Media contact: David Perry & Associates, Inc. (415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com 

This Old Bag: The Power of the Purse 

Friday, October 25

Iconic Fundraiser for Breast Cancer Emergency Fund Marks 15^th Anniversary
at San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel

Liam Mayclem / KCBS’ Radio “Foodie Chap” Featured Emcee / Guest Auctioneer

www.bcef.org 

12 June 2019 – San Francisco, CA:For 15 years, the San Francisco-based Breast Cancer Emergency Fund has understood “the power of the purse.” Friday, October 25 at Francisco’s historic Fairmont Hotel the 15^th Anniversary “This Old Bag: The Power of the Purse”  fundraiser will bring together fashionistas, philanthropists and those for whom cancer is a personal and professional cause to raise funds – and awareness – in the fight against breast cancer. The now iconic event brings together men, women, fashion icons, celebrities from sports, politics and the entertainment industries all with one goal in mind: donate, display and sell fabulous handbags for a good cause: helping people with breast cancer. This year, in addition to a record number of new designs and international contributions, Liam Mayclem, award-winning “Foodie Chap” of KCBS / KCBS 5, will serve up British wit and continental charm as celebrity emcee and auctioneer.

“For the past 15 years This Old Bag has truly demonstrated the ‘power of the purse:’ people helping people through their time of financial and health crisis,” said Cynthia Hester, President of Breast Cancer Emergency Fund’s Board of Directors. “Every bag we sell – handbags, men’s bags, tech bags, travel bags, and more – provides a crucial safety net for our clients by keeping a roof over their head or keeping the lights on. BCEF has never had to turn a qualified client away for lack of funds, and we’ve never had a waiting list. THAT is the ‘power of the purse.’”

Since its inception in 2005, This Old Bag has sold over 2,500 bags to help Bay Area women and men during their challenging diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer. The idea: fundraising for breast cancer need not be dull. In fact, it should be fun and life-affirming. Over the last 15 years, artists, artisans, celebrities, politicians, and local fashion mavens have all been inspired by the “power of the purse,” donating glamorous, unique and one-of-a-kind handbags for the benefit of the Breast Cancer Emergency Fund. A small sampling has included:

• Limited-edition Dior handbag donated by Sharon Stone
• Vintage Hermès Birkin bags donated by Ann Getty
• Levi’s men’s messenger bag donated by Rev. Cecil Williams
• Gianni Versace bag worn to the Academy Awards by Minnie Driver
• Liberto Ferrero black leather bag donated by Robert Downey, Jr. 
• Proenza Schuler bag donated by Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Those donated handbags have a huge impact. “The average monthly income of our clients is $825,” said Karen Edwards, BCEF’s Interim Executive Director, a number that sits in stark contrast to the soaring rents in the Bay Area. “Unfortunately, a diagnosis of breast cancer often means losing your job, your insurance, and your home. Breast Cancer Emergency Fund provides a safety net that no one else provides, paying essential bills like rent, utilities, and insurance premiums that make it possible to maintain a stable living situation during treatment.”

Breast Cancer Emergency Fund exists to fill that very need: providing immediate financial assistance to low-income people battling breast cancer when they are too sick to work. Since 2001, Breast Cancer Emergency Fund has served over 4,000 people in San Francisco, Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties, providing over $3.6 million dollars in assistance to help our clients maintain financial stability during a devastating illness.

For more information about Breast Cancer Emergency Fund, and further to-be-announced details about the 15^th Anniversary This Old Bag: The Power of the Purse at San Francisco’s storied Fairmont Hotel in Friday, October 25, please go online to www.bcef.org 

media contact: David Perry & Associates, Inc. (415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com

Book Tour Underway for Jim Haas’ Landmark New Book
from the University of Nevada Press
The San Francisco Civic Center:
A History of the Design, Controversies, and Realization of a City Beautiful Masterpiece

June 10 – Commonwealth Club of California
June 19 – San Francisco Main Public Library
June 26 – San Francisco Chamber of Commerce
August 8 – San Francisco Mechanic’s Institute
September 10 – Institute of Classical Architecture and Art  (San Francisco)
September 12 – California State Library (Sacramento)

10 June 2019 – San Francisco, CA: Beginning tonight at the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, and continuing through the summer, author, historian and attorney Jim Haas is on a mission: promoting the unique place in architectural history held by San Francisco’s landmark governmental heart as chronicled in his new book from the University of Nevada Press, The San Francisco Civic Center: A History of the Design, Controversies, and Realization of a City Beautiful Masterpiece.

“I’ve often felt like a voice crying alone in the desert,” laughs Haas, who after tonight’s appearance at the Commonwealth Club will continue with appearances at the San Francisco Main Public Library (June 19), the SF Chamber of Commerce (June 26), the San Francisco Mechanic’s Institute (August 8), the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art in San Francisco (September 10) and the California State Library in Sacramento (September 12). “It’s taken seven mayors and four decades, but finally, the public – and public officials – are taking note of the unique national treasure that is San Francisco City Hall and the surrounding Civic Center.”

Haas is an author, attorney, and expert on San Francisco’s Civic Center history and politics. He has lived in San Francisco most of his life and spent more than forty years engaged in civic projects, including the restoration and completion of San Francisco’s Civic Center.

San Francisco is known and loved around the world for its iconic man-made structures, such as the Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars, and Transamerica Pyramid. Yet its Civic Center, with the grandest collection of monumental municipal buildings in the United States, is often overlooked, drawing less global and local interest, despite its being an urban planning marvel featuring thirteen government offices and cultural buildings. In The San Francisco Civic Center: A History of the Design, Controversies, and Realization of a City Beautiful Masterpiece, Haas tells the complete story of the Civic Center and how it became one of the most complete developments envisioned by any American city. Originally planned and designed by John Galen Howard in 1912, San Francisco’s Civic Center is considered in both design and materials one of the finest achievements of the American reformist City Beautiful movement, an urban design movement that began more than a century ago.

“Ever since I first met Jim Haas during my earliest days on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, he has demonstrated a consistent and admirable commitment to the well being of our city,” said Senator Dianne Feinstein in a forward to to the book. “Though his advocacy and leadership over the years has proven essential to a number of projects and issues, Jim will long be remembered for his thirty-year commitment to the completion and improvement of the city’s Civic Center.  This book will help people understand and appreciate what a magnificent treasure we in San Francisco have with our Civic Center and why we must continue to work to preserve and enhance it. I urge everyone to read it.”

The San Francisco Civic Center is a grouping of monumental publically-owned buildings that are clustered between Market, McAllister, Hayes and Franklin Streets about two miles up Market Street from the Ferry Building. The area today contains thirteen government office and cultural buildings, among them City Hall, the main branch of the San Francisco Public Library, the Asian Art Museum, the War Memorial Opera House and Veterans Building, Davies Symphony Hall, Department of Public Health, the Supreme Court and State offices, the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, the federal office building at United Nations Plaza, and the headquarters for the city’s Public Utilities Commission. It is located in the nerve center of San Francisco’s major streets grid with the domed City Hall anchoring the area. The area is classified as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places. It has been the central site of San Francisco’s government for more than a century, and the civic and architectural philosophies undergirding its design have been a driving force in San Francisco’s urban design since the time the 1906 earthquake forever altered San Francisco’s city planning. Because of its long and central history in San Francisco, and its extraordinary architectural heritage, the Civic Center has been discussed as a possible candidate for consideration as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

For more information or to purchase a copy of The San Francisco Civic Center: A History of the Design, Controversies, and Realization of a City Beautiful Masterpiece go to https://www.amazon.com/San-Francisco-Civic-Center-Controversies/dp/1948908158
*  *  *
Critical Praise for Jim Haas’ The San Francisco Civic Center: A History of the Design, Controversies, and Realization of a City Beautiful Landmark:

“Nobody in San Francisco knows Civic Center and its maddening saga—a strange mix of triumphs and pratfalls at urban scale—better than James Haas. This new book makes that history available to all of us, a spirited resource that provides context for whatever might come next.”
—John King, Urban Design Critic, San Francisco Chronicle

“That notoriously Victorian city, San Francisco, does occasionally surprise with moments of unbounded classicism: Its City Hall represents one of the best and most beautiful expressions of the style. Happily, James Haas has done the buildings justice in his thorough and exhilarating book, which I consider a must-read for any devotee of Classical Architecture, or any architecture for that matter!”
—Peter Lyden, President, Institute of Classical Architecture and Art

“San Francisco’s remarkable Civic Center comes alive in this book. Not only is it a comprehensive history of the Civic Center, it is an extremely thoughtful reminder of how public spaces and public buildings can be monuments of democracy and design.”
—William Deverell, Director, Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West
“We’re often strangely drawn to love affairs. I deeply admire Jim Haas’ passion and persistence in pursuit of his love for San Francisco’s Civic Center. This exquisite book invites us to eavesdrop on and understand why our thoughtful author has stayed so loyal to this urban architecture love affair.”
—Chip Conley, hospitality entrepreneur and bestselling author

*  *  *

Full Schedule of Readings / Signings by Jim Haas for
The San Francisco Civic Center: A History of the Design, Controversies, and Realization of a City Beautiful Landmark:

Monday, June 10: 6pm
The Commonwealth Club of California
110 The Embarcadero
Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium / San Francisco

*  *  *

Wednesday, June 19: 6pm – 7:30pm
San Francisco Main Public Library
100 Larkin Street

*  *  *

Wednesday, June 26: 6pm -7:30pm
San Francisco Chamber of Commerce Boardroom
235 Montgomery Street, Suite 760 / San Francisco

*  *  *

Thursday, August 8: 6:30pm
A Conversation between Jim Haas and John King / SF Chronicle
The Mechanic’s Institute
57 Post St., Suite 504 / San Francisco

*  *  *

Tuesday, September 10: 6pm – 8pm
Institute of Classical Architecture and Art
The James L. Flood Mansion
2222 Broadway / San Francisco

*  *  *

Thursday, September 12: 6pm – 8pm
“A Night at the State Library”       
Stanley Mosk Library & Courts Building
914 Capitol Mall / Sacramento

Media contact: David Perry / (415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com 

Russell Kassman Retires After 40 Years

Venerable Purveyor of Fine Pianos Under New Ownership as of August 1

7 June 2019 – San Francisco, CA: The venerable piano shop R.KASSMAN Purveyor of Fine Pianos, which has been a Bay Area stalwart amongst the area’s Artists and Enthusiasts for more than 40 years, will change hands at the end of March. Russell Kassman, the owner of the eponymous store is retiring.

“For forty-one years, I have been privileged to live in San Francisco and participate in its vibrant, world-renowned cultural scene,” said Kassman. “On a visit in 1977, San Francisco won my heart, and 42 years later she has my soul as well.” 

For decades, R.KASSMAN has been the choice of Bay Area musicians and visiting Artists. The company specializes in hand-crafted European pianos, as well as the finest instruments from Asia and restored vintage American instruments. A veritable who’s who of musicians and enthusiasts have chosen R.KASSMAN to supply their pianos; from Rod Stewart to Valentina Lisitsa, Billy Childs to Gordon Getty, Grammy nominated Artists Barbara Higbie and Sharon McNight, Steve Jobs to Jerry Rice, Michael Feinstein to Thom Felicia, San Francisco Symphony, Opera and Ballet, Fairmont Hotels, San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus to San Francisco Girls Chorus, the list of R.KASSMAN patrons is lined with today’s Artists and yesterday’s icons.

Kassman, who holds a degree in piano from Chicago Musical College, came to the Bay Area as a piano technician in 1978, and was quickly sought-after as a piano technician. At the encouragement of customers Louis Magor (SF Symphony Chorus director emeritus) and Calvin Simmons (Oakland Symphony Conductor, deceased), Kassman opened his eponymous shop in Oakland across from the Paramount theater. In 1981, the San Francisco Opera’s Kurt Herbert Adler appointed Kassman as the purveyor to the San Francisco Opera, and the shop opened an additional location in San Francisco’s Symphony district. 

Upon hearing of Mr. Kassman’ s retirement, San Francisco Symphony pianist emeritus Robin Sutherland remarked: “My professional relationship with Russell Kassman was solidified on March 21, 1985 — the actual 300th birthday of J. S. Bach — when I performed the Goldberg Variations in San Francisco to commemorate that auspicious occasion. R. Kassman provided a magnificent Bechstein grand for me to use, and I was captivated. Captivated to the point that when the performance concluded, I went to Russell on bended knee and begged him to put that piano aside for me, against the day I might be able to afford it for my own personal use.”

Sutherland continued: “In a gesture that I have since come to find typical of him, Russell did make that possible, and the Bechstein has graced my home in San Francisco from that day to this. Built upon this foundation, a personal and business association has developed over forty years, and it is one that I cherish more than I can say. I beat Russell to retirement by maybe six months or so, but the thought of him moving on is one I entertain as very bittersweet. My life without R. Kassman Pianos is not an easy one to contemplate, but my heart is full as I watch him take a remarkable four decades of supplying great music to us in the Bay Area and move forward. I cannot adequately express the vastness of my gratitude to him.”

Mr. Kassman was also actively involved in civic pursuits throughout his career. He was appointed by then SF Mayor Art Agnos to the Small Business Advisory Commission and served under Agnos and Mayor Frank Jordan. He was later appointed to the Mayor’s Office of Business and Economic Development by former SF Mayor Willie Brown. R.KASSMAN has received hundreds awards and accolades, including two Cable Car Awards and the SF Chamber of Commerce Business Arts Advocate award. 

As the company heads towards new ownership, R.KASSMAN is selling the remaining pianos selected by Mr. Kassman during his semi-annual European and Asian buying trips as well as a collection of R.KASSMAN restored vintage Steinway pianos. 

“As some of you may know from a previous release, I was about to retire and close my shop effective June 1,” said Kassman in a statement. “I recently had an offer of purchase the company from a long-time associate in the piano business, and I am excited to introduce you to the new owners of R.KASSMAN: Mr. Ric Overton and Mr. Tim Speakman.”

Kassman continued:
 
“Many of you know Ric from his long presence in the piano business. Ric was the Northern California Regional Sales Manager for the original Baldwin piano company for many years. For the past six years, Ric and Tim have been managing the Hollywood Piano stores of my close friend, Glenn Treibitz. Together, they have more than doubled the sales volume of Hollywood pianos in this short time and challenging market. Additionally, Ric is also the Regional Sales Manager for Piano Marketing Group, which distributes Brodmann, Wilhelm Steinberg and Geyer pianos as well as a line of digital pianos.
 
Personally, I can’t think of a better team to take over the shop than these two industry stalwarts. They have the same passion for quality and pianos that I have, and their dedication to music education is unparalleled. They have decades of experience servicing the needs of concert artists, conservatories and institutions, and they have impeccable, award winning, customer service credentials. In short, you are going to love working with them.”
 
The transition to new ownership will take place over the summer, with the new team in place by August 1.

www.rkassman.com