Our famous fairy door is back, this time in a book; Author’s event at Green Apple June 10

Remember the delightful fairy/faery door in Golden Gate Park that got international media attention back in 2013? (It also spawned an undelightful bureaucratic response from the city, and eventually led to the birth of another fairy door at an alternate location in the park.)

The creator of the fairy door was revealed to be a man named Tony Powell and his then 6-year old son, Rio. Tony and Rio designed and crafted the door from scrap pine over a period of a few months, then added a knob and marine-grade varnish for the finishing touch. They installed it at the base of a tree in Golden Gate Park’s Music Concourse around Valentine’s Day 2013.

Since the fairy door’s international acclaim, Tony started a website for the door(s), where the wise fairies can respond to notes left in its niche, like this one from 4/6/16:

“Hey Faeries, Why doesn’t love last? – JL”

Answer: Love is more than happiness; it is more than worry and more than sorrow. It is everything. It does last, but its face changes – just like the seasons which are still part of the same stream of time. Love is always around you and within you whether you recognize it or not. Love, Faery

Now, the wise faeries have been immortalized in print with a new book called The Faery Door, which “reveals the real miracles behind the appearance of the little door in Golden Gate Park, and demonstrates as well the art of seeing the magic of which the world is entirely composed”.

When asked if The Faery Door is a children’s book, Powell told us, “While children can find the story fascinating, they tend to need help from a literate adult…I call it a Family Fiction book, which is what I would also call The Little Prince, by Antoine St Exupery, and Peter and Wendy, by JM Barrie.”

The book is now on the shelves at Green Apple Books (506 Clement), and Tony and Rio will be on hand for an author’s event next Friday, June 10 at 7pm where they’ll read passages and sign books.

Sarah B.