Remembering 'Diamond' Dave Whitaker, 88, S.F.'s common thread

"He was a member of the Diggers, a countercultural community activist group founded in the late 1960s. He was a co-founder of the KPOO radio collective in 1974. He served as a founding member of San Francisco's Community Congress in 1975, which helped institute the city's first district elections. He was involved with the Rainbow Family, which organized large camping trips in the 1980s and 1990s; he cooked with Food Not Bombs, which gave away free food in the spirit of the Diggers."

"Before any of that, according to legend and confirmed by local Dylanologist Ian Grant, he introduced a young Bob Dylan to a few key items that would prove critical to the legendary musician's artistry: Woody Guthrie, Jack Kerouac, and weed. Some of Dylan's early bootleg tapes were recorded in Whitaker's Minneapolis home."

"Whitaker's home was one of a few 'sites of really important cultural meetings' for folk musicians in the area, Grant said. At the very least, Whitaker has his place among the 'constellation of people and personalities that Bob was running with back in the early, early days.'"

Diamond Dave Whitaker, who passed away at 88, was a central figure in multiple countercultural movements spanning from the 1960s through 2025. He co-founded KPOO radio in 1974 and helped establish San Francisco's Community Congress in 1975, which implemented the city's first district elections. Whitaker participated in the Diggers activist group, the Rainbow Family, Food Not Bombs, and the Occupy movement. He hosted radio shows, organized poetry readings at City Hall, and served as a senator at City College of San Francisco. Notably, he introduced young Bob Dylan to Woody Guthrie, Jack Kerouac, and cannabis in Minneapolis, with some of Dylan's early bootleg recordings made at Whitaker's home.

Read at Mission Local