San Francisco - April 18,1906

About the Book

The scene is set, a beautiful spring morning in San Francisco, just a few days after the Easter holiday. Spring flowers bloom, erasing the tedium of winter. The air is crisp and clean, a soft bay breeze escorts the gulls soaring above. A new day is dawning, and the city is awakening. Paperboys prepare to deliver the morning news, vendors hitch their horses to their produce carts, streets are washed down, and the smell of coffee from the roastery permeates the air.

April 18, 1906, one hundred years ago. What started as a beautiful spring day soon turned into a nightmare for the citizens of San Francisco. The devastating quake struck with such a force as to throw people from their beds, split open streets, crumble monumental buildings, and render the city helpless, all within a few seconds. With a damaged infrastructure, the fire that erupted consumed all in its path, turning this once glorious city into a pile of ashes.

The story of this cataclysmic quake and subsequent fire is told through the eyes of a young girl named Bina who lived through this tumultuous time. She became fascinated with the images of the postcards depicting the sights and events she experienced, and with the help of family and friends put together the scrapbook presented within these pages.

About the Author

Laura Zieman, whose passion for collecting vintage postcards and books pertaining to San Francisco history, results in this impressive collection of vintage postcards depicting the great San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906. She often remarks that the images portrayed in post cards, especially the color-tinted versions, reflect the way in which she views the world around her. She senses that behind every modern view is a shadow of the past, glimpsed for a brief moment, and gone with the blink of an eye. Recognizing that countless books have been written on the subject, she set out to create a picture book that would set the stage and capture the "mood" of historic San Francisco and the devastation that befell her.

A 2^nd generation, native San Franciscan, her passion for San Francisco history was fueled by her mother''s love of history, the Victorian buildings in which she lived and worked, the stories recounted by those around her, and a collection of 1^st edition San Francisco history books inherited from her Uncle Jack.

She attended the Academy of Art College in downtown San Francisco, studying Interior Design, and maintains an interest in historic preservation. The fondest memories of her professional career include those years spent working on Alcatraz Island and within the historic buildings of the Presidio of San Francisco. Currently living in Sonoma County, with her son and various pets, she has embarked on her next collection, which will once again offer a glimpse into a part of San Francisco kept alive in memory only.