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| Diary |
Magazine | 20 Apr 2009 |
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| Palo Alto Diary by T.J.S. George |
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A small, distinguished neighbourhood in the city of Palo Alto is called Professorville—a tribute to the way Stanford University has transformed an old California city. Some professorial minds still enliven the classic homes of the neighbourhood, but other precincts attract more attention nowadays, especially the wooded section of campus that houses a Frank Lloyd Wright residence and another built by President Herbert Hoover for his retirement. Hoover’s identification with his alma mater is more prominently proclaimed by the Hoover Tower that dominates the Palo Alto skyline. One of America’s earliest think-tanks, the famously conservative Hoover Institute is still striving valiantly to save the world from the evils of Marxism. The 80-something neocon scholars there are not discouraged by the fact that Palo Alto is outrageously liberal/Democratic in its political orientation. Every other car cruising the streets still carries an Obama bumper sticker.
For collectors of ironies, here’s a more delicious one. Harvard University has a rule that if a professor leaves to work for government for more than two years, he would lose his tenure in the university. So Henry Kissinger could not return to Harvard after he had conducted all those wars for Richard Nixon. Stanford has no such rule, so Condoleezza Rice decided to return to her old professorship after she was done with all her wars by the side of George Bush. The liberals of Stanford, faculty and students, objected—only to be ignored by the pugnacious lady, who asserted her right of return. But she remains somewhat isolated. The reason is simple. The Golden Spike, one of the campus newspapers run by students, recently had a lead story with the headline: ‘Condoleezza Rice Bullshits Way Through Lecture’.
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Palo Alto is one of the most expensive cities in all of America. But not many are complaining. The students have plenty of accommodation on campus. Citizen residents see the quality of life they enjoy as fair compensation for the high taxes they pay. The adjectives most commonly used to describe the city are "smart" and "upmarket". It’s not just the fine dining establishments and speciality stores, even the lawns in the industrial sector are landscaped in smartly upmarketish style. No interference is allowed with the pristine plushness of the surrounding hills. Even Stanford, owner of some 9,000 acres, has to fight for permission to put up a new building or a road. Tax money also goes into running what must be the best public schools in America. Families in nearby cities are always trying to move to Palo Alto so that their kids could get admission to the highly rated local schools—making housing very expensive.
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A Palo Alto institution that faced closure but was saved by individual initiative is the Stanford Theatre, right in the middle of the colourful commercial street known appropriately as University Avenue. When the original owners of the cinema hall decided to call it a day, David Packard (son of the Packard of the Hewlett-Packard legend) bought it, refurbished it complete with a grand Wurlitzer organ and dedicated it to year-round showing of old movie classics. During intervals, the Wurlitzer plays organ music. A true cinema buff, Mr Packard was not amused by the cheap thrills of Slumdog Millionaire, which he described as "a popular exploitation film recently made by the British in Bombay". During the Oscar Weekend, Stanford Theatre presented Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy as "an antidote" to the "British film". Mr Packard must be spending rather lavishly—and proudly—to keep Stanford Theatre going. His name is part of the history of Palo Alto. The garage where Hewlett and Packard began their experimentation is a heritage site.
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Keppler’s, a beloved bookstore in a city of bookstores, also faced closure. Amazon, a Palo Alto firm, was offering books at lower prices with all the convenience of internet ordering and home delivery. Just like newspapers, bookstores in America are also facing survival problems. But Keppler’s had become a local institution, not just a bookstore. It had been founded by a Vietnam-era anti-war activist, so it always was popular in liberal Palo Alto. Locals turned it into a favourite spot where they could spend some leisurely hours, where their children could be left in safety, where coffee was available and browsing was a pleasure. When losses crippled the company, the people came up with a rescue package. Keppler’s bounced back and is as popular a rendezvous as ever. An overflow crowd packed its hall and passageways when local resident, Abraham Verghese, held his book launch, reading passages from and signing copies of Cutting For Stone. But the threat hasn’t disappeared. How long can local goodwill hold up a bookstore when business conditions are topsy- turvy on account of burgeoning new technologies as well as recession? Generosity must have its limits—even in Palo Alto.
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More Diaries By T.J.S. George
• Colombo
(01-Feb-1999)
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