A Salute to Sutro Sam

Sutro Sam owns this town. Through sheer moral authority, political capital, and, dare I say, pluck and grit, Sam has seized the most picturesque piece of land rife with historical import. He's only been on the scene for a few months, but already he has won over the city in a way that Ed Lee, Mark Zuckerberg or the Bernal Hill coyote never could. Forget those shrill Telegraph Hill parrots with their flashy colors and narcisitic preening. Forget those twitterati with their smart phones and their MC Hammer.

Sutro Sam joins us in the tradition of Mark Twain, a creature of the rivers with full whiskers and a razor-sharp wit. Like Allen Ginsburg - reveling in the bath house, flaunting his animalistic poetry; like Joe DiMaggio, lithe, powerful, and too dignified to publicly discuss the melancholy of his loneliness; Sutro Sam will be remembered through the ages as a world class otter.

Sutro Sam, we salute you.

Otter lovers are encouraged to make donations to the River Otter Ecology Project.