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/ Oral History of Paul Liberatore

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Title
Oral History of Paul Liberatore
Contributing Institution
Mill Valley Public Library
Collection
Mill Valley History Online
Rights Information
Please contact the contributing institution for more information regarding the copyright status of this object.
Description
In this oral history, Paul Liberatore recounts his life as a journalist, rock 'n' roll writer, and participant-observer in the Marin County music scene over the course of several decades. Born in Yonkers, New York, in 1945, Paul moved to Southern California with his mother and stepfather in the early 1950s, and grew up in Santa Clarita. After graduating from San Diego State University, Paul landed his first newspaper job with the San Diego Union-Tribune. In 1972, Paul moved with his then wife and children up to Marin, and began working for the Marin Independent Journal. He was originally assigned to the Mill Valley Bureau, from which he covered Southern and West Marin. Paul recounts his journalism career over the ensuing decades, which took him to the San Francisco Chronicle for a period, before he returned to the IJ, where he was still working at the time this oral history was recorded. Paul discusses how he became a rock journalist and recalls the various musicians he has written about and - as a guitar player and singer in his own right - played with over the years, evoking the rich history of rock music in Marin County. In 2017, Paul was involved in various events to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love, including a talk and musical performance sponsored by the Mill Valley Historical Society and held at the Library as well as a concert he produced with Jimmy Dillon at the Nourse Theater in San Francisco. After recalling some of the many famous songs that were written in Mill Valley and Marin County, Paul attests to the importance of preserving Marin's musical history, a cultural project to which his oral history makes a valuable contribution.
Identifier
E196ECFE-C3B4-4899-A791-623994024236
2017.140.001
Subject
Baez, Joan
Bread and Roses
Cacciatore, James
Caen, Herb
Cancer
Dillon, Jimmy
Fariña, Mimi
Journalism
Lobby Lounge
Marin Independent Journal
Mill Valley Public Library
Music
Musicians
MV history - Music and counterculture (1960s and 1970s)
Newspaper industry
Newspaper reporters
Newspapers
Oral history - Music
Oral history - Visual, performing, literary arts
Patterson, Jeanie
San Francisco Chronicle
Sweetwater
The Road to Hell
Writing

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