Peter Stein drives a school bus near Grass Valley in Nevada County these days, but for 15 years while living in San Francisco he was a photographer for the state Democratic Party. Now that rare copies of a book of Jerry Brown photos with irreverently funny captions that he published in 1992 are selling on eBay for up to $50 a pop, Stein tells his local newspaper, The Union, he’s thinking about a revival.Add book: As the photo suggests, it’s called “1-800-Call Jerry.” (There’s a sampling of photos here.) Only 1,500 of the books were printed before it was yanked. The reason? Nancy Pelosi didn’t want the photographic send-up with snarky comments by journalist Tom Nadeau circulating during Brown’s presidential campaign.
Postscript: Whether a reprise happens, Stein’s got plenty more material. Among the figures he chronicled: Ted Kennedy, Dianne Feinstein, Harvey Milk, George Moscone, Willie Brown, Herb Caen, Alan Cranston, Paul and Ann Getty, Gray Davis, Walter Mondale, Gary Hart, Barbara Boxer, and, of course, Madame Nancy.
