Watering the Greyhound Garden: Stories from the Streets of San Francisco

In Watering the Greyhound Garden, Warren Smith recounts his job as a Travelers Aid social worker at the San Francisco Greyhound Bus Terminal. In fifty-one heartfelt stories, Smith describes some of the many people he encountered at the depot and on the streets of San Francisco. Meet Banjo Bobby Brown, Waldo Weinstein, the Pacific Heights Teenager, the “Drunken” Policeman, the Strong Man, the Minnesota Gambler, the Oklahoma Kid, the Tennessee Thompsons, and many more.

The Greyhound bus station was like a modern-day Jericho Road where broken-down travelers were in urgent need of help. From California dreamers and state hospital runaways to an abused housewife, a stranded grandmother, a suicidal transsexual, and a seventy-three-year-old man still riding the rails—all in San Francisco and seeking help from Travelers Aid. Their stories tell the universal story of the wayfaring stranger—the traveler in trouble. With compassion and careful attention to detail, Smith describes the challenges and joys of working for Travelers Aid and in “watering” what he calls “the Greyhound garden.”