It’s a Small World



I love shoes. I have a pair for almost everything—road running, trail running, mountain biking, all-day climbing shoes, climbing slippers, approach shoes, snow boots, hiking boots, ankle boots, Chaco, Merrells, Borns, Dansko, Birkenstock, Frye and others without name-brand cachet. The older I get, the less often I buy or wear pumps, heels or strappy evening sandals, so those shoe designers don’t interest me.
    About the time Alameda Magazine editorial art director Kathleen Sage told me that Keen shoes, a new hybrid sport sandal, were made by an Alameda-based company, magazine co-publishers Tracy and Robert McKean showed up wearing some at the 2004 Park Street Art & Wine Faire. The shoes had come straight from Scott’s Shoes. I bought the Newport variety and immediately started wearing the funky, round-toed sneaker-sandals around the East Bay, noticing other Keen-wearing converts everywhere I went. A month later, I picked up my best friend, Sherri Youngblood from Arkansas, at Oakland International Airport, and what kind of shoes did she have on? Keens, the Jamestown Slide. Keen gets around.
    Fast-forward to this spring, when I was halfway around the world in Halong Bay, an exquisitely beautiful Vietnamese World Heritage site. Stretched out on the teak deck of a junk, I soaked up the warm sun and watched the emerald-green water of the South China Sea stretching out toward shimmery limestone peaks. David Wooler (one of three Davids and nicknamed “Happy Buddha” by our VeloAsia guide) asked me how I liked my Keens. He had wanted a pair for the trip, and after my rave, he was ready to make the purchase back home in Rhode Island. Nguyen Van Cahn, our wiry kayaking guide, slipped on mine—a perfect fit, so there was another possible Keen fan.
    Meanwhile, the globe-trotting McKeans were relaxing on a Windjammer Caribbean cruise, and they noticed a few of the crew sported the funny footwear, as did other tourists in St. Thomas. Just another example of Keen being the it-brand of the moment.
    When reporter Katy St. Clair researched Keen and its shoes, she met Jim Van Dine, the Alameda resident who is now president of the company. He’s responsible for making the hybrid hot—Keen sells about 162 varieties in 70 countries. Even with the increasing omnipresence of its shoes, Keen promises to stay in Alameda, and that’s instant international good PR for our Island. And reason enough for me to have a new favorite shoe.


                            Until next issue,
                                        

                            Judith M. Gallman
                            judy@alamedamagazine.com