Are you coming to dinner?

But in Spanish, it becomes:

¿Vienes a cenar?

And for emphasis:

¡Qué alegría verte!

How wonderful to see you!

At first glance, those upside-down marks may look decorative, even whimsical. But they are actually practical, elegant, and very Spanish.

The Short Answer: Clarity

Spanish often allows a sentence to begin in a way that does not immediately reveal whether it is a statement, a question, or an exclamation.

For example:

Vienes a cenar.

You are coming to dinner.

¿Vienes a cenar?

Are you coming to dinner?

Same words. Different meaning. Different music.

That opening ¿ tells the reader from the very beginning: adjust your tone, this is a question.

The opening ¡ does the same for emotion, excitement, surprise, joy, alarm, or emphasis.

A Gift to the Reader

The double punctuation is especially helpful in long sentences. Without the opening mark, a reader might get all the way to the end before realizing the sentence was supposed to be read as a question or exclamation.

Imagine reading aloud and discovering too late that you should have raised your voice at the beginning. Spanish solves that problem before it starts.

It is, in a way, an act of courtesy.

The language says: “Here is the tone. Here is the intention. Begin correctly.”

Where Did It Come From?

The practice was introduced by the Real Academia Española — the Royal Spanish Academy — in the 18th century. In 1754, the Academy recommended the opening question mark and opening exclamation mark as part of Spanish orthography.

Before that, Spanish, like other European languages, generally used only the closing mark at the end.

But Spanish grammarians saw a problem: punctuation should not merely close a thought. It should help the reader understand the thought as it unfolds.

So Spanish developed a system that marks both the beginning and the end of a question or exclamation.

Why Didn’t English Do This?

English usually signals questions early through word order:

Are you coming?

Do you want coffee?

Can we go now?

Spanish does not always need that kind of word-order shift. A statement and a question can look nearly identical until punctuation, tone, or context reveals the difference.

That makes the opening marks especially useful in Spanish.

English, meanwhile, never had a central language academy with the same authority as the RAE. Even if someone had proposed inverted punctuation for English, it would have had to become popular organically. It did not.

A Small Mark with a Big Personality

What I love about ¿ and ¡ is that they are both practical and poetic.

They are road signs for the eye.

Stage directions for the voice.

A little typographic courtesy from writer to reader.

They also remind us that language is never just grammar. It is culture. It is history. It is rhythm. It is a way of seeing and hearing the world.

And so, from somewhere between California and Cádiz, on our way back to the whitewashed streets and mountain light of Grazalema, I find myself newly delighted by one of Spanish’s most charming inventions.

¿Isn’t that wonderful?

Or, better said:

¿No es maravilloso?