Alfred Zampa didn't know what he was getting into when he took a construction job in 1925 on the Carquinez Bridge, one of the first to cross San Francisco Bay. Despite the risk, Zampa relished the challenge and embarked on an illustrious career that made him a local legend. His impressive feats of iron craft are evident in numerous spans, including the Bay Bridge and Golden Gate, as well as others across the country. He was one of the first to survive a fall from the Golden Gate Bridge, making him a founding member of the Halfway to Hell Club in 1936. The Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge, named to honor the man after his death, replaced the first bridge he had worked on nearly eighty years earlier. This remarkable story of skill, grit and enduring spirit is told through oral histories collected by John Robinson and Isabelle Maynard.

Alfred Zampa didn't know what he was getting into when he look a construction job in 1925 on the Carquinez Bridge, one of the first to cross San Francisco Kay. Despite the risk, Zampa relished the challenge and embarked 011 an illustrious career that made him a local legend. His impressive feats of iron craft are evident in numerous spans, including the Bay Bridge and Golden Gate, as well as others across the country. He was one of the first to survive a fall from the Golden Gate Bridge, making him a founding member of the Halfway to Hell Club in 1936. The Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge, named to honor the man after his death, replaced the first bridge he had named on nearly eighty years earlier. This remarkable story of skill, grit is told through oral histories collected by John Robinson Isabelle Maynard. Book jacket.

On May 21, 1927 the Carquinez Bridge opened to traffic between Crockett and Vallejo, California. Just a few miles north of San Francisco, the Carquinez Bridge was the longest highway bridge in the world when it opened. It was also the first bridge across any part of the San Francisco Bay. The reason you have never heard of this magnificent bridge is because its opening was upstaged by Charles Lindbergh's landing in Paris! For most of its working life the Carquinez Bridge lived in the shadow of its more famous siblings: the Oakland Bay Bridge and the mighty Golden Gate Bridge. Still, the Carquinez Bridge was an engineering triumph. Designed by the great engineer David Steinman, the mighty Carquinez was built using new construction techniques and was the first bridge to use earthquake buffers in the design. A second twin Bridge was opened in 1958 and third replacement bridge was opened in 2003. From 2005 through 2007 the old bridge was deconstructed in reverse order of its construction. In this book John V. Robinson takes readers on a photographic journey through time as he documents the birth, life, and death of one of America's great bridges.

Comedians of the San Francisco Bay Area changed comedy forever. From visiting acts like Richard Pryor, Steve Martin and Whoopi Goldberg to local favorites who still maintain their following and legacy, the Bay Area has long been a place for comedians to develop their voice and hone their stand-up skills. Popular spots included Cobb's, the Purple Onion, Brainwash, and the holy grail of San Francisco comedy during the 1980s boom, the Holy City Zoo. For over seventy years, these iconic venues and others fostered talent like Ali Wong, Moshe Kasher and the Smothers Brothers, introducing them to local crowds and the world beyond. Join comedians Nina G and OJ Patterson on a hilarious and thoughtful tour through the history of Bay Area comedy.

Port Costa may be a quiet place now, but it wasnt always thus. The town was born in 1879, when the Central Pacific Railroad built its southern ferry-transfer slip at the mouth of the Bull Valley. For 50 years, trains, passengers, and cargo were transported across the Carquinez Strait from Benicia. A thriving waterfront community with a wild side reminiscent of San Franciscos Barbary Coast sprang up around the ferry terminal and grew during the California wheat boom of the 1880s and 1890s. During this time, Port Costa became one of the busiest ports on the West Coast. The wheat ships and ferryboats are gone now, but Port Costa remains a popular local tourist destination for people who wish to catch a glimpse of Contra Costa Countys historic past.

Hold High the Torch, the first of a series of regimental and squadron histories by the Historical Branch, G-3 Division, Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps, is designed primarily to acquaint the members of the 4th Marines, past and present, with the history of their regiment. In addition, it is hoped this volume will enlarge public understanding of the Marine Corps’ worth both in limited war and as a force in readiness. During most of its existence the 4th Marines was not engaged in active military operations, but service of the regiment in China, the Dominican Republic, and off the west coast of Mexico, was typical of the Marine Corps’ support of national policy. In many of its combat operations, the 4th Marines was only one element of a much larger force. In other instances, as in the Dominican Republic and China, the regiment was a subordinate unit in situations which were essentially political and diplomatic. Only so much of these higher echelon activities as are essential to an understanding of the 4th Marines story have been told. This is a regimental history and the focus is therefore on the 4th Marines.