The unforgettable account of Del Seymour, who overcame 18 years of homelessness and addiction to become one of the most respected advocates in San Francisco
In the Mayor of the Tenderloin, journalist Alison Owings slips behind the cold statistics and sensationalism surrounding San Francisco’s Tenderloin to reveal a harrowing and life-affirming account of Del Seymour—whose addiction led him into 18 years of homelessness, pimping, and drug dealing. Once sober, he started Tenderloin Walking Tours and later Code Tenderloin, the remarkable organization teaching homeless, recovering addicts, sex workers, dealers, ex-felons, and other marginalized people how to get and keep a job.
Owings traces Del’s story and those in his orbit: from his daughters, sobriety buddy, and ex-girlfriend, to a police captain and a psychiatric social worker, housing activists and corporate philanthropists, and Del’s Code Tenderloin students. In the Tenderloin, in a city known for its beauty and currently infamous for its divide between haves and have-nots, Owings highlights how Del gives back to people struggling with the same daunting setbacks—including a criminal record—he once faced.
Honest and compelling, and laced with bursts of humor as well, Mayor of the Tenderloin follows homelessness in one of America’s toughest neighborhoods as it was lived—in the words of someone who lived it and is now fighting to solve it.
PRAISE & ReVIEWS
“Thoroughly enjoyable, and at some points, a romp to read.”—Bay City News
“Owings, a San Francisco writer, certainly knows how to pull narrative from people, having previously written three oral history books on Native Americans, waitresses and women who lived in Nazi Germany. It took her nearly a decade of conversations to wrangle details out of Seymour, and the mountain she complied presents a richly satisfying tapestry….”
— San Francisco Chronicle (full review)
“In this impressive book, author Alison Owings brings colorful anecdotes of Del’s life and of his continued advocacy for the downtrodden in San Francisco. This is a memorable biography that proves to be both entertaining and life-affirming.”
—Booklist
“Alison Owings is a master of oral history. She is a great storyteller, and in Mayor of the Tenderloin, she has a great story to tell.”
—Dan Rather, journalist, author of What Unites Us
“Mayor of the Tenderloin is a charming, sometimes heartbreaking, tender, and inspiring story, important and beautifully written.”
—Anne Lamott, author of Almost Everything