San Francisco Diaries: How a bookstore clerk became the owner of Green Apple Books

Pete Mulvihill is living every book lover’s dream: owning the bookstore he loves. Pete took a winding road to co-owner of the city’s beloved Green Apple Books, and we can’t thank him enough for keeping this space alive.

If you haven’t been to Green Apple Books, you owe it to yourself to make a trip: the sprawling bookstore on Clement Street features both new and used books, with witty staff commentary peppered throughout the shelves and many nooks and crannies (figurative and literal) to explore.

In this episode of the San Francisco Diaries podcast, San Francisco Diaries episode, Pete walks us down that winding road to co-ownership.

Listen to his story:

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Photo by Lynn Friedman.

Bad Books Party, featuring books too embarrassing to read on Muni

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What books would you be too embarrassed to read on Muni? Fifty Shades of Grey? The Da Vinci Code? This Saturday, we will be at Green Apple Books On the Park, putting aside our dignity to do a dramatic reading of awesomely terrible books (that you probably shouldn’t read in public).

In case you’re wondering where to get the book in the photo above (from Bored Panda), I hate to disappoint you, but this is comedian Scott Rogoswky, who made some hilarious fake book covers to read on the New York City subway. Mmm. What wouldn’t I do for a dramatic reading of “101 Penis-Lengthening Tips”?

J.W. Friedman and Chris Collision, the funny hosts of the popular podcast I Don’t Even Own a Television, will be bringing a selection of their favorite (and least favorite!) bad books to read from.

Special guests (who are bringing their own selection of terrible books):

… and Muni Diaries editor Eugenia, representing nine years of cringe moments on the bus, thanks to y’all.

Bonus: Bring your own bad books for a round of Bad Books Russian Roulette!

Bad Books Party
Saturday, Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m.—9 p.m.
Green Apple Books on the Park, 1231 9th Ave. in San Francisco

The Most San Francisco Illustration Ever

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Ed. note: The artist was just so proud of his work–and he should be–that he put it up on Instagram before it was ready for its intended publication! We’ve swapped it out at his request for some more of his Muni-themed work, and we’ll be keeping an eye on his page for more.

Original post:
This is pretty much the most San Francisco illustration ever. We’ve got Laughing Sal from the Musée Mécanique, Doggie Diner doghead, Piedmont Boutique stockinged legs, Green Apple Books guy, and Lou Seal. To top it all off, they’re all riding Muni together. Thanks to @danbransfield on Instagram for posting this!

In true Muni style, Muni Diaries Live arrives two years late

We will absolutely squeeze as much mileage out of that joke as we can, sorry not sorry.

Almost exactly two years after canceling our 2020 show and thinking we might be up and running by the summer (LOL), we finally brought Muni Diaries Live back to the Rickshaw Stop last week. We celebrated our 14th (!) birthday with another sold-out crowd—no small feat after isolating ourselves for two years—and man, it felt great to hear stories in real life.

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A print magazine of our very own: Meet The San Franciscan

Proving that San Francisco is still a place that celebrates grassroots efforts, locals Erica Messner and Amanda Legge have launched a new magazine about our city, The San Franciscan. Launching a magazine (a print one, at that) is no small feat, especially as the pandemic pushed us farther from each other. In this episode of the podcast, Erica and Amanda call us back around the campfire to share how they made their dream into reality, despite a little legal hiccup from their other favorite urban mag. 

Amanda and Erica have a new issue out, and the cover features a scene from our preferred mode of transportation. You can get a copy of it, featuring work from 30+ local artists and writers, at local favs spots like Green Apple Books, Dog Eared Books, and Alley Cat Bookstores and Gallery.

Listen to their story:

In their retelling, Amanda and Erica mention this cartoon—which was (foolishly!) not accepted by The New Yorker—that started it all.

We’re so glad to see friends getting together to create something for the city we all love—it certainly sounds familiar to us here at Muni Diaries HQ.

As always, we are looking for stories about people who love and care about our city. If you have someone to nominate to be on our podcast, email us at muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com.

Podcast archive, 2019

The Muni Diaries Podcast features stories told at Muni Diaries Live, as well as stories recorded in-studio for our spinoff project, San Francisco Diaries. Subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Stitcher Spotify Pocketcast Overcast RSS link See newest episodes | Go to 2018 podcast archive Ep 94: Making my own crime scene on Muni […]

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