Paul Drexler is Ingleside’s resident crime expert.
Drexler, an author and co-founder of the Crooks Tour of San Francisco, hails from Western Massachusetts, where his interest in crime began in the 1950s after his aunt gave him a copy of “Gang Rule In New York: The Story of a Lawless Era.” The interest intensified after his uncle’s car was stolen and used in a gangland killing in Weehawken, New Jersey, around that same time.
Although he’s eager to learn about scandals and murders across the globe — a favorite is the “Yacht Bandits” — his attention focuses mainly on San Francisco.
“I think it was always, for many years, it was kind of a guilty pleasure, and now it's become, in the last 20 years, super mainstream,” he said.
Drexler moved to San Francisco in 1978 and has lived in Ingleside Terraces since 2000. He retired from the Bechtel Corporation roughly 10 years ago and has spent his retirement focused on his craft. Drexler also said he has been writing about crime for 30 years, including as a columnist for the San Francisco Examiner, and has done comedy writing for HBO.
His mentor, the late deputy police chief Kevin Mullen, who studied the city’s crime and lawlessness, came together 20 years ago to work on several projects, including a walking tour of the city’s criminal history in Chinatown and Barbary Coast. Drexler still guides the tours about once a month.
While he likes guiding residents and tourists through San Francisco’s seedy underbelly, most of his joy is through writing. In January, Drexler released his most recent book, titled “Murder to Movies,” which examines the fact-to-fiction ratio of 15 notorious crimes that made it to the silver screen.
“It’s good to have a passion, to have an interest,” he said. “I think retirement is a challenge for a lot of people because so much of their identity is bound up in the job, and you can sort of feel lost without that, but if you have a passion or interest or things like that, it makes it easier.”
The Ingleside Light caught up with Drexler to learn more about his passion for the city’s crooks.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What inspired the walking tours?
Mullen and I were trying to think of something interesting to do that would be educational and enjoyable, and that just sort of came up as something we could do.
How do you pick your subjects?
Well, for me, it has to have relevance to something outside the crime. It can't just be the crime. It has to relate to the world or society, or an issue, to make it interesting. And then I have to feel I have a great opening for it. If I can't think of a good opening, I may not write about it.
How do you find your source material?
A lot of online research. It's become much easier. You can read every issue of the San Francisco Chronicle virtually going back to 1865, so the search for these things is great. Before TV, before radio, the newspaper was it, so when there were crimes, they were heavily covered. There could be three or four different people writing about the same crime. They also had a very florid and interesting way of writing. I like that style of writing. It’s very alive, so I got it from that. Some from books, and also just talking to people. Sometimes, while doing research, I would come across another crime, which is always very exciting.
What do you hope people gain from reading your books or going on the Crooks Tour of San Francisco?
Knowledge, interest. It gives you another view of history, and it's pretty fascinating for a lot of people.
