Randy Alfred subject files and sound recordings
Finding aid created by GLBT Historical Society staff using RecordEXPRESS
GLBT Historical Society
2023
989 Market Street, Lower Level
San Francisco, California 94103
(415) 777-5455
reference@glbthistory.org
http://www.glbthistory.org/
Title: Randy Alfred subject files and sound recordings
Dates: 1974-1990
Collection Number: 1991-24
Creator/Collector:
Extent: 22 linear feet
Online items available
Repository:
GLBT Historical Society
San Francisco, California 94103
Abstract: Randy Alfred was a freelance journalist and radio talk show host in the San Francisco area during the 1970s-1980s. Collection
contains research files (clippings, fliers, brochures, correspondence, and notes) and audiotapes--primarily concerning lesbian
and gay issues and organizations in San Francisco during the 1970s and 1980s--assembled by Alfred in the course of his hosting
of the KSAN public affairs radio show The Gay Life.
Language of Material: English
Randy Alfred was a freelance journalist and radio talk show host in the San Francisco area during the 1970s-1980s. Collection
contains research files (clippings, fliers, brochures, correspondence, and notes) and audiotapes--primarily concerning lesbian
and gay issues and organizations in San Francisco during the 1970s and 1980s--assembled by Alfred in the course of his hosting
of the KSAN public affairs radio show The Gay Life .
Copyright to unpublished manuscript materials created by the donor has been transferred to the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender
Historical Society.
[Identification of item]. Randy Alfred subject files and sound recordings. Collection Number: 1991-24. GLBT Historical Society
Donated by Randall H. Alfred, October 1991.
Biography/Administrative History
Randall H. (Randy) Alfred is a freelance journalist and former radio talk show host in San Francisco, California. Alfred was
educated at Yale University (B.A., magna cum laude, 1967) and the University of California, Berkeley (graduate student in
Sociology, 1967-1969 and 1971-1974). He collected materials about gay and lesbian life in San Francisco as part of his research
for journal articles and his radio talk show The Gay Life .
Alfred's mass media career began in 1970. During the 1970s he was a freelance writer for numerous magazines and newspapers,
including The Advocate , Coming Up , Vector , The Berkeley Barb , Playboy , New West , San Francisco Examiner , San Francisco
Chronicle , and Oakland Tribune .
In 1975, Alfred became a news editor for the San Francisco Sentinel and wrote the column "Waves from the Left." He remained
with the Sentinel until 1977, when he became news editor for another local gay newspaper, The San Francisco Bay Times . Alfred
left in 1978, and found work as a freelance researcher and reporter for KPIX-TV and KPFA-FM, two Bay Area broadcasting stations.
During a previous radio stint, Alfred had been a public-affairs reporter for KPFA-FM from 1973-1974. From 1979 until 1981,
Alfred did freelance worrk until he became editor-in-chief of the Sentinel in 1982. He also wrote for a nationally syndicated
column known as "Dateline S.F." A year later, in 1983, Alfred became a story consultant for KRON-TV. From 1979-1984, Alfred
was the producer and host for The Gay Life , a weekly 60-minute public affairs radio show on KSAN. He was also editor of Rip
N'Read News Service in San Francisco from 1983-1986, and news writer for KRON-TV starting in 1986.
Scope and Content of Collection
Includes primarily research files and reel-to-reel audiotapes documenting gay and lesbian life, events, and issues in San
Francicso in the 1970s and 1980s, including the early years of the AIDS epidemic. Also includes photographs of Harvey Milk
and others, and 1978 gay pride parades in San Francisco and Berkeley. Research files comprise primarily clippings, fliers,
brochures, correspondence, and notes made by Alfred.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in two series: Series 1. Research files
Series 2. The Gay Life and other audiotapes
Gay men
Radio
Journalism