FRED LEVIN REMEMBERS
Fred Levin recorded his oral history with our Executive Director, Nicole Meldahl, via Zoom from an office filled with mementoes. “When I walk around my home, my family is everywhere,” he continued. When you come from a family with as much history as Fred’s, it’s understandable. His mother’s side boasts an artful legacy of cultural philanthropy in San Francisco that started with a kosher butcher shop; his father’s side, an enduring footprint of neighborhood theaters spanning the entire city that began with a vegetable cart. Some theaters are gone now, some have been repurposed, but one still owned by the Levins has become a community anchor even as movie palaces, in general, struggle to fit into 21st century society. If you’ve been to the Balboa Theater in the Richmond District, then you know what we’re talking about. Fred has boxes and boxes of memories – some he’s already donated to Stanford University and some he still keeps close. His home’s entryway greets you with an urn from the Alexandria Theater, and he thinks his coffee table was made using a piece of marble from the Coronet Theater, perhaps known best for screening Star Wars in 1977. But this is only the preview to the feature here, so without further ado, let’s get rolling on what else Fred Levin Remembers, starting from the beginning.
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OCT-DEC 2021
