Watering the Greyhound Garden
Stories from the Streets of San Francisco
by Warren B. Smith
This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Buy on Amazon
Buy on BN.com
Buy on Bookshop.org
*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app
1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date Jan 10 2013 | Archive Date Aug 01 2013
Mountain Stream Press | Bookmasters, Inc
Description
In Watering the Greyhound Garden, Warren B. Smith recounts his job as a Travelers Aid social worker at the San Francisco Greyhound Bus Terminal. In fifty-one heartfelt stories, Smith describes some of the many people he encountered at the depot and on the streets of San Francisco. Meet Banjo Bobby Brown, Waldo Weinstein, the Pacific Heights Teenager, the "Drunken" policeman, the Strong Man, the Minnesota Gambler, the Oklahoma Kid, the Tennessee Thompsons, and many more. The Greyhound Bus Terminal was like a modern-day Jericho Road, where broken-down travelers were in urgent need of help. From California dreamers and state hospital runaways to an abused housewife, a stranded grandmother, a suicidal transvestite, and a seventy-three-year-old man still riding the rails—the author met them all when they needed help from Travelers Aid. With compassion and careful attention to detail, the author describes the challenges and joys of working for Travelers Aid and in "watering" what he calls "the Greyhound garden."
Advance Praise
5.0 out of 5 stars "An amazing slice of life collection of stories"
March 18, 2013By Horse FarmFormat:PaperbackThis is an interesting and fun quick read about an intriguing job and time in recent history. The stories segue from one to the next. It is hard to put down. We are hoping Warren has enough stories for a sequel.
5.0 out of 5 stars "Another Era"
March 6, 2013
By April S. Fields
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Warren Smith is an easy natural writer. It's not hard to imagine he's there talking to you personally, which, if for no other reason, makes Watering The Greyhound Garden a perfect book to curl up with by a stoked fire on a cold rainy weekend. For anyone not familiar with Smith's books about coming out of New Age religion, this book is actually a prequel, or maybe a flashback to his days in the seventies working the Travelers Aid desk in a Greyhound bus station in the Tenderloin of San Francisco. It's not really a story but rather a collection of stories about the assorted down and out, sometimes quite desperate folk whom Smith devised often inventive ways to assist.
Besides the entertainment value, I gained two important insights from this book. One, Warren Smith has a servant's heart. He is one of those rare, non-judgmental individuals who truly loves people. Clearly this attribute reveals not just his good heart, but his good soul.
Two, even though it is easy to say, that was then, this is now, things change, etc., something has been seriously lost in the transition from then to now. There is no way, nowadays, that Smith would be allowed to make the often innovative decisions he applied to helping people. Though he certainly had guidelines that gave him parameters, still he had latitude to find solutions and because of this freedom he not only helped people in the short term, he likely changed people's lives for the better.
Here's the sad part: today, you can't think in terms of real individual problem-solving based on the myriad diversity and possibilities of the human condition. No, the rules, regulations and laws define what you can and cannot do to help someone else. You can't make sandwiches and feed hungry people because you have to have a permit. You can't hand out bottled water to the thirsty because, well, just because it breaks some kind of rigid rule. Charity, by today's standards means donating money to some organization, then feeling all self-righteous, never having to interact with someone less fortunate and never knowing how your donation is spent or whether or not it even helps anyone but the people working for the charity.
Yes, times have really changed. The problem is, people have not changed, not really. People still need basic things like food, water, shelter, and sometimes a friendly hand up to get them back on track when they have been derailed by life. Warren Smith had the opportunity to help people in an era when it was still okay to figure out ways to do it without being arrested for breaking a rule.
I'm glad he came to sit with me and tell me these heart-warming, life affirming stories. I was reminded that humans can be good, not the fake fruitless kind of good, but really good.
5.0 out of 5 stars "Relevant today... great stories"
February 15, 2013
By Ray Flynt
Format:Paperback
This is a terrific book. While the stories are from the late-70's, this insiders look at the challenges people confront during the course of their travels is just as relevant today. Warren Smith has exposed the value of offering a helping hand that can put a life on a better path. Who should read this book? Anyone concerned with having a better perspective on the human condition. Life brings challenges, and all of us reach a point when we have to turn to someone else to help meet those challenges. I found the book inspiring, entertaining, and realistic. I know you will too!
March 18, 2013By Horse FarmFormat:PaperbackThis is an interesting and fun quick read about an intriguing job and time in recent history. The stories segue from one to the next. It is hard to put down. We are hoping Warren has enough stories for a sequel.
5.0 out of 5 stars "Another Era"
March 6, 2013
By April S. Fields
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Warren Smith is an easy natural writer. It's not hard to imagine he's there talking to you personally, which, if for no other reason, makes Watering The Greyhound Garden a perfect book to curl up with by a stoked fire on a cold rainy weekend. For anyone not familiar with Smith's books about coming out of New Age religion, this book is actually a prequel, or maybe a flashback to his days in the seventies working the Travelers Aid desk in a Greyhound bus station in the Tenderloin of San Francisco. It's not really a story but rather a collection of stories about the assorted down and out, sometimes quite desperate folk whom Smith devised often inventive ways to assist.
Besides the entertainment value, I gained two important insights from this book. One, Warren Smith has a servant's heart. He is one of those rare, non-judgmental individuals who truly loves people. Clearly this attribute reveals not just his good heart, but his good soul.
Two, even though it is easy to say, that was then, this is now, things change, etc., something has been seriously lost in the transition from then to now. There is no way, nowadays, that Smith would be allowed to make the often innovative decisions he applied to helping people. Though he certainly had guidelines that gave him parameters, still he had latitude to find solutions and because of this freedom he not only helped people in the short term, he likely changed people's lives for the better.
Here's the sad part: today, you can't think in terms of real individual problem-solving based on the myriad diversity and possibilities of the human condition. No, the rules, regulations and laws define what you can and cannot do to help someone else. You can't make sandwiches and feed hungry people because you have to have a permit. You can't hand out bottled water to the thirsty because, well, just because it breaks some kind of rigid rule. Charity, by today's standards means donating money to some organization, then feeling all self-righteous, never having to interact with someone less fortunate and never knowing how your donation is spent or whether or not it even helps anyone but the people working for the charity.
Yes, times have really changed. The problem is, people have not changed, not really. People still need basic things like food, water, shelter, and sometimes a friendly hand up to get them back on track when they have been derailed by life. Warren Smith had the opportunity to help people in an era when it was still okay to figure out ways to do it without being arrested for breaking a rule.
I'm glad he came to sit with me and tell me these heart-warming, life affirming stories. I was reminded that humans can be good, not the fake fruitless kind of good, but really good.
5.0 out of 5 stars "Relevant today... great stories"
February 15, 2013
By Ray Flynt
Format:Paperback
This is a terrific book. While the stories are from the late-70's, this insiders look at the challenges people confront during the course of their travels is just as relevant today. Warren Smith has exposed the value of offering a helping hand that can put a life on a better path. Who should read this book? Anyone concerned with having a better perspective on the human condition. Life brings challenges, and all of us reach a point when we have to turn to someone else to help meet those challenges. I found the book inspiring, entertaining, and realistic. I know you will too!
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9780984646128 |
| PRICE | $15.95 (USD) |
