September 23, 2005
The cool evening of February 4th, 1974. Nineteen-year-old Patricia Hearst, heiress to the Hearst family fortune, was relaxing in a rented apartment on campus with her fiancee. The front door burst open and three armed people rushed into the house, dragging Patricia away in her nightgown and stuffing her violently into the trunk of their car.
She would not be heard from for two long months, and when she resurfaced, she was no longer “Patty”, but a gun-toting leftist revolutionary named “Tania”.
What on earth had happened to Citizen Kane’s granddaughter?
For further edification:
» PBS timeline
» locations
» New York social scene
Thanks to Rigel Vega for the use of the tune “Montpellier”. Use licensed under creative commons.
Sparkletack was the blog and podcast of a guy obsessed with diggin' up San Francisco history. The site is on permanent hiatus.
1-click updates
Join me on Twitter!
September 25, 2006 at 4:16 pm
A very interesting show, hope you keep it going. Your musings and mutterings have sparked my interest in visiting San Francisco as soon as possible.
Is there any chance you could do a piece on movies shot in SF. I especially love Vertigo – i did listen to your earlier show where it is referenced. I would even venture ‘So I Married An Axe Murderer’ as a cult classic as i am from Scotland after all!
thanks
September 27, 2005 at 4:16 pm
Love the show. As a regular visitor to San Francisco from the UK its made me look at old haunts in a new light with the wonderful history you bring to life. Its also added new locations to my next visit including the wave organ that I’ve managed to miss on every trip but sounds terrific.
Keep them coming !
March 19, 2008 at 6:23 am
I was in JROTC at George Washington High School at the time. I remember a friend named Bill seriously suggesting that a group of us should form a sort of amateur detective agency (“I have this copy of the Hardy Boys Amateur Detective Manual*… Chris, you have guns… Steve, you can do makeup for disguises… Joe’s got a car…” Jeeze. We were between 16 and 18.)to hunt down Patty Hearst. A guy in print shop helpfully supplied the idea man with business cards reading “Billy K_____ Boy Detective” and, no, nobody took Bill seriously.
*No kidding. I may have got the title wrong but he did have a Hardy Boys detective manual.
March 19, 2008 at 7:18 am
A Hardy Boys detective manual?! Wow … I was a Hardy Boys addict myself , but somehow missed that gem. She was right across town, too, so with Joe’s car, you and the Boy Detective might have tracked her down …
Great story!