As announced the other week, noted local scribe David Talbot of Season of the Witch fame is temporarily taking over columnist duties for now retired Chronicle curmudgeon C.W. Nevius. And, as expected, Talbot's first column, published Sunday, strikes a very different and more liberal tone than the best of Nevius.

Also, as he explains, Talbot's block in Bernal Heights is home to an eclectic and influential cast of SF characters who are certain to be making some repeat appearances in his thrice weekly columns: Human Rights Commission staffer Bayard Fong; Bert Feuss, senior vice president of investments for the Silicon Valley Community Foundation; new SF "homeless czar" Jeff Kositsky and his wife Aileen; and leader of the Frisco Five hunger strikers earlier this year, community activist Cristina Gutierrez, who also runs a preschool.

Per Talbot:

Now Mama Cristina, as she was known during the strike, is preparing for an even bigger battle, against the Trump-led federal government. “The kids at my school are just 3 and 4 years old, but they bring to school with them the fears of their families, who come from Mexico and Central America. The parents are always asking me, ‘What do we do, Cristina?’ I tell them, ‘Organize and fight.’”

This is the spirit that animates much of my neighborhood, and that makes me feel San Francisco will always be home. We need this spirit more than ever now.

Look for more from Talbot on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, for the next three months or so.