Many people will remember Phil Hammer, who died Aug. 28 at age 86, as the husband of late San Jose Mayor Susan Hammer, but the family law attorney deserves his own accolades for his role in shaping San Jose — serving on the founding board of the San Jose Rep and helping grow the San Jose Museum of Art in its formative years.
Phil and Susan were both tremendous supporters of the arts, and both of their names grace the Phil and Susan Hammer Theatre Center, which was the San Jose Rep’s home for its final years and still survives under the management of San Jose State.
But there are two tales about Phil Hammer that speak to his passion for the Constitution and free speech. The first was a case Hammer got involved with in the 1970s. It involved two students from Temple Emanu-El’s Junior Youth Group who were chased away from the Pruneyard in Campbell while trying to collect signatures for a petition asking President Gerald Ford to come out against a recent U.N. resolution equating Zionism with racism. Hammer argued that private shopping centers had become the new public squares so the rights to free speech and assembly applied. The case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court — where Hammer won a unanimous decision.
The second — coincidentally around the same time Hammer was arguing the case of the two Jewish students against the Pruneyard — happened in 1977 when members of a Nazi group wanted to have a rally at St. James Park. The San Jose City Council voted to revoke the rally’s permit, but Hammer was among those who argued against that decision, saying that the best way to handle the Nazis’ hateful speech was to answer it, not silence it. The eight Nazis who showed up at St. James Park that October were met by more than 1,000 people who disagreed with them.
Hammer’s point was well made, and San Jose was lucky to have him on our side.
BEAM HIM UP: The inimitable William Shatner of “Star Trek” fame was the biggest draw at SiliCon with Adam Savage at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center last weekend. The man who will forever be known as Captain Kirk showed he has no plans of slowing down at age 90, telling the crowd about an upcoming album, “Bill,” and an upcoming talk show, “I Don’t Understand with William Shatner.” But Sunday’s appearance in San Jose almost didn’t happen.
Shatner had been at his grandson’s wedding the night before in Temecula, went home to L.A. and overslept for his Sunday morning flight to San Jose. He said he woke up at 7 a.m. with a start realizing he needed to be somewhere — though that somewhere was the airport at 7:15. “It’s very important to me to be at these events,” he told the fans, explaining how most people go through a morning routine of showering, shaving and getting dressed. “I did none of that. Here I am. Bedraggled but with a sixth sense.”
Talk about the one time Shatner really needed a transporter.
SiliCon, by the way, turned out to be a perfect comeback event for the convention center. Visitors took the mask policy and temperature checks at the door in stride, people moved around freely in the wider-than-usual aisles and they managed to keep some space between groups in the panels.
THAT WAS SPOOKY FAST: Immersive Los Gatos — the new venture by hockey player-turned-restaurateur Alex Hult and event producer Donovan Friedman — have a hit on their hands. Their first initiative is to transform the old Mountain Charley’s in Los Gatos into the Haunted Bar, a pop-up theme bar that will offer a “Haunted Dinner” — a seven-course Halloween-themed meal served by ghouls and accompanied by sword swallowers, aerialists, illusionists, singers, dancers and other performers.
When tickets for the first three preview “shows” Sept. 27-29 went on sale over the weekend, they sold out faster than you can say “boo” — in an hour, four minutes and less than one minute, respectively. More shows are being added, Hult said, and guests can sign up to be notified at www.immersivelg.com.