San Francisco: 40 years brings us from the Summer of Love to the "Summer of Lawyers"

Thanks to Leigh Jones of The National Law Journal for reminding me in her article about the ABA's annual meeting this week that 40 years have passed since San Francisco's Summer of Love. Jones says this year is the "Summer of Lawyers." For those of you who were there in 1967 (and I was), you may enjoy a bit of nostalgia. Here's a video of Scott McKenzie back then singing "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)"; you will see many shots of '60s San Francisco and Hippies.

Come forward in time and see Scott McKenzie as he looked just a few years ago, once again singing that song — that song that still moves me strongly. I am not sure I even know why. Tell me, does the song still touch any of you?

Watching the two videos may evoke not only nostalgia but also astonishment and poignancy. I felt much when watching. Merely the juxtaposition of the two Scott McKenzies is enough to create some thought spirals and heart tugs.

So many questions I asked as I viewed the clips. How did 40 years go by so quickly? Could many of those kids we see in both videos have dreamed they would become the gray ceiling. Could we have imagined e-mail and routinely communicating with people from all corners of the globe? Maybe we now have a global, online Haight-Ashbury sharing not food but thoughts? Did those young people have aspirations and, if so, are they achieving them? Did the Age of Aquarius dawn?

To my brothers and sisters out in The City, enjoy yourselves in that place so captivating and unmatched, do some good work with your fellow lawyers, and remember what happened there in 1967. I truly hope a few of you of even buy yourselves a flower.

If you're going to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
If you're going to San Francisco
You're gonna meet some gentle people there
-John Phillips

Scott McKenzie at Monterey in 1967
Scott McKenzie's Web site
Photo credit: karencastens at morgueFile
Some photos of San Francisco
Some photos of the Summer of Love
Added September 2, 2007, 8:10 PM Mountain: In today's San Francisco Chronicle we read "Baby Boomers try to recapture youth at Summer of Love anniversary."