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Carl Nolte

Carl Nolte is a fourth generation San Franciscan who has been with The Chronicle since 1961. He stepped back from daily journalism in 2019 after a long career as an editor and reporter including service as a war correspondent. He now writes a Sunday column, "Native Son." He won several awards, including a distinguished career award from the Society of Professional Journalists, a maritime heritage award from the San Francisco Maritime Park Association, and holds honorary degrees from the University of San Francisco and the California State University Maritime Academy.

Stories By Carl Nolte

It’s the end of the world as we know it — and we’re fine, San Francisco

We’ve had a long drought broken by a huge series of storms, wildfires that killed dozens of people. We’ve watched the tech boom go bust, a virus that won’t go away, a drug epidemic, an endless homeless crisis. By Carl Nolte

Extreme drought. Excessive rainfall, wind and snow. It’s all part of California’s DNA

Californians, lulled by three years of drought and mild winters, seem to have forgotten one of the dangers of living in in the Golden State: Nature can turn on you in a flash. By Carl Nolte

S.F. surprise: Mission Bay feels like a different city, but it may be our future

Once a salt marsh with more water than land, the thriving Mission Bay development framed by Interstate 280, Mission Creek, Dogpatch and the bay looks like a brand new San Francisco. By Carl Nolte

In old San Francisco, a Christmas story of salt water, sailors and Santa Claus

An out-of-work seaman plying the port in the years after the 1906 quake encounters old friends who turn his “dismal” holiday into “the best Christmas ever,” with turkey, plum pudding and sparkling burgundy. By Carl Nolte

A farewell to a longtime San Franciscan reminds us that old-school S.F. is passing, too

In a way, a gathering of old friends for a funeral on a wintry day near the end of the year helped mark the slow passing of old-school San Francisco. By Carl Nolte

S.F.’s new subway will soon have us reminiscing about how things used to be

In days to come, old San Franciscans like us who were around in the ’20s will be telling new San Franciscans how they rode before the Central Subway. By Carl Nolte

Words on the street: the enchantment of the Berkeley Poetry Walk

The poetry walk has verse and song on 128 cast-iron plaques embedded in the sidewalks on both sides of Addison Street — everybody from Country Joe McDonald, who gave the town music, to Bishop George Berkeley, who gave the town its name. By Carl Nolte

Why Bay Area residents are so ready to kiss 2022 goodbye

The year, which started with a lot of hope, rapidly turned sour. We all thought things would be better this year. By Carl Nolte

What’s the ever-lasting appeal of books and bookstores? It’s no mystery

A gift certificate inspires a book lover’s wanderlust for favorite bookstores around San Francisco and Marin. By Carl Nolte

Autumn weather in S.F. may be confusing, but green shoots are appearing

Fierce rain, glorious sunshine, a change of seasons: As San Francisco slowly lumbers back to life, local neighborhood joints like Gino and Carlo and the Tennessee Grill form a bridge from old times to a shifting present. By Carl Nolte

Hey S.F., look down at the ground. It’s a drain. No, it’s a sewer. No, it’s a rain garden

The city has 151 rain gardens, short depressions on the edges of streets and sidewalks designed to collect and absorb runoff from streets, sidewalks and parking lots. By Carl Nolte

Traffic control on the San Francisco Bay: It’s like a slow-motion chess game

In a windowless room on the second floor of a nondescript building at the Coast Guard’s San Francisco sector’s base on Yerba Buena Island, a handful of men and women are on duty 24/7 to prevent ships from crashing. By Carl Nolte

The charm of San Francisco: fog, wine, delicious food and a friendly gray cat

I rode Muni around — eight lines in three days — and got a fair look at a lot of the city. By Carl Nolte

Cruise to new ports of call helps make up for a pandemic spent close to home

You forget, sometimes, how beautiful the city is from the bay, from a distance, the towers glittering, the buildings receding as the ship moves away. By Carl Nolte

S.F.’s Double Play was a shrine to the Seals, Giants. Now, it’s gone

The Double Play was a San Francisco institution, a 113-year-old bar that was destroyed by fire on Sept. 24, 2022. By Carl Nolte

San Francisco is magnificent, and its people are furious

San Franciscans live in two parallel universes: One is beautiful and dreamy, the other filthy and dreary. By Carl Nolte

The Bay Area through a BART window: grime and beauty

If you want to see the Bay Area in all its promise and all its problems, take a ride on BART. By Carl Nolte

A brush with royalty: the day Queen Elizabeth II walked directly up to me

An invitation to a reception on the royal yacht Britannia in San Diego provided confirmation of the monarch’s rare ability to make an ordinary person feel important. By Carl Nolte

Gorbachev treated like rock star in 1990 during first S.F. visit

The Soviet leader came to San Francisco at the height of his power, talking here and at Stanford University of openness and the end of the Cold War. We thought he would change the world. By Carl Nolte

Destroyed in fire: A forgotten little S.F. building had a colorful past, ties to Alcatraz

The little building — 600 square feet with some waiting rooms and bathroom facilities — was handsome in its day. It was built in 1925 with white paint and a red roof to match the look of the military piers at Fort Mason. By Carl Nolte