Back on a Different Home Ground

Seattle has been my home ground since I left northern Idaho in 1961. I came to love the rain and gray days; I came to know when it would rain and when it would mist. I knew the signs of possible sunshine and possible snow. Best of all, purple crocus always raised their heads in the late January or early February thaw, soon to be accompanied by miniature iris and cascades of flowering cherry and plum blossoms. And always, a white snow and iced cone–Mount Rainier–sat at the end of Lake Washington and graced the days when the clouds disappeared.

This year, my Seattle home ground hosted two readings of my book, The Good Times Are All Gone Now: Life, Death and Rebirth in an Idaho Mining Town. First, KING 5 TV Early Show on KONG interviewed me about the book, why I wrote it, and some of the colorful aspects of Kellogg and Wallace, including the ever-present (until the early 1990s) houses of prostitution, also a part of my book. (See the link on my Website, under Media.)

That same evening, I read at Ravenna Third Place Books, one of those delightful bookstores with stacks of books to roam through, lots of staff-recommended books and staff who know their books, tables and chairs to leaf through possible purchases, a café and a pub. All the necessities of life! Many friends and some strangers braced a pouring down rain to come hear me read and to buy books. They nearly bought the store out. Questions afterwards ranged from who I interviewed–miners, businesspeople, other workers and both women and men-- and how I found them–patients of my doctor father, family friends, and parents of my friends growing up–to comments on my evocative writing, welcome feedback of course!

The next evening, I read at Elliott Bay Book Co., one of the truly classic bookstores in the West, along with Powell’s in Portland, Auntie’s in Spokane and Tattered Cover in Denver. Elliott Bay Books is a rambling old store with books, books and more books and one of the most knowledgeable staffs in book lore anywhere.

Although the store only expected around twenty people, judging by the number of chairs set up, more and more friends and others continued to arrive until the audience was standing room only. I read about going down the mine myself, and had an attentive audience who laughed at my foibles and shuddered at the descriptions of being two-thirds of a mile down inside the mountains of Kellogg. The line-up for sign-ups was long! Again, the bookstore misjudged, having only twenty books on hand. Fortunately, I brought twenty-five of mine, and we sold out! A nice evening, indeed. And no rain.

A week later, I traveled to Lopez Island where I read in the Lopez Library to a small audience. One of the best experiences happened there. I read from my chapter about being in the band, playing the flute and a difficult flute solo. A lady in the audience came up and said her father had been a band director; she had played the flute as well, and, struggled with the same flute solo in the William Tell Overture. The next night, I read in Bellingham at the Village Books, another great independent bookstore. Again, the audience was fairly small, but enthusiastic, partly because it included long-time skiing friends, one of my Kellogg high school classmates, and a friend I met on-line around ten years ago.

Next stop: Hastings in Coeur d’Alene and Auntie’s in Spokane.