# Mayor of the Tenderloin: del Seymour's Journey from Living on the Streets to Fighting Homelessness in San Francisco - Hardcover

by **Alison Owings** (Author)

**The unforgettable account of Del Seymour, who overcame 18 years of homelessness and addiction to become one of the most respected advocates in San Francisco**

In _Mayor of the Tenderloin,_ journalist Alison Owings slips behind the cold statistics and sensationalism surrounding San Francisco's Tenderloin to reveal a harrowing and life-affirming account of Del Seymour--whose addiction led him into eighteen years of homelessness, pimping, and drug dealing. Once sober, he started Tenderloin Walking Tours and later Code Tenderloin, the remarkable organization teaching homeless, recovering addicts, sex workers, dealers, ex-felons, and other marginalized people how to get and keep a job.

Owings traces Del's story and those in his orbit: from his daughters, sobriety buddy, and ex-girlfriend, to a police captain and a psychiatric social worker, housing activists and corporate philanthropists, and Del's Code Tenderloin students. In the Tenderloin, in a city known for its beauty and currently infamous for its divide between haves and have-nots, Owings highlights how Del gives back to people struggling with the same daunting setbacks--including a criminal record--he once faced.

Honest and compelling, _Mayor of the Tenderloin_ follows homelessness in one of America's toughest neighborhoods as it was lived--in the words of someone who lived it and is now fighting to solve it.

### Author Biography

**Alison Owings** is the author of three previous oral history-based books: _Frauen: German Women Recall the Third Reich_ (a _New York Times_ Notable Book of the Year and a _New York Times_ Book Review Editors' Choice), _Indian Voices: Listening to Native Americans_, and _Hey, Waitress!: The USA from the Other Side of the Tray_. A former television news writer at CBS News, she lives in San Francisco with her husband.

**Number of Pages:** 272

**Dimensions:** 1 x 9.1 x 6.1 IN

**Publication Date:** September 10, 2024

## Details

- **Price:** 28.95 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 28.95 USD | In stock |

## Images

- Mayor of the Tenderloin: del Seymour's Journey from Living on the Streets to Fighting Homelessness in San Francisco - Hardcover

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> Updated: 2026-07-23