CHRISTOPHER OF SAN FRANCISCO

When Khrushchev visited this country in 1960, his stormy trip was made easier in part by a friendly, Greek born man who proved so likeable the Soviet leader later invited him to Moscow. The man was the mayor of San Francisco, George Christopher. This brief and very laudatory biography (coming at a time when California must choose a new governor) attempts to explain why Christopher is likeable and why he has done so much for his adopted city. The book tells of his poor Greek parentage, of his early years of poverty in San Francisco's South of Market district. It tells too how he went through accounting school at night, how as a ""Young Turk"" he invaded politics with explosive new ideas, and how he became mayor against great machine-politics' odds in 1955. The stories of how he picked a cop from the beat as a reform police chief, how he closed traditional vice areas, and how he tried dealing with the House UnAmerican Activities riots at City Hall in 1960, make interesting reading. As a portrait of the honest young immigrant making good, the book succeeds. But as a political portrait, one suspects partisan interests on the part of the author. Should do very well on the west coast.