Andrew Chamings
@andrewchamings.bsky.social
British journalist in California. SFGate editor-at-large. also the Atlantic, Vice, SF Weekly. I write about crime and history and misfits and buildings. Lit agent: Jessica Papin at Dystel
Pinned
In an alternate universe there’s only one movie about falling in love, but thousands about swapping faces with john travolta
Reposted by Andrew Chamings
Private Bay Area island that once held an illegal kitesurfing club with two helipads and a lounge — who guests included Sergey Brin and Larry Page — is now a death trap according to its new owners. But they’re ready to save it.
via @andrewchamings.bsky.social
www.sfgate.com/local/articl...
via @andrewchamings.bsky.social
www.sfgate.com/local/articl...
'Death trap' in SF Bay: New owners take over controversial private island
The island was once a billionaire kitesurfing club with two helipads.
www.sfgate.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Private Bay Area island that once held an illegal kitesurfing club with two helipads and a lounge — who guests included Sergey Brin and Larry Page — is now a death trap according to its new owners. But they’re ready to save it.
via @andrewchamings.bsky.social
www.sfgate.com/local/articl...
via @andrewchamings.bsky.social
www.sfgate.com/local/articl...
Reposted by Andrew Chamings
Congratulations, @andrewchamings.bsky.social!
Read Andrew's @longreads.com story, "Madness, Melancholy, or Murder," in which he returns to his childhood home in the UK to investigate the mysterious deaths of the Luxton siblings.
longreads.com/2025/03/06/m...
Read Andrew's @longreads.com story, "Madness, Melancholy, or Murder," in which he returns to his childhood home in the UK to investigate the mysterious deaths of the Luxton siblings.
longreads.com/2025/03/06/m...
November 7, 2025 at 10:58 PM
Congratulations, @andrewchamings.bsky.social!
Read Andrew's @longreads.com story, "Madness, Melancholy, or Murder," in which he returns to his childhood home in the UK to investigate the mysterious deaths of the Luxton siblings.
longreads.com/2025/03/06/m...
Read Andrew's @longreads.com story, "Madness, Melancholy, or Murder," in which he returns to his childhood home in the UK to investigate the mysterious deaths of the Luxton siblings.
longreads.com/2025/03/06/m...
Some exciting news. My first book, Bodies in a Windswept Land, will be published by @stmartinspress.bsky.social. It’s about the mysterious tragedy of the Luxton deaths that happened near my childhood farm in Devon, and the myths that linger in the fields there. Big thanks to my agent Jessica.
November 7, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Some exciting news. My first book, Bodies in a Windswept Land, will be published by @stmartinspress.bsky.social. It’s about the mysterious tragedy of the Luxton deaths that happened near my childhood farm in Devon, and the myths that linger in the fields there. Big thanks to my agent Jessica.
Reposted by Andrew Chamings
The same week the Trump administration announced that federal agents were to be sent to the Bay Area, one of the city’s most cherished institutions — City Lights Bookstore — raised banners with a message on defying authoritarianism.
via @andrewchamings.bsky.social
www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/a...
via @andrewchamings.bsky.social
www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/a...
SF institution hangs protest banners as federal agents are sent to Bay Area
"Pity the nation whose leaders are liars."
www.sfgate.com
October 23, 2025 at 3:14 AM
The same week the Trump administration announced that federal agents were to be sent to the Bay Area, one of the city’s most cherished institutions — City Lights Bookstore — raised banners with a message on defying authoritarianism.
via @andrewchamings.bsky.social
www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/a...
via @andrewchamings.bsky.social
www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/a...
Reposted by Andrew Chamings
Last year editor at large @andrewchamings.bsky.social unpacked the legacy of Girls' frontman Christopher Owens. A generic band profile won't work for us, this is such a good story because it revisits an important era of SF music history with a new hook (and killer hed) www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/a...
The return of the San Francisco star who lost it all
"A journey to get to this point that I think most people would find unbelievable."
www.sfgate.com
October 15, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Last year editor at large @andrewchamings.bsky.social unpacked the legacy of Girls' frontman Christopher Owens. A generic band profile won't work for us, this is such a good story because it revisits an important era of SF music history with a new hook (and killer hed) www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/a...
Reposted by Andrew Chamings
Here's a PITCH CALL for the #freelancewriters out there. I'm looking for Bay Area stories on venues, characters, trends and historical stories, TV/movies/music with SF ties. $250-$400+. Email me with an angle, not just a topic, and include a headline. cc @studyhall.bsky.social Here's examples... 🧵
October 15, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Here's a PITCH CALL for the #freelancewriters out there. I'm looking for Bay Area stories on venues, characters, trends and historical stories, TV/movies/music with SF ties. $250-$400+. Email me with an angle, not just a topic, and include a headline. cc @studyhall.bsky.social Here's examples... 🧵
the first seven seconds of this track is too much. imagine making that sound open.spotify.com/album/4pocTD...
L'ascenseur pour l'échafaud (Lift to the Scaffold) [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]
open.spotify.com
September 20, 2025 at 4:13 AM
the first seven seconds of this track is too much. imagine making that sound open.spotify.com/album/4pocTD...
something special is happening at these oasis shows www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/a...
The reunion no one thought would last brings Los Angeles to tears
Paul McCartney was seen filming the show on his phone.
www.sfgate.com
September 9, 2025 at 2:21 AM
something special is happening at these oasis shows www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/a...
Reposted by Andrew Chamings
Dignity Health. good lord.
This is a real life horror story. Two sisters told me they searched in drains and ditches for their missing sister, until her body was found in a warehouse. They weren’t the only ones. Dignity Health has been accused of losing bodies and worse. Investigation here: www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...
'It will haunt them forever': California hospital accused of losing bodies
Families searched for loved ones. A Calif. hospital allegedly knew they were dead.
www.sfgate.com
July 17, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Dignity Health. good lord.
This is a real life horror story. Two sisters told me they searched in drains and ditches for their missing sister, until her body was found in a warehouse. They weren’t the only ones. Dignity Health has been accused of losing bodies and worse. Investigation here: www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...
'It will haunt them forever': California hospital accused of losing bodies
Families searched for loved ones. A Calif. hospital allegedly knew they were dead.
www.sfgate.com
July 17, 2025 at 5:01 PM
This is a real life horror story. Two sisters told me they searched in drains and ditches for their missing sister, until her body was found in a warehouse. They weren’t the only ones. Dignity Health has been accused of losing bodies and worse. Investigation here: www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...
Reposted by Andrew Chamings
Journalists writing about one of the most notable & popular American institutions - our National parks - drives readership.
🚨 GOOD JOURNALISM NEWS ALERT 🚨
@sfgate.com launched a National Parks bureau in Jan. 1. It's led to millions of readers and our site being one of America's fastest growing in back-to-back months.
Instead of doing a 🧵 I wrote about who we hired + the wild numbers here: www.sfgate.com/national-par...
@sfgate.com launched a National Parks bureau in Jan. 1. It's led to millions of readers and our site being one of America's fastest growing in back-to-back months.
Instead of doing a 🧵 I wrote about who we hired + the wild numbers here: www.sfgate.com/national-par...
SFGATE launched a National Parks bureau. It led to explosive growth.
SFGATE was one of America's 10 fastest growing news sites in back-to-back months.
www.sfgate.com
June 9, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Journalists writing about one of the most notable & popular American institutions - our National parks - drives readership.
Reposted by Andrew Chamings
“As the evening wore on, some of the friends allegedly started taking what they thought was cocaine. By the morning, four were dead. A man known as ‘Frog’ has now been arrested on suspicion of supplying the friends fentanyl.”
via @andrewchamings.bsky.social www.sfgate.com/renotahoe/ar...
via @andrewchamings.bsky.social www.sfgate.com/renotahoe/ar...
Shocking details emerge about Tahoe Super Bowl party that left 4 dead
A man known as "Frog" has been arrested on suspicion of supplying the friends fentanyl outside a South Lake Tahoe church.
www.sfgate.com
April 29, 2025 at 9:48 PM
“As the evening wore on, some of the friends allegedly started taking what they thought was cocaine. By the morning, four were dead. A man known as ‘Frog’ has now been arrested on suspicion of supplying the friends fentanyl.”
via @andrewchamings.bsky.social www.sfgate.com/renotahoe/ar...
via @andrewchamings.bsky.social www.sfgate.com/renotahoe/ar...
"I live in a country that lived fast and is now dying young." from @drewmagary.bsky.social www.sfgate.com/politics/art...
I feel dumb for being an American
Threats to U.S. passport holders. Compromised news outlets. Constant cuts and layoffs. Drew Magary writes on his life under President Donald Trump.
www.sfgate.com
April 3, 2025 at 6:56 PM
"I live in a country that lived fast and is now dying young." from @drewmagary.bsky.social www.sfgate.com/politics/art...
In 1959 a bloodied and beaten woman approached the front steps of one of the most famous homes in San Francisco. The nurse who saved her would disappear a few years later. The recent identification of the ‘Marin County Jane Doe’ has unraveled a decades long mystery www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...
A San Francisco mother of 7 vanished in 1966. Her mystery is finally solved
Nearly 60 years after she vanished, the mystery of Dorothy Vaillancourt's disappearance has been solved.
www.sfgate.com
March 26, 2025 at 10:05 PM
In 1959 a bloodied and beaten woman approached the front steps of one of the most famous homes in San Francisco. The nurse who saved her would disappear a few years later. The recent identification of the ‘Marin County Jane Doe’ has unraveled a decades long mystery www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...
Reposted by Andrew Chamings
"Once a happy family living in one of SF’s most famous homes — the Blue Painted Lady — the Vaillancourts’ perplexing case involves a brutal attack in Alamo Square, an orphanage in Ukiah & a mysterious Nazi sergeant who can’t be found."
via @andrewchamings.bsky.social www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...
via @andrewchamings.bsky.social www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...
A family of 9 lived in a San Francisco Painted Lady, then the mother disappeared
Nearly 60 years after she vanished, the mystery of Dorothy Vaillancourt's disappearance has been solved.
www.sfgate.com
March 26, 2025 at 9:51 PM
"Once a happy family living in one of SF’s most famous homes — the Blue Painted Lady — the Vaillancourts’ perplexing case involves a brutal attack in Alamo Square, an orphanage in Ukiah & a mysterious Nazi sergeant who can’t be found."
via @andrewchamings.bsky.social www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...
via @andrewchamings.bsky.social www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...
Reposted by Andrew Chamings
Are you feeling uncertain about whether you "should" visit a national park in the near future? Do you have a trip to a national park planned that you're now reconsidering? I'd love to hear from you for an upcoming #nationalparks story!
March 17, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Are you feeling uncertain about whether you "should" visit a national park in the near future? Do you have a trip to a national park planned that you're now reconsidering? I'd love to hear from you for an upcoming #nationalparks story!
I remember this ad airing in the UK so clearly, it was a year or two before some friends and I moved to San Francisco. That beautiful José González cover too. Wonderful dive into a real cultural touchstone from two decades ago from @dangentile007.bsky.social. www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/a...
'It was chaos': The history of San Francisco's most unforgettable TV ad
In 2005, Sony spent over a million dollars to swarm SF streets with 250,000 bouncy balls, breaking windows and destroying cars in the process.
www.sfgate.com
March 10, 2025 at 3:42 PM
I remember this ad airing in the UK so clearly, it was a year or two before some friends and I moved to San Francisco. That beautiful José González cover too. Wonderful dive into a real cultural touchstone from two decades ago from @dangentile007.bsky.social. www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/a...
This story started as an investigation into the mysterious deaths of three siblings on a farm near my childhood home. But it’s really about the countryside where I grew up, the beautiful rolling hills of Devon and the secrets they sometimes hide.
"While outsiders who step onto this land may find it unwelcoming, it’s the enemy within that can pinch a nerve through the deep lanes and lonely hearts of Devon."
Madness, Melancholy, or Murder: An Ancient English Farm’s 50-Year-Old Mystery - Longreads
Andrew Chamings returns to his childhood farmland to investigate the mysterious deaths of the Luxton siblings. What really happened down that dark country lane?
longreads.com
March 8, 2025 at 12:52 AM
This story started as an investigation into the mysterious deaths of three siblings on a farm near my childhood home. But it’s really about the countryside where I grew up, the beautiful rolling hills of Devon and the secrets they sometimes hide.
Reposted by Andrew Chamings
"What happened in those hours, between the gunshot at dawn waking Robbie and Frances and their final moment in the garden must have been pure hell."
Growing up on an English farm, @andrewchamings.bsky.social heard tales of the violent deaths of three local siblings:
Growing up on an English farm, @andrewchamings.bsky.social heard tales of the violent deaths of three local siblings:
Madness, Melancholy, or Murder: An Ancient English Farm’s 50-Year-Old Mystery - Longreads
Andrew Chamings returns to his childhood farmland to investigate the mysterious deaths of the Luxton siblings. What really happened down that dark country lane?
longreads.com
March 6, 2025 at 6:19 PM
"What happened in those hours, between the gunshot at dawn waking Robbie and Frances and their final moment in the garden must have been pure hell."
Growing up on an English farm, @andrewchamings.bsky.social heard tales of the violent deaths of three local siblings:
Growing up on an English farm, @andrewchamings.bsky.social heard tales of the violent deaths of three local siblings:
Growing up on the farm in England I heard stories about the mysterious shotgun deaths of three siblings a few miles down the valley. I went to the old farmhouse where the bodies were found to investigate the tragedy, and my childhood, for @longreads.com longreads.com/2025/03/06/m...
Madness, Melancholy, or Murder: An Ancient English Farm’s 50-Year-Old Mystery - Longreads
Andrew Chamings returns to his childhood farmland to investigate the mysterious deaths of the Luxton siblings. What really happened down that dark country lane?
longreads.com
March 6, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Growing up on the farm in England I heard stories about the mysterious shotgun deaths of three siblings a few miles down the valley. I went to the old farmhouse where the bodies were found to investigate the tragedy, and my childhood, for @longreads.com longreads.com/2025/03/06/m...
Reposted by Andrew Chamings
For SFGATE I wrote a dispatch from Genesis X2 the country’s largest and most prominent Super Smash Bros tournament that has become a Bay Area esports institution thanks to the boys from NorCal who started it and the legacies it’s helped create. www.sfgate.com/sports/artic...
How the Bay Area became the home of an international sporting craze
The single-largest tournament for the hit 2000s video game 'Super Smash Bros. Melee' takes place each year in the Bay Area — and started in a barn in Antioch.
www.sfgate.com
February 23, 2025 at 10:06 PM
For SFGATE I wrote a dispatch from Genesis X2 the country’s largest and most prominent Super Smash Bros tournament that has become a Bay Area esports institution thanks to the boys from NorCal who started it and the legacies it’s helped create. www.sfgate.com/sports/artic...
We spoke with some people close to the Zizian death cult to learn about their past. After a string of killings across America, three members, including the leader, are on the run. Read here: www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...
Strange new details emerge about the Bay Area Zizian 'death cult'
A sprawling web of violence across America has been linked to a fringe group of radical Berkeley pseudo-intellectuals known as the Zizians.
www.sfgate.com
February 14, 2025 at 12:58 AM
We spoke with some people close to the Zizian death cult to learn about their past. After a string of killings across America, three members, including the leader, are on the run. Read here: www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...
Reposted by Andrew Chamings
Agreed.
I wrote about the most photographed tree in the world, and why we should let it fall into the ocean @sfgate.com www.sfgate.com/centralcoast...
California's most photographed tree should be allowed to die
The Lone Cypress at Pebble Beach on the California coast is one of the world's most photographed trees, and a multi-billion dollar company is keeping it alive.
www.sfgate.com
February 2, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Agreed.
I wrote about the most photographed tree in the world, and why we should let it fall into the ocean @sfgate.com www.sfgate.com/centralcoast...
California's most photographed tree should be allowed to die
The Lone Cypress at Pebble Beach on the California coast is one of the world's most photographed trees, and a multi-billion dollar company is keeping it alive.
www.sfgate.com
February 2, 2025 at 6:03 PM
I wrote about the most photographed tree in the world, and why we should let it fall into the ocean @sfgate.com www.sfgate.com/centralcoast...
Reposted by Andrew Chamings
The Bay Area tech scene-tied "Zizian" group has been linked to two recent killings, one in California and one in Vermont.
from @andrewchamings.bsky.social
www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...
from @andrewchamings.bsky.social
www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...
String of recent killings linked to Bay Area 'death cult'
A string of recent killings across the United States have been tied to fringe online group the Zizians, described as a "death cult."
www.sfgate.com
January 30, 2025 at 12:02 AM
The Bay Area tech scene-tied "Zizian" group has been linked to two recent killings, one in California and one in Vermont.
from @andrewchamings.bsky.social
www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...
from @andrewchamings.bsky.social
www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...