Jacquie Schmall writes:

"Sally Stanford died four years before I moved to California. A friend of mine lived in the Belvedere home Sally and her 8th husband Richard Gump owned. My friend asked me to entertain at the birthday party of her husband, and requested I dress up as Sally Stanford's ghost. I thought it a funidea, and so I did. Everyone at the party asked me about Sally. Since I never met her, I decided to go the the Chart House, formerly Sally Stanford's restaurant, Valhalla, and see what I could see.The entry into the restaurant was through the bar. A lifelike painting of her hung up high behind the bar, and watched me from the moment I got there. I looked at al the old photos of her, and sat in her special dental chair. I felt a very strong connection to her.
 

The painting seemed to come alive for me,and when I left to return to my car Sally came right along with me. She's been riding shotgun with me ever since.

Following that incident, I did quite a bit of research on her life, and with a talented young man named Christopher McLaughlin, wrote a musical play to celebrate her life. It was performed once at  the Herbst Theater in San Francisco. I still have her picture displayed in my house. Somehow, after all those years of being "social", she is still good company.

Reprinted with the permission of Jason Lewis