Bevan dufty biography

American writer, musician, and activist (1916–2002)

William Francis Dufty (February 2, 1916 – June 28, 2002) was an American writer, musician, and activist.

Dufty was a supporter of trade unionism and was an organizer for the United Auto Workers, wrote speeches for former UAW President Walter Reuther, edited Michigan Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) News and handled publicity for Americans for Democratic Action.^[1]

Biography

Dufty was born near Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Youth

Dufty produced some autobiographical notes in the first chapter, "It is necessary to be personal", of his book Sugar Blues (1975):

We spent our summers at Crystal Lake until I was twelve or thirteen. By that time I was making $75 a week in the wintertime season – an undreamed of fortune in those days – as a prodigal jazz pianist on the radio...The day my voice began to change was the beginning of the end of my radio career. If my voice didn't sound childlike any more, there was nothing remarkable about the way I played the piano.^[2]&

•

Board of Supervisors

Former Supervisor Bevan Dufty
was elected in December of 2002 and re-elected in November 2007 and represented San Francisco's District 8. District 8 encompasses Noe Valley, The Castro, Glen Park, Diamond Heights, Duboce Triangle, Dolores Park & San Jose / Guerrero, and Buena Vista Heights neighborhoods.

Voted "Most Radical" by his classmates at Menlo-Atherton High School, Bevan Dufty describes his professional career as moving up and down the political food chain.

At 21, he worked on Capitol Hill in the most powerful legislative arena in the world. Decades later, as Director of Neighborhood Services at the Mayor's office in San Francisco, he came to realize that it is really local government that has the power to change lives in a tangible way....by honoring the public trust, by being timely, responsive, respectful and by solving one problem at a time.

Bevan Dufty learned that a little time devoted to little things can make a big difference. He encouraged Mayor Brown to launch the Open Door Program, a Saturday morning forum that provide

•

Bevan Dufty

American politician (born 1955)

Bevan Dufty (born February 27, 1955) is an American politician and Director of HOPE (Housing Opportunity, Partnerships and Engagement) for the City and County of San Francisco. In 2012, Dufty was elected to serve as a Member of the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee. Previously, he was a Member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and was elected in 2002 to represent the City's 8th District, succeeding Mark Leno. Dufty was re-elected as Supervisor in 2006 and was termed out in 2011.

Early life

Dufty is the son of the writer William Dufty and Maely Bartholomew, who had lost most of her family in the Holocaust. Dufty was raised in Harlem, New York City where his mother befriended jazz musician Billie Holiday, who would later become his godmother. His voice can be heard on a recording made in the Dufty household where Holiday makes jokes about his red underpants.^[1]

After moving from Harlem to California at age 16, Dufty finished high school at Menlo-Atherton High School, south of San Francis