From the Sun vaults, August 1-7, 1974

"God knows she had tried."

And so began the day for "lower Pacific Heights" resident Mary Ann Singleton in the Pacific Sun's summer of '74 entry into episodic fiction, "The Serial," written for its San Francisco edition by the paper's 30-year-old "associate editor" Armistead Maupin.

While the Sun's 9-month-old S.F. edition was about as financially stable as the rickety wheels on a cart at the Marina Safeway, which Maupin would make famous in his scintillating satire of the city social scene, "The Serial" would go on to become one of the Sun's greatest success stories--earning its author international fame as Tales of the City, being adapted into an award-winning BBC/PBS miniseries starring Olympia Dukakis and Laura Linney, and spinning off into a pretty-damn-famous-in-its-own-right Marin version by Cyra McFadden.

Maupin's serial, as Tales of the City fans already know, followed the exploits of Mary Ann and her apartment house companions at 28 Barbary Lane--landlady Anna Madrigal, free-lovin' Mona Ramsey, cheesy Brian Hawkins, longtime friend Connie Bradshaw and Maupin's gay alter-ego, Michael Tolliver.

In the debut installment, published 35 years ago this week, the lovelorn Mary Ann learns the deal on the fantabulous new hookup spot for singles from swingin' downstairs neighbor Connie:

"Well," said Connie, "have you ever heard of Social Safeway?"

"Social what?"

"Safeway. The supermarket."

"That's what I thought you said." She felt a sudden urge to scream. "Look, Connie, what do you want me to do? Pounce on a check-out boy?"

The stewardess giggled. "Listen, silly, Social Safeway happens to be the hottest thing in town right now. Lots of cute customers. And they're all duded up and looking for love. Every Wednesday night."

"Oh come on..."

"I'm not kidding, Mary Ann. Every Wednesday night, so help me God. It's kind of a local phenomenon. Nobody knows how it happened, but it happened. And you should be taking advantage of it."

"Like lurking behind the artichokes until a nice juicy stockbroker comes strolling along unsuspectingly..."

"I'm absolutely serious, Mary Ann. It's a super way to meet guys without looking like you're on the make. And everybody does it. Why don't you just think about it?"

So Mary Ann thought about it, and on the following Wednesday she had a sudden craving for snow peas. The Marina Safeway, someone said, had marvelous snow peas.

She left work early that afternoon and took the 41 Union to Cow Hollow where Carmen gave her a brush cut. (She'd been meaning to do that for a long time, but her weekends had been hopelessly cluttered with yoga lessons and exhibits at the de Young.)

Shortly after five, she walked home from the hairdresser's, showered and did her face. It was almost seven when she entered the Marina Safeway wearing her rhinestone-studded brushed denim pantsuit.

The scene which confronted her was almost beyond belief...

NEXT WEEK: "Love With The Proper Shopper"

According to longtime Sun editor and publisher Steve McNamara, Maupin proposed the column as a San Francisco version of La Ronde, the turn-of-the-century Arthur Schnitzler morality play about sexual dalliances between different contingents of Viennese society--revised for Me Decade platform-shoed urban singles.

"Armistead may have had a gay theme in mind," recalls McNamara, "but he didn't propose it to me as such." McNamara says the name for the column was a no-brainer.

"At the Sun we have [had a history of using straightforward labels. Thus, the book section is 'Books,' not 'Literary Corner' or something mincing like that.

"As a satire of the freewheeling young San Francisco social scene, 'The Serial' was an immediate hit," adds McNamara.

"Armistead was ecstatic."

LATER THIS SUMMER: More Tales of the Serial...

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