Friday, February 27, 2026 at North Beach Restaurant: Carl Nolte, San Francisco Chronicle columnist
- tarmour2
- Feb 23
- 3 min read
San Francisco Chronicle columnist Carl Nolte will return to Sac Sem on Friday, February 27. Carl writes the “Native Son” column on page 2 of each Sunday Chron. A lifelong San Franciscan, Carl was a beat reporter with the “Voice of the West” starting in the 1970s. He will focus on recent shifts in the business of journalism (technologies, mediums, and impacts). Chair emeritus Dick Spotswood will introduce our guest.
RSVP TO ATTEND any upcoming seminar. To assist the kitchen staff with planning for our Friday lunchtime meetings, please notify DENNIS WHEATLEY at dennis@triticum.com NO LATER THAN MID-DAY ON the WEDNESDAY BEFORE EVERY SEMINAR if you plan to attend and indicate if you’ll be bringing a guest. Dennis DOES NOT need to know if you are not attending. Valet Parking: If there are less than (10) ten sign-ups, there will be no valet. To register for valet parking contact our newly reelected Chair Greg Ryken at (415) 215-3775 or email him the Wednesday before seminars at Greg@rykenlaw.com
IN MEMORIAM: Connie Foran. It’s with a sad heart to share that one of the most stalwart of longtime Seminarian, Costanza Ilacqua (Connie) Foran, passed away. The mother of four and devoted wife of the late Senator John Foran (D-SF), Connie is survived by four children, four grandkids and one great-granddaughter. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/sfgate/name/costanza-foran-obituary?id=60842605
This Monday, February 23 all are invited to attend a Vigil Service at 6:00 p.m. at Duggan's Serra Mortuary, 500 Westlake Ave in Daly City. Connie’s Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Tuesday, February 24th at 11:00 a.m. at St. Brendan Church, 29 Rockaway Avenue in The City.
***
UPCOMING SEMINARS:
Mary Noel Pepys is our speaker for Friday, March 6. Mary Noel will be reflecting on her 30-year journey, during which she has lived two lifestyles that are worlds apart—one in the United States, where she enjoyed the privileges of living in a democracy, and the other abroad where she had worked to advance democratic reforms in more than 45 countries. A Seminarian, Mary Noel is a director emeritus of UC Law – San Francisco (formerly Hastings College of Law.)
Read details of her background in this introduction to her address at The Commonwealth Club:
https://www.commonwealthclub. org/events/2026-01-08/usaid-and-rule-law-personal-retrospective-mary-noel-pepys
On Friday, April 10 U.C. Davis professor and author Ethan Scheiner will be Sac Sem’s guest. https://ps.ucdavis.edu/people/ethan-scheiner His focus is the intersection of politics and sports.
Marc Levine, a past member of the California State Assembly from the Marin-Southern Sonoma 12th Assembly District will be Sac Sem’s guest on Friday, May 8. Marc is currently Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL). https://www.adl.org/ Central Pacific Region (Northern California, Utah and Hawaii). Fighting the growing threat of antisemitism from both the political far right and far left is ADL’s assignment. He will be introduced by Seminarian Bruce Raful.
***
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: Sac Sem members frequently send to your editor articles, books or on-line items they believe members will find of interest. While discretion is utilized in selecting items, whatever is posted does not necessarily represent the opinion of Sac Sem’s board of directors: Seminarian Clay Jackson sends:
“Carney Walks Out Did Trump Just Trigger a North American Economic Crisis | George Will”
***
OTHER THOUGHTS: “We should treat all the trivial things n life very seriously, and all the serious things in life with sincere and studied triviality.” Oscar Wilde
Comments