Author John King will discuss his book Portal: San Francisco’s Ferry Building and the Reinvention of American Cities on Sunday, March 10, at 2 p.m. in the Livermore Public Library Community Rooms, 1188 S. Livermore Ave. Registration is not required to attend this free event.

Portal spans the rise and fall and rebirth of the Ferry Building and introduces the colorful figures who fought to preserve the Ferry Building’s character, from architect Arthur Page Brown to poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Since 2001, John King has been the Urban Design Critic for the San Francisco Chronicle. He is an honorary member of the American Society of Landscape Architects, and the first recipient of the Gene Burd Urban Journalism Award from the Urban Communication Foundation.