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Midwinter Fair of 90’s Gardeners 1st Triumph (Part 10)
Monday, January 25, 1943 The Call-Bulletin presents, herewith, the ninth of a series of intimate articles describing the life and work of “Uncle John” McLaren, famed “father” of Golden Gate Park. The series was written by J. Lawrence Toole, noted San Francisco newspaperman. By J. Lawrence Toole When John McLaren, at 92, planted the first tree for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, he grinned at the fine new and shining spade that trembled a little in his shaking hands and remarked: “Well, it’s a pretty spade, anyway.” Behind the remark were memories of other spades he had handled in famous exposition first-tree plantings in San Francisco. For John McLaren…
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Big Fern Tree Garden Pride of Park Builder (Part 8)
Thursday, January 21, 1943 The Call-Bulletin presents, herewith, the eight in a series of intimate articles describing the life of “Uncle John” McLaren, famed “father” of Golden Gate Park. The series was written by J. Lawrence Toole, noted San Francisco newspaperman. By J. Lawrence Toole They called John McLaren a landscape engineer and the world acknowledges he was without an equal in that profession. But McLaren didn’t like the title, or any title. First, last and all the time, he was a gardener, and had been since the first day he was able to toddle among the flowers around the humble Scotch cottage where he was born. Golden Gate Park…
