Alameda photographer Steve Hathaway, curious about the lives of mayors beyond politics, turned his interest into an eight-year project traveling throughout the United States photographing mayors in settings that reflect their personalities. 

The result is “Mayors Across America: Portraits Outside the Office” (M27 Editions LLC, February 2026, $65, 183 pages) featuring 90 mayors from all 50 states, including former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. 

Highlighting the diverse jobs, identities and interests of individuals who have served as mayor, the book’s portraits, paired with vignettes, reveal dimensions that informed their leadership. 

“It’s funny that it doesn’t take a lot of work to find out what they do,” Hathaway says. “I started going to city hall websites to see who the mayor was and what their occupation was—and I just kept finding them.” 

Choosing among thousands, Hathaway focused on those with professions that stood out. Among them: a nun, an architect, an astronaut, a librarian, an undertaker, a lobster fisherman, a tire salesman, a school bus driver, a dairy farmer, a minister, a plein air painter, an electrician, a car salesman, a plumber, a house painter and a disc jockey. 

An Alameda native, Hathaway studied art and art history at the University of California, Berkeley, where he developed an interest in photography. He later attended the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara. 

During that time, he learned that Alameda’s mayor, Carmelo J. “Chuck” Corica, was a barber. 

He says, “…. It was like Corica was just one of us. He was a local businessman. And I just found that really interesting.”  

After graduating, Hathaway spent 35 years as a commercial photographer in San Francisco, photographing celebrities, artists, executives and athletes including Buster Posey and other San Francisco Giants. 

His fascination with Corica lingered, becoming a running joke with his wife, Gloria. 

“I’d always kid Gloria and say, ‘You know, our mayor is a barber—what do you suppose other mayors do?’” Hathaway recalls. 

  • L-R: Paul Shellenberg, Tom Weir and Steve Hathaway pose at Flagg Grove School (the Tina Turner Museum) in Tennessee. Hathaway teamed with his two longtime friends to create “Mayors Across America.” (Steve Hathaway via Bay City News)
  • L-R: Steve Hathaway, Bill Glazier and Paul Shellenberg worked on “Mayors Across America”; writer Glazier contributed vignettes after Tom Weir died in 2023. (Steve Hathaway via Bay City News)

His retirement, and a visit from longtime friend Tom Weir, a former Oakland Tribune writer and sport columnist for USA Today, turned that consideration into a tangible undertaking. In 2015, Weir was chatting with Gloria over coffee and breakfast. Hathaway joined them, and this exchange followed: “Tom looks at me and goes, ‘I like your idea. If you take the photos, I’ll do the stories.’ And I go, ‘What are you talking about?’ And he says, ‘Well, Gloria told me your idea about photographing mayors.’” 

“And you don’t have to tell me twice,” Hathaway quips. 

He recruited his retired friend Paul Shellenberg and they began research.  

  • Dennis Fisicaro and Helen Fisicaro are former Colma mayors; Dennis has worked as a firefighter for the Colma Fire Department and Helen is currently vice mayor of Colma. (Steve Hathaway via Bay City News)
  • John Muller, former Half Moon Bay mayor and former owner of Farmer John’s Pumpkin Farm, is the first person Steve Hathaway connected with for “Mayors Across America.” (Steve Hathaway via Bay City News)
  • Steve Hathaway was fascinated by Karyl Matsumoto, former mayor of South San Francisco, who was in the Manzanar incarceration camp during World War II. (Steve Hathaway)

John Muller, former Half Moon Bay mayor and owner of Farmer John’s Pumpkin Farm, was an early discovery: “Right off, I thought, ‘Oh man, it doesn’t get any better than this. I found a pumpkin farmer that’s a mayor,’” Hathaway says. 

Muller connected Hathaway to Dennis Fisicaro, a former mayor of Colma and a firefighter. After learning that Dennis’ wife Helen Fisicaro also was a Colma mayor, he photographed the couple beside an antique firetruck. 

“So now Paul and I had three mayors, and we just thought, ‘This is fun. Let’s do some more,’” Hathaway says. 

As the project expanded, Hathaway photographed a transgender mayor, a Muslim mayor, a middleweight boxer, an Olympic gold medalist, an NBA star and James Perkins Jr., the first African American mayor of Selma, Alabama, who was also a pastor. 

“Sometimes the backstory was even better,” Hathaway says. 

For example: When former South San Francisco Mayor Karyl Matsumoto was a child, she was in the Manzanar incarceration camp during World War II and adopted while there. Hathaway photographed her holding an enlarged black-and-white image of herself and others at the camp, with the “South San Francisco The Industrial City” hillside sign in the background. 

“Mayors Across America” also includes actor-director Clint Eastwood, the former mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea. Hathaway photographed him at the grand piano inside Mission Ranch Hotel in Carmel: “I told him I’d like to get him playing the piano, and he agreed to it. So we met down there, and that was just a fun shoot,” Hathaway says. 

Hathaway and Shellenberg continued to venture while Weir interviewed mayors and wrote bios. During the project, Weir was diagnosed with ALS and died in 2023. Hathaway’s cousin, writer Bill Glazier, helped complete the book. 

In late March, Hathaway celebrated the release of “Mayors Across America” at the Alameda Theatre. Former Port Costa Mayor Mitch Polzak, the musician featured on the book’s cover, performed.  

Hathaway sums up his experiences writing the book and its publication in one word: “Wonderful.” 

To purchase “Mayors Across America: Portraits Outside the Office,” visit https://www.hathawayphoto.com/about.html.