PROJECTS :: PERSPECTIVES Series
Contact: Founder John Lumea
The quiet but persistent movement to honor the life and advance the legacy of Emperor Norton begins with people — people who bring to this effort their knowledge, their experiences and their deeply held convictions about the Emperor, his bridge and the communities that the bridge ties together.
Here are some of their voices.
30 September 2015
Jonathan Pamplin | The Emperor's New Prose: Putting the "Story" in His Majesty's History
He lived as an Emperor, he was loved as an Emperor, and he was eulogized as an Emperor. By believing he was an Emperor, he became an Emperor. Full perspective >>>
24 September 2014
Francesca Testen | Birth of a Bridge: A Next-Generation Perspective (original comic)
I know that very few people in the world, or this country for that matter, are familiar with Joshua Abraham Norton, the first and only Emperor of the United States. Until recently, I was one such person. Full perspective >>>
26 March 2014
Sara M. Harvey | Allegiance to the Underdog
Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area is a lot like being the child of a celebrity. It never occurs to you that “normal” people don’t have songs written about them, movies made of them, and a fan following the world over. It wasn’t until I left the Bay Area that I truly appreciated its reach and scope and especially its legend. Full perspective >>>
20 March 2014
Paul F. Wiggins | The Bay Bridge: Play a Fair Game and Gave It a Fair Name
"Oh, that bridge." No, not that one, the other one — over there! It could be considered the “red-headed stepchild” of the Bay, as bridges go, yet somehow that nickname would lend it almost too colorful a reference. Full perspective >>>
15 March 2014
Steve Bartholomew | An Appreciation of Emperor Norton, Madness and Bridges
In the year 1872, Norton I issued a proclamation. He decreed construction of a bridge from San Francisco, his home city, to Oakland by way of Goat Island, which is known today as Yerba Buena. Most people thought him mad. He was. Full perspective >>>
10 March 2014
Rachel Hope Crossman | If Norton Met Minerva: A Berkeleyan Perspective
The next time you you’re at the DMV or a state courthouse, take a close look at the tableau on the Great Seal of the State of California. Full perspective >>>
via Dandyism.net
5 March 2014
Michael Mattis | The Emperor & His Bridge: A San Franciscan Perspective
Joshua Norton, the self-proclaimed Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, was San Francisco’s original eccentric, the man who set the tone for the city that San Francisco was to become. Full perspective >>>
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