Herb Caen, the columnist whose column in the Comicle was a rite of passage, would have celebrated his 100th birthday today (April 3). His column was a rite of passage because if you could get the puns and understand the players he wrote about, you graduated to the grownup table from the kid’s table. Herb was known for his witticisms that could convey so much with a few specially selected words, for being the man about town and for his martini made of Vitamin V. But he was known most for his enduring love of the City of San Francisco and it’s kookieness, especially during it’s golden age during the 40s and 50s. Reading his Sunday column was practically a history lesson when he would look back at what The City once was before. And you understood today by reading about yesterday.