How can we understand a problem so vast and complex as homelessness?  After spending her career writing about the stereotyped and misunderstood, writer Alison Owings was eager to take on the challenge.  While this was an omnipresent reality in her hometown of San Francisco, Alison had no idea where to begin.  She found her answer on one of the Tenderloin Walking Tours named after the neighborhood with the city’s largest homeless population.  The guide and founder of the tour, Del Seymour, became the subject of a decade-long project to tell the story of the homeless through the memories of one man.  Del’s story is one of triumph and redemption.  Del went from spending nearly two decades living on the streets of San Francisco to becoming an advocate for the homeless.  First, first through the creation of the Tenderloin Walking Tours, then through the founding of Code Tenderloin, Del has drawn attention to the plight of the homeless while helping thousands from his community find jobs and a new life.  In this episode, a conversation with Alison Owings about her book Mayor of the Tenderloin: Del Seymour’s Journey from Living on the Streets to Fighting Homelessness in San Francisco.