“It wasn’t just his physical stature – well over 6 feet.  Our association was all too short.  He took over management of the Junction Penney’s store shortly after I moved from the West Seattle Herald print shop to management of advertising.  I’m amazed at the time that’s  Dick Oslin 1922-2010elapsed since those golden years when the Junction was a thriving retail business district. I got to know him as an enthusiastic, fair and creative cog in an organized area providing district-wide promotions to stimulate customer interest and loyalty. ”  ...(more)

“Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938), was one of the most widely-acclaimed writers of the twentieth century. His extensive vocabulary and unique writing style have put him on a literary pinnacle.  He wrote four autobiographical novels.  He also wrote many short stories as a contributor to popular magazines of the era, and did some teaching at his alma mater, Harvard.   The work th”  ...(more)

“Up front let me acknowledge, I’m not a meteorologist – technical name for a weather forecaster.  I haven’t even given much study or thought to the weather and its changes as the four seasons go by each year.  And, neither am I a forester.  My knowledge of these subjects is limited to the experience of living with both weather and foliage. ”  ...(more)

“Prehistoric people were the Homo sapiens who inhabited the earth in advance of the introduction of commonly understood written symbols. The introduction of writing provided the means by which our most ancient forbearers recorded data they hoped to preserve, including descriptions in their history and every day existence.  The introduction of writing was a major milestone in the history of hum”  ...(more)

“    Two young ladies enjoying theHalloween Spirit in W.S.It wasn’t in the first West Seattle Herald story I read about it in 1939, but the annual kids spook celebration at Hiawatha Fieldhouse clearly hoped to lure destructive pranksters to a more socially acceptable celebration of Halloween.  I was almost a year into my printing apprenticeship when I was directed to rescue a”  ...(more)

“We are a mere half a year away from the exercise of counting American noses to arrive at a somewhat shaky estimate of the nation’s total populace.Although the U. S. Census Bureau originates scores of surveys every year, its most well-known duty is still to conduct the decennial census enumerating the population since 1910.  Census results have four high profile applications: Reap”  ...(more)

“All Politics is local:  The on-line encyclopedia, Wikipedia credits Former Speaker of the House Tip O'Neil (D) for coining this phrase which encapsulates the principle that a politician's success is directly tied to his ability to understand and influence the issues of his constituents. Politicians must appeal to the simple, mundane and everyday concerns of those that elect them into office. ”  ...(more)

“I remember a West Seattle celebration.  It was staged to the final clearance to start building the new high level bridge across the West Waterway of the Duwamish River.  Just about everyone was there who had worked so hard to achieve this historical moment in West Seattle history. I especially remember the event as the only time I was ever hugged in public by a member of the Seattle City”  ...(more)

“When you outlive your generational peers, few people survive to appreciate your accomplishments. The names of men and women I’ve admired usually draw a glassy-eyed look from boomers and x-generation acquaintances. A common expression, “Out of sight, out of mind”-- JOHN HEYWOOD, “Works. A dialogue containing proverbs and epigrams,” 1542, expresses this concept quite ad”  ...(more)

“I guess my notion about value added is a bit astray of the contemporary view of its definition.  I naively thought of it in the context like taking a tomato seed and growing a plant full of succulent salad or marinara sauce ingredients – presto, value added.   In my rather simplistic years, wise advisors suggested that the addition of an attached garage would add subs”  ...(more)

“"Shut up; you’re bothering me!"   It’s my experienced-backed belief that a major strategy of politicians is to deprive your constituents from hearing the message of their adversaries.   Examples in my memory?  Here are two.   I remember the late R. R. “Bob” Greive, ”  ...(more)

“You may read this later, but as I sit in front of my vision-enhanced keyboard to write this, today is June 6, 2009, certainly an anniversary worth noting. Perhaps the occasion touches more of us as the miracle of communication technology spans the world with images and audio transmissions available to as many of us who care to see and hear them.  It is a date that I remember easily because it”  ...(more)

“In the interest of honest disclosure, I confess I have been a Kiwanian for nearly forty-five of the West Seattle Club’s eighty years. Do I have a bias? I suppose so; sorry Lions and Rotarians.  However, I do feel justified in tooting the horn of a community service club which has survived for eighty years in vigorously independent-minded West Seattle.     &nbs”  ...(more)

“This week, with the help of my friend Bob Ferguson, I’ve been digging through the boar’s nest that passes for my office.  Somewhere amongst the stacks of stuff is a little box containing some photo slides and a typed script chronicling the first fifty years of the West Seattle Kiwanis Club.  The material was assembled by Past President Bruce Landry as a feature of the 50th An”  ...(more)

“Good Lord don’t let me come across profound!  I have neither intellectual capacity nor scholastic credentials to pull it off.  That doesn’t mean I lack opinions or am escaping the avalanche of profundity that overflows the worldwide web.    The Schooner "Exact" which brought the Denny Partyto the shores of Alki in 1851.I believe many of my cultural a”  ...(more)

“I first sat down in front of a computer 26 years ago when I was 65.  The ensuing journey has been interesting, compelling and challenging.  And, I’m convinced; the journey still has no foreseeable end.  Warren Lawless in his command center, preparingfor another slice of life on the West Side   My kickoff ventu”  ...(more)

“The inseparable companion of physicians during the hundred years following the Civil War was a “doctor bag,” I had one that belonged to my grandfather. A medic in the Union trenches who continued on to medical school and became a horse and buggy doctor in Ohio  . . .  about 1870, I believe.  An example of a doc's little black bag.   The treatment asse”  ...(more)

“Where was I on October 29, 1929?  I was 11 years, four months and two days old, delivering the Daily News Searchlight down Elizabeth Street in Bremerton, WA.  I remember the headline: “Stockmarket Crashes.”   After WW1 ended, my liberally-educated Dad (Cincinnati U) left the Skinner and Eddy Shipyard in Seattle where he worked through the war years to take a job as ”  ...(more)

“Inevitably, some folks slip out of your radar screen:  Such was the case of Pat O’Brien whose obituary appeared last week.  I knew him best in the 60’s and 70’s when he was employed by the State Senate Majority Leader R. R. “Bob” Greive, whose law office was situated around the corner from our West Seattle Associates office on the top floor of the Nielsen Fl”  ...(more)

“The recent announcement that the Seattle Post-Intelligencer is for sale, to move in 60 days or recede to an on-line format or close completely, made a lot of folks gulp.  It’s a cinch the Hearst Corporation has little hope of finding a buyer.  The P-I financial tank has been running on empty for years, now accelerated by the worsening economy.  The Seattle-PI Globe stood for ”  ...(more)

“In one of these essays some time ago, I Over eagerly answered the question, “What has changed most about West Seattle?” that it was unquestionably, the people.  I should have elaborated a bit further that it wasn’t so much individuals changing, but as their places in the community evaporated, they were replaced with a new bunch of folks, in different circumstances with signi”  ...(more)

“Seattle’s streets are laid out on a grid system.  Streets run east-west. Avenues run north-south. If you run across something with another designation, like "boulevard" or "place" or “way,” it runs diagonally or serpentine, and has its own rules.   The grid is divided into 10 sections.  For the record, West Seattle is all of Section 9.  In it, st”  ...(more)

“It used to be that the classified advertising in a local paper was, in aggregate, a pretty fair barometer of the character of a town or neighborhood.  For a time during the 70’s and 80’s I traveled quite a bit and one of the first things I always did in a berg I was visiting, was buy the local newspaper.  Movable type brought communicationsto the masses  ”  ...(more)

“There ain’t no joy in Mudville,; not since the 2008 mid-season All-star Break. From that point through a bleak autumn, the Mariners led a epidemic of mediocrity engulfing the sports landscape of Washington. Building on the M’s 100-loss season, the winless Montlake Dawgs, the rudderless Seahawks and the hapless Wazoo Cougs have sunk the hopes of the “Jock” crowd, including u”  ...(more)

“When I joined the West Seattle Herald composing room in 1938 and in the pre-WW2 years that followed, I can’t recall a single mention of homelessness on the pages of West Seattle’s community weekly.  I can’t say for sure there was none, but it did’t appear to be an issue here.   A typical blue-collar trade-union breadwinner was fiercely proud of ”  ...(more)

“The Dictionary describes RISK  thusly: The possibility of suffering harm or loss; danger.  A factor, thing, element, or course involving uncertain danger; a hazard: “the usual risks of the desert: rattlesnakes, the heat, and lack of water” (Frank Clancy). The danger or probability of loss to an insurer. The amount that an insurance company stands to lose. The variability of r”  ...(more)

“No question about it, on any level these days, we have more questions than we do answers.  Some of them seem imponderable.  Example:  “How can the Washington Legislature balance the State budget (required by the State Constitution) and keep all the special interest groups happy?” In my younger days, that would be labeled a “64 thousand dollar question.” ”  ...(more)

“When Gen. Douglas MacArthur took his parting shot with the comment, “Old soldiers never die, they just fade away,” his words could have been describing a variety of valued careers besides military service.  Its a given that many movers and shakers contend with the wear and tear on their physical bearings and bushings and fade from their usual public recognition. &nb”  ...(more)

“Not everyone has a sure-fire legacy; a person whose name pops up when a certain community feature gets mentioned.  Earl Cruzen needn’t fret over his place in West Seattle history.    Earl Cruzen at Warren's Officeduring one of his "planning"sessions.   It was Earl who moderated and managed the Murals of West Seattle in which historic events”  ...(more)

“In a column posted last year, I expressed sadness that West Seattle no longer has the gumption to put together an event that will draw a large crowd.  I used themuch-heralded All-West Seattle Picnic as an example of how it used to be..       The event culminated the ten-day Hi-Yu Summer Festival during the first decade following WW2.  It was”  ...(more)

“His entrance to the West Seattle scene was due to highly-visible evidence of the initial fears and hysteria immediately following Pearl Harbor.  Local folks were reassured by the appearance of the 212th Anti-Aircraft Regiment to patrol Boeing Aircraft and the Harbor Island shipyards.  Ack-Ack batteries were situated along the hillsides of West Seattle; some in the front yards of pricey S”  ...(more)

“Thomas "Tip" O'Neill—a longtime Speaker of the House in the U.S. Congress—once declared, "All politics is local." He was explaining how the problems and concerns of towns and cities around the country affect the decisions and behavior of their Senators and Representatives in Congress.  He didn’t add that the only sin in politics is getting beat in the next election.  H”  ...(more)

“It started out as the West Seattle Commercial Club in 1931.  It must have seemed useful to the local business folks to pool their ideas and resources to promote the climate for community growth and prosperity.  The organization rechartered later as the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce.   Just for kicks, the other day, I asked current Executive Director Patti Mullen if she had a li”  ...(more)

“One aspect of continuing history all of us can count on is change; change of attitudes, change of values and change in priorities.  And, the rendering of community service certainly suffers the losses and prospers by gains in this inevitable impact on human culture.  The segment of the population able or willing to invest time and/or resources in community welfare has shrunk steadily ove”  ...(more)

“One day a florist goes to a barber for a haircut. After the cut he asked about his bill and the barber replies, "I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week." The florist was pleased and left the shop.  When the barber goes to open his shop the next morning there is a 'thank you' card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door.   Later, a cop co”  ...(more)

“As described in Genesis, When Adam and Eve screwed up by chomping on the forbidden apple in the Garden of Eden, an irate God booted them into a cruel, hard world to survive on their own toil and ingenuity.  However you view the beginning of man, the long trek of Homo sapiens through the centuries has been fraught with endless spurts of progress and setbacks.  They started civilization wi”  ...(more)

“Historic preservation seems to be the latest hot-button issue leading media attention astray from the potential disastrous threats to 21st Century society.  With interest focused on empty downtown churches, Denny’s Restaurants and street-side clocks, one has to wonder how all this passion to monumentalize gets funneled to political resolution. ”  ...(more)

“This week, the political heavy hitters swarmed into town to woo Washington State’s scant cadre of delegates to the Democrat and Republican conventions scheduled this summer.  The Democrats will rely strictly on precinct caucuses, while the Republicans reluctantly honor about half the delegates chosen by caucuses and the other half elected in the idiotic Presidential Primary imposed in t”  ...(more)

“Of course, there are walls, stockades and barricades, too.  All are interchangeable with fences .  . . Sometimes.  What got me interested is the opportunity to observe a lot of fencing since the Department of Licensing cancelled my driver’s license.  Now, when motoring about West Seattle; I’m confined to the observer’s seat.   The plentiful literature o”  ...(more)

“Last week the Seattle Times clarioned the good news that “Metro estimates the biggest bus ridership gain in 2007 in 10 years.”   The story went on to announce, gleefully, that bus ridership increased a record-setting 7 percent last year with an estimated 110 million passenger boardings in 2007, surpassing the 103.2-million mark set in 2006.  The story continues, ”  ...(more)

“On January 3, 2005, I wrote: “Westsiders sure like our cars;” a brief summary of the evolution of the car sales business in West Seattle. I noted that after I first came here in 1938 car ownership was pretty scant.  After WW2, dealerships burgeoned – six in West Seattle. In December of 2007, what had once been the home of Gene Fiedler Chevrolet, long empty, became a hole in ”  ...(more)

“There’s at least one in every functional family; one or more in every neighborhood.  He or she is the one person everyone looks to for direction and leadership.  Attracting this focus is frequently earned unintentionally, but more often in response to needs.  The position has no official title nor is it described in any human resources manual.  When a situation or circums”  ...(more)

“Downloaded from the Zogby Poll this morning, December 05, 2007: "The Angry Electorate: Four of five Democrats and two–thirds of Republicans say they are angry at the U.S. political system" Voters in a nasty frame of mind: Tabulated Zogby respondents: “Both Democrats and Republicans said they were angry with the political system in America, meaning candidates on both sides of ”  ...(more)

“We were married that summer, Betty and I; in June, when else?  By September we were professionally advised our family roster would increase by at least one; close to our first anniversary.  We spent our first Thanksgiving with the Lawless family in Bremerton.  Plans were in the works for a milestone Christmas.  Barrage Balloon   Others were getting the Christmas spi”  ...(more)

“I hired him at the West Seattle Herald.  I had jumped from printing superintendent to advertising manager in 1961,  and was soon aware that much of the potential advertising base had been neglected.  The first response to my search for help came from Rick Bragg.  Sometimes you just luck out.  A dapper, sharp professional in his early twenties, Rick was just what the doctor”  ...(more)

“As the years pile up it grows increasingly apparent that we surviving octogenarians are attending more and more funerals and memorial services.  Depending on their fields of activity, some of the lives we celebrate at these events have profoundly influenced the lives of others.  Dorothy Jean "Dotty" Kilburg   One of them was Dorothy “Dotty” Kilburg, whose memorial”  ...(more)

“In 1909 the Most Reverend Bishop Edward J. O'Dea appointed Father Daniel A. Hanley to establish a parish in West Seattle. This new church was located at the northeast corner of Walnut Avenue and Hill Street.  It included 35 families who had previously been affiliated with St. James Cathedral.   Construction of the English Gothic style church, built entirely of Washington fir with a ”  ...(more)

“Now that the State License Department has punched out my driver permit, I’m able to view the scenery from a passenger seat.  When one’s eyes are occupied with streets, signs and other vehicles, other elements of the surrounding landscape tend to be missed by a driver.   That’s my experience here in West Seattle where I realize my rubbernecking has been limited and”  ...(more)

“I never felt underprivileged or deprived when it came to being diversioned. I was aware, though, that money wasn’t growing on trees, especially during the depression era when I was in my so-called formative years. Undoubtedly, the lack of walking-around cash influenced our opportunities to be entertained and amused. Discretionary funds were rarely available.   What did we ”  ...(more)

“The first of these columns was “posted” here on November 22, 2004.  Holy Cats!  Time does go fast when you’re getting old.  As I promised in the beginning, my recollections haven’t appeared in any special chronological order, nor have they been 100% accurate, as required in a learned discourse with appropriate references and footnotes.  The column was sh”  ...(more)

“In the days when I was required by occupation to dress presentably to meet with clients and customers, I wore a suit and dress shirt, and, of course, a necktie; sometimes in especially elite circles known as a “cravat.”   In fact, neckties were kind of a hobby with me.  In most years I’d accumulate a dozen new ones to add to my collection.  To limit the total”  ...(more)

“I’m reluctant to dip so much as a toe into the age-old squabble between creationists and evolutionists.  One side believes humans are born with all their assets intact.  The other maintains that those assets are all acquired through the influences of the environment they exist in.  That includes experiences, education, example and nurturing.  Discussion of innate talent g”  ...(more)

“Have people changed the circumstances, or have circumstances changed the people.  After some reflection, I lean toward the latter conclusion.  West Seattle, in its own way, provides a perfect setting for this transition in how people live and work and play and learn and worship.   After you leave the west end of the high-level bridge across the Duwamish, headed into West Seatt”  ...(more)

“To Market; to Market;To buy a fat pig.Home again, home againJiggedy jig. My introduction to the word, “market” was in a nursery rhyme, my Mom read to me out of Leroy F. Jackson’s ”The Peter Patter Book: Rimes for Children”, Illustrated by Blanche Fisher Wright. Chicago: published by Rand McNally & Co., 1918, the year of my birth.  The book still shows up i”  ...(more)

“Surfing for an escape from the usual TV blather the other night, I hit on an interview of Lee Iacocca by Tim Russert.  The former Automaker CEO was pitching his new book, “Where have all the leaders gone.”  The title of the book suggested that Lee had joined us octogenarians and was marketing the wisdom to which folks in their 80’s lay claim.   We octogenaria”  ...(more)

“For a guy written off as a crank, he certainly has built a legacy.  The news of Charlie Chong’s death last week hit the Associated Press (AP) wire and rated major coverage in dailies statewide and as far away as San Francisco where the story got picked up in the” Examiner.”  From time to time, I’ve done searches for information about people I’d have assumed ”  ...(more)

“In a January 2005 essay titled “Around the World's Murals in 400 Words,”  Kaizaad Kotwal wrote:  “Throughout the world there have been murals on walls as long as there have been people to scratch them, paint them, etch them, carve them and make them. From the prehistoric cave paintings at Lascaux, France, to the ceremonial and celebratory murals of ancient Egypt, Greece”  ...(more)

“By the time the Arthur Denny party of 24 bellied up to Alki Point in the Schooner Exact in November 1851, Samuel Morse had perfected the telegraph to a fairly practical level.  As a matter of chronological reference, all this was accomplished before the first shot on Fort Sumter which conflagrated the Civil War.  Of course he depended on stringing wires from point to point to convey dit-”  ...(more)

“I can remember the little pan of paraffin melting on the back of the kitchen range.  Dad used to say, “If any fruit sits around more than a few days, it gets slapped in a jar.”  Mom never threw much of anything away, especially fruit and jars.  There was always a shelf full of miscellaneous glass containers waiting to preserve jams and jellies.  She’d concoct ”  ...(more)

“By the time the City of West Seattle voted to get itself annexed by the City Of Seattle in 1907, believing “Bigger is better,” it had pulled several surrounding communities into its own boundaries.  They Included: Youngstown, Alki, and Spring Hill, farther south at the present location of the Junction.  West Seattle officials petitioned for annexation to Seattle. The measure,”  ...(more)

“An issue that gets tossed around a lot these days is the future of White Center and North Highline.  Will it merge with the City of Seattle or the City of Burien?  If the area becomes part of Seattle, it’ll continue to be our neighbor to the south but in a new context.  Part of the uncertainty is related to the lack of tax base.  Both Seattle and Burien rightly ”  ...(more)

“Surfing the TV the other night I ran into one of he frequent forums in Olympia designed to make the common folks feel like part of the process.  Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed was completing his presentation and launched a sort Q and A session.   An astute attendee asked Reed to comment on the growing number of legislative seats, judicial positions and other offices occupie”  ...(more)

“At 7:30 p.m., Thursday, January 25, West Seattle will enjoy a rare opportunity to enjoy a Community Concert of the Seattle Symphony in West Seattle High School’s Performing Arts Theatre. In appreciation of the venue and its enthusiastic audiences, the orchestra will be making its fourth annual West Seattle appearance.   Nor will this series be the first ven”  ...(more)

“It has been about thirteen months since I started remembering people and events to write down for these columns.  You might say I marked the anniversary by taking a spectacular pratfall in my office and busting my upper right arm (yes, I’m right-handed)  on November 9.  I relate this dumb accident by way of a reason for a hiatus in my usual schedule of remembering for these co”  ...(more)

“Though I never heard Bud Olson blow his horn about any of his many talents, I know from bits and pieces of conversation that his talents were many.  Bud Olson during a WW2 photo shoot  I only knew him as a neighbor.  When our families were young, we lived across the street from each other in the North Admiral neighborhood of West Seattle.  Bud and his wife, Eunice had t”  ...(more)

“Last week, the boys of summer turned into the guys of October and hung up the Major League baseball season for 2006.  The error-riddled Tigers of Detroit, bowed to the red birds of St. Louis in Busch Stadium in a three games to one shellacking.  Kids teams, now back at their school desks for two months, put the bats and balls and gloves away a long time ago.  Baseball, America's ga”  ...(more)

“What got me wondering is one issue frequently repeated and apparently central to the impending school closures and mergers in Seattle.   Of course, that issue is that the enrollment in the District is half what it was 40 years ago.  Where, in God’s name, did all those kids disappear to?  (‘scuse the split infinitive)   Strangely, though admitting the drop-off, t”  ...(more)

“Entry of the single word, “consultants,” in my Google Browser, brought up 265 million responses.  Are there that many human beings, living in the noted State?  There must be good money helping other folks run their families, businesses and their very lives.   The specialists are in education, finance, transportation, health care administration, energy, government relat”  ...(more)

“The squiggles and marks of so-called graffiti artist are appearing wherever a space invites them.  The blogists and free-spirit crowd again are debating the cultural value against the destructive perception of graffiti.  "HiYu Parade Day" has forever been destroyed.   Referring to the last confrontation in the 80’s, “The Stranger,” a Seattle weekly seeking t”  ...(more)

“If my arm were buried up to the elbow in a bowl of guacamole, I couldn’t come up with a green thumb.  And, don’t start throwing Latin plant derivations at me.  I wouldn’t have a clue what you’re talking about.  By way of disclaimer, I rightfully separate myself from the term “expert” when it comes to gardening prowess.  A bearded iris and a ”  ...(more)

“One thing I’ve picked up in my travels through a long life is that in the excitement of hugely successful human endeavors, a few significant downers inevitably crop up.     As I sit here and plunk away at my sight-enhanced computer keyboard, I see some glitches in this limitless window to the knowledge and information of the world. &nbs”  ...(more)

“Recently, I was asked by an acquaintance, born at the tail end of the “boomer generation:” “In your memory, what has changed the most about West Seattle since you arrived on the scene in 1938?”   Without a second of hesitation: the people!   The question is; did the circumstances change the people, or did the people change the circumstances.  A big influx”  ...(more)

“The now-familiar red-and-white dive flag was invented in the early 1950's by Denzel James "Doc" Dockery from Michigan.    The universal dive flag   Flying from a buoy, it marked the site where a diver was underwater, asking surface boat traffic to steer clear.   Baby Boomers born in the post-WW2 era were entertained by a plethora of captivating fad”  ...(more)

“I try to think I’m reasonably up-beat and optimistic about change.  It usually doesn’t discomfort me too much.  After all, it’s the principal ingredient of improvement.  I think one change, however may be creating some unintended consequences.  I find the result a bit abrasive to my nature.  Many people consider the ATM to bethe instigator of i”  ...(more)

“Please forgive me for straying from my usual practice confining these columns to West Seattle recollections.  You might, however, cut me a bit of slack.  The subject matter affects the local populace as certainly as it does the rest of the “civilized” world.   WPA, FDR And CCC as prime examples of acronym madness.   With the Mariners taking a night of”  ...(more)

“An April24, 1992 story scribed by Seattle Times writer Timothy Egan announced, “Parting from No-Growth Orthodoxy, Seattle Mayor Plans 'Urban Villages.”   Continuing, the story proclaimed: “Unveiling his vision for Seattle in the year 2010, Mayor (Norm) Rice broke with the no-growth orthodoxy that has governed this city's politics for more than two decades. ‘Th”  ...(more)

“CompetitivenessIn a letter addressed to the American people, President George Bush recently wrote, “To build on our successes and remain a leader in science and technology, I am pleased to announce the American Competitiveness Initiative. The American Competitiveness Initiative commits $5.9 billion in FY 2007 to increase investments in research and development, strengthen education, and enco”  ...(more)

“Now a mere shadow of its former strength is a local paradigm once trumpeted as the “West Seattle Spirit.”   I remember talking about it--a lot . . . and singing about it, under the inspired direction of the late insurance guy, Orlyn Haws; “with enthusiasm,’” as Normy Beers used to put it. Orlyn, a Kiwanian, put a big heart into the Hi-Yu and ci”  ...(more)

“When contemplating the renewed strategy of school closures to solve the monetary woes of Seattle Public Schools, one is reminded of the overused adage, “what goes around comes around.”   Though it's been proposed and implemented before; for a variety of published reasons, boarding up underused neighborhood citadels of learning is on the table once aga”  ...(more)

“There’s a report currently circulating that folks surviving into their 80s are the fastest growing segment of the population. Imagine that. At one time, we, the current crop pf octogenarians were responsible for creating another population spike – the “Baby Boomers,” now joining us in retirement.   We, in our 80s have some good days and some not so”  ...(more)

“When I started these columns almost a year ago, I vowed to restrict my recollections to stuff that happened in West Seattle.  For the most part I’ve stuck to that.   However. the comments below, I confess, were e-mailed to me by a friend* in California and never include a word about the “town within a town,” West Seattle.  Though all of them hit home to me, I”  ...(more)

“A good friend of mine once said that most folks can be characterized as “belongers” or “non-belongers.”   That’s may be an over-simplification.   When I left the West Seattle Herald printing plant over 40 years ago to assume management of the retail advertising sales, my awareness of the politics, commerce and social structure of the community was abrupt”  ...(more)

“8:15 a.m. The phone rings. I answer.   “Warren, this is Joyce. I have a real problem. These parking meters are going to put me out of business.”   “How’s that,” I asked.   Joyce replied. “My breakfast customers who park in front of my restaurant are getting nailed by Matilda the Hun (affectionately referring to the meter maid).&#”  ...(more)

“Every State of the Union Speech and every politician’s play book – Ds and Rs – contains a reference to the values and joys of volunteerism.  Otherwise it is known as giving your effort and time away for free, to fulfill a societal need where human and financial resources would be otherwise unavailable.   Despite all the teary-eyed espousal, the concept, though recomme”  ...(more)

“A mere glimpse of the hearings and floor debate over the Sam Alito nomination to the Supreme Court in that august body, the U.S. Senate, certainly illustrates the contentious nature of Contemporary society.  Blessedly, the Senators have stopped just short of fisticuffs which often punctuated Congressional debates of the 19th century.   Is it phenomena solely relegated to present-day is”  ...(more)

“Like a prodigal son, I returned to West Seattle in December 1938, I made my way back after an absence of twenty years.  Many of the constants which I grew up with, not surprisingly, still remained intact here in the “town within a town,” West Seattle.  Significant among these entrenched icons were the “corner drugstores” and the seemingly irreplaceable folks who k”  ...(more)

“When the doctor came to our house in my childhood days, his inseparable companion was a small black leather bag.  We saw some of the contents as he brought them out in his treatment of “what ailed us.”  No one would dream of peering inside, so most of the contents remained an intriguing mystery.  The proverbial black doctor's bag.   Of course, I was ignorant ”  ...(more)

“I guess we are stuck with transportation issues.  West Seattle’s geographic isolation certainly has added to the problem.  It always has.  Researching the web, I found Historylink.org provided plentiful reliable data to help me with dates and other details on the evolving history.  The West Seattle Bridge   More recently, the demise of the West Seattle-Ballard Mon”  ...(more)

“The whole enterprise of charitable fund-raising may be reaching an uncomfortable level of prickliness. Illustratively, a recent letter to the editor of the West Seattle Herald expressed out-right disdain for the merchants of the Junction who pretty consistently declined to contribute auction items she was soliciting for a charitable fundraiser.  Predictably, her letter attracted an equally”  ...(more)

“As long as we are in a remembering mood, it occurred to me that we could measure our longevity on this earth against the number of West Seattle changes, incidents, improvements and characters we can remember out of the list that follows:   Street cars meeting at the Junction for the last time to be replaced by diesel buses and trackless trolleys. (Lightning-rod Mayor Fred Do”  ...(more)

“West Seattle has been blessed through the years by many additions of public park space.  Some are dedicated to sports, others to sight-viewing, picnicking, jogging and walking.  Some have been high jacked for unintended uses.   Little known are the origins of some of the minor park spaces.   Belvedere Viewpoint is a prize among them.  Located at”  ...(more)

“I remember an aged, copper-colored cocker spaniel up the block who’d -- whenever he could make it --  drag himself down in front of Mel’s garage to get his matted, tangled coat combed and soak up Mel’s affectionate attention.  Melvin Gangnes   At the same time, his political views were steeped in stubborn resolve.  For years he and Mrs. Piper, who lived”  ...(more)

“It has been a long time since my Toastmaster experience ended, but I look back on it with admiration for its core principles and mission.   To check my recollections, I looked up the present website of the organization which refreshed my memory as follows:   "Since Toastmasters began, more than four million men and women have benefited from the organization’s communication and ”  ...(more)

“"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going dir”  ...(more)

“He was born in Van, Turkey on March 11, 1914.  His parents were missionaries for the American Board for Foreign Missions of the Congregational Church.  His father was an ordained minister, his mother a teacher.  His father's particular task was to work with the Near East Relief helping to organize aid for orphans and others left in need during the World War I years.  He had fou”  ...(more)

““Never get too close behind a male driver wearing a felt hat straight on his head . . . Watch it, there’s one right in front of us . . . See! . . . he just cut across two lanes to make a left turn.”  The only advice Jesse Ebert ever gave me.   He was a quiet, in-obtrusive guy on the surface. Underneath, he was a methodical, orderly goal-setter spiced by an element”  ...(more)

“Some printed glitches sneak by the proofreader’s eagle eye. Others spring from faulty facts. A few are generated from misunderstandings and lousy analysis.  On rare occasions they get there on purpose.   Proofreading is an under-appreciated talent.  It takes a detail-oriented mind-set, impatience with presumptions, and familiarity with the gutter as well as the niceties.”  ...(more)

“It’s been an interesting week.  When I got in Monday morning the following message was in my in-box. It interested me, so I’m sharing it with you:“Read your article. Do you know if Moe Beerman was an artist stationed at Ft. Knox, Kentucky during WW II?  I worked with a Moe Beerman and wondered if he was the same one.   Thanks.”— Juanita   ”  ...(more)

“One reads and hears and sees a lot these days about the evaporation of family wage jobs.  Much of the blame for this concern, is directed at outsourcing, especially,  during the last few years, The blame, conveniently, becomes political ammunition for the party out of power to sling at the party in power.  The truth, “with the bark on it,” as my Dad used to say, is that ”  ...(more)

“He never asked me if I was a Democrat or Republican.    R.R. Bob GreiveHe did pointedly oppose zoning the land-side rim of Harbor Ave. S.W. for condos.  “They’d be full of Republicans,” he often asserted.  Maybe he was right, but I can’t say it affected subsequent voting tallies much.    In a July 2, 2004 comment at his dea”  ...(more)

“If you have ever parked in any of the lots surrounding the West Seattle Junction, you might be interested in knowing how they happened to be there for your convenience.   As the core neighborhood retail shopping center grew and prospered during the 1930’s and beyond through WWII, the single-family homes on 42nd and 44th were gradually converted to commercial use.  Others were”  ...(more)

“This column calls up my recollection of a random bunch of folks who made a difference in the West Seattle scene, changed the landscape, ruffled feathers or served some beloved purpose.  Again, I caution, I have only enough information, hopefully, from my own recall, to stir the memory of a few readers and friends and kin with enough interest to fire back at me. ”  ...(more)

“After WWII, back working in the Herald printing plant, it seemed to me that a permanent one-family home in West Seattle would be a pretty good idea.  Betty and I spent many weekends scouting real estate offices in attempt to fit a modest dwelling into the prevailing economic theory that a family could afford to spend one week’s pay a month for a place to live.  At the time there we”  ...(more)

“A group dynamics professor at the U Dub once said to me, “An important element of persuasion is treating people nice.  It works the best when you mean it.”  I believe it was a viable idea because I saw Gene Fiedler proving it every day.  Eugene Cathart Fiedler   Gene Fiedler was passionately committed to making his slogan the mission statement of his Chevrole”  ...(more)

“I was skimming through a 1935 game program of the West Seattle “Yellow Jackets vs. the Kitsap “Destroyers,” recently, and an amazing number of names popped up in the player rosters and the list of sponsors.   First among the list of team supporters was Mort Lowney.  I was initially aware of him as manager of the Puget Sound Power and Light office at the Junction.&”  ...(more)

“Word has gone out that more help can be used to keep the 2005 Hi-Yu float afloat, refurbished, and accompanied to a bunch of parades around Western Washington.  As always, maintaining the enterprise is labor-intensive.  The full schedule of appearances can be viewed on the Hi-Yu website, www.hiyu.com.  This year’s theme is “Hi-Yu Goes Hollywood.”    ”  ...(more)

“In the course of one’s life, a special person comes along who links with you in special ways,  Fritz Linde fit the mold for me.  At his recent funeral, the local Latter Day Saints church was filled with folks who came to pay their final respects to a man who had touched their lives as he had mine.  Among them were former employees at Peoples Bank, customers, banking colleagues”  ...(more)

“In the years following World War One, through the Great Depression and abruptly ending with the Pearl Harbor attack, December 7, 1941, there was an interest in neighborhood sports teams on an amateur and semi-pro level.  West Seattle, with its vaunted “West Seattle Spirit” was certainly no exception.   The vehicle established to unleash all this manly pride was ”  ...(more)

“I had a visitor this week.  He came in twice, in fact.  What he brought with him was a bundle about an inch and a half thick.   Leonard Vann  Vann's restaurant in the 1940's, this was its lastlocation on California Ave SW until its sale to anIndian Cuisine proprietor in the 90's.Leonard Vann brought me his priceless collection of clippings and photographs marking a truly ”  ...(more)

“In a recent Seattle Times story, business columnist Frank Vintuan referred to him as the “Pickle King.”  To his friends and colleagues he was usually “Dick” or less reverently, “Pickles.”  The Farman's Pickle factory in its current state   Of course, that part of the late Richard Farman’s story started in a few acres of cucumb”  ...(more)

“WELL! . . . . I never claimed to remember everything.  So, I’m always grateful for reminders and information from my hordes of on-line browsers.  I was particularly elated to receive the following e-mail which illustrates the distance covered by the world-wide web: Dear Warren,   My name is Clifford Munce.  I live in London, Ontario. As an ex-West Seattle resident,”  ...(more)

“As I get longer in the tooth, I find myself seeking out the History Channel rather than the usual string of situation comedies or so called "reality TV" which attract my more youthful compatriots.  Am I living in the past?  Perhaps.  However, recent unsealing of secret documents in Germany, Russia, and, yes, the good old US of A, has uncovered some pretty interesting stuff.  Th”  ...(more)

“As I cautioned when I started combing my memory bank for these tidbits, I am making no claim to impeccable recall, nor attempting to dredge up obituaries of deceased luminaries or common folks I have met along the way.  Suffice to say, my recollections are purely anecdotal and are offered with the understanding that many of you were still unborn when the individuals I describe had long since ”  ...(more)

“It was a little before my time in West Seattle, but had to be in the early 20’s when the JCPenney presence was first felt in the Junction business district.  That was about the time the company founded by James Cash Penney experienced a phenomenal spurt of growth.  Like small towns and neighborhoods across the nation, West Seattle found its retail core influenced by the foot traffi”  ...(more)

“A remark I heard on a recent news program declared the health care system of the United States to be on the verge of implosion.  Since my age gives me more than a few years of hindsight, I make no apology for viewing the industry that takes care of our ailments and injuries from that perspective.   To narrow the context, the availability of care in West Seattle should be illustrative. ”  ...(more)

“Commenting, as a camera scanned the courtside spectators at a recent Lakers game in L.A., the ESPN color guy, obviously a young whipper-snapper, wondered inanely who the old lady was sitting there. Rudely, his remark was directed at a Hollywood icon. In my generation, it’was not nice to make such references to a lady’s age.  Dyan Cannon in a photo closer to her Hi-Yu daysand late”  ...(more)

“It is said that nothing is more unchangeable than change itself.  That’s certainly true of the Junction of West Seattle since I came here in December of 1938.   At that time it was really a junction marked by the point where Admiral District street cars turned north and Fauntleroy cars turned south.  The fire station at Alaska and 44th was still operational though modernized”  ...(more)

“A Seattle Times editorial by Lee Moriwaki recently bemoaned nostalgically about the Sundays of the “good old days” which were, indeed, set aside for family activities, or lack thereof, generally regarded as “rest.”  The motivation for his piece was the introduction, in Olympia, of companion House/Senate legislative bills which would amend state statutes to allow for Su”  ...(more)

“My 12-year-old cocker spaniel, Maggie parked beside the bed put out her signal to “let me out,” at 6:30 this morning. As I passed the thermostat, I gave it a twist and the furnace rattled into action.  It’s fairly new. Six years ago it replaced the decrepit “Green Hornet” installed when the house was built in 1954.  Holy, cats; was it that old?  Maggie”  ...(more)

“Forgive the somewhat rambling style. The following recollections are related in no guaranteed chronological order. They do, in fact just illustrate the history of surviving community culture which is uniquely West Seattle. INNOCENTLY UNSELFISH The founding premise that justified Hi-Yu was an attempt by retailers, service providers and financial institutions to thank the folks in West Sea”  ...(more)

“One wonders if teams competing on the gridiron of West Seattle Stadium, golfers chasing little white balls on West Seattle Golf Course or rock climber struggling up Schurman Rock ever wonder how all these recreation areas were originated.   In 1935 the Puget Mill Co. sold several acres for $36,000 to Seattle on the condition that the City would procure assistance from the Federal Works ”  ...(more)

“A 20-year old, when I came to work in West Seattle in December 1938, I was relatively naive about local West Seattle politics, despite an above-average interest in State and American history. I did learn West Seattle proper was included in the 34th Legislative District, designated so in 1933 after a mid-term re-districting exercise by the Legislature.   I think the election of State Represe”  ...(more)

“Blunt, Gruff, Huge Heart!   A mantra of abrupt, detached behavior disguised a caring visionary with fierce loyalties.   Ted Clark Best who knew how to use words, used them economically. Sitting talking to him, the chat might be interrupted by a phone ringing. His secretary Nelda Hurd would pick up the phone and yell, “For you, Ted.” He’d grab the receiver and say &#”  ...(more)

“Smart, stunning, eccentric -- only a few of the adjectives appropriately describing West Seattle’s Frances Farmer.  Frances Farmer - 1913-1969   The movie industry and its fans and junkies are far kinder to their fallen stars than can be expected by celebrities in most other fields of endeavor. The worldwide web is crammed with stuff about the lives and careers of movie star”  ...(more)

“As you read this series of cameo descriptions of people and events, it will dawn on you that many of them have previously escaped the radar of local attention. Among these, surely, was Donald L. Gaines. With no intent to repeat an obituary, the following reflects only my personal recall.   Don and his wife, Ruth, lived on S.W. Cloverdale St., near the Fauntleroy ferry dock. They had a son a”  ...(more)

“Flipping through the channels with my remote Sunday night, I bumped into a BBC film on KCTS. It was a kind of choppy depiction of the reign of King George VI during WWII over the UK. Poor George was knee deep in female royalty - the queen mother, Queen Mary and Princesses Margaret and Elizabeth, never mind the ladies in waiting and sundry entourage. None of them ever stepped out of Buckingham Pal”  ...(more)

“I can’t claim too much chronological accuracy but I can remember most of the names and many of the faces in the ongoing saga of automotive dealerships in West Seattle.    Eugene Cathcart Fiedlercirca 1940   When I came to work here in 1938, Hart Chevrolet, Andresen Dodge-Plymouth and Marriott Ford shared the business with a sporadic bunch of used car lots. Toda”  ...(more)

“This month marked the passing of two under celebrated icons of West Seattle. They could not have been more different in scores of ways; probably attributing to their individual uniqueness. One a woman, the other a man; one sort of laid back, the other a type-A personality; one operating in a close circle of friends, the other erudite mixer in the broad community. If their paths seldom crossed, the”  ...(more)

“The recent meanderings of the much-buffeted Kalakala reminds me of a special West Seattleite. Little known to the general populace; William “Wild Bill” Thorniley was a long time resident in a modest home about three blocks south of Jefferson School on 42nd Ave. S.W. In the 1930s, Thorniley worked as a PR guy for the Captain Peabody’s Black Ball Line. He later peddled it to the St”  ...(more)

“The soppy typical December Seattle weather reminds me of a special friend and a character out of the past who made a huge impact on a lot of lives in the West Seattle community. To his contemporary cohorts he was just “Normy.” To the kids he led through generations at the YMCA, he was Mr. Beers, throughout their childhood into adulthood.   His association with sloppy weather is ”  ...(more)

“The Christmas shopping season in West Seattle got off to its usual start the weekend of December 3rd and 4th. The kick-off included a community party in the open space in front of the Alaska House at S.W. Alaska Street and 42nd Ave. S.W. Caroling along with cookies and cider got the holiday spirit churning amongst the local folks beginning at 7pm on Friday, Dec. 3rd. Santa showed up December 4th. ”  ...(more)

“The recent passing of an everyday hero, Lloyd Jeter, reminds me of a chapter of West Seattle history that bears refreshing. Every year on a Sunday during Hi-Yu Week, Lloyd and his buddies from the West Seattle Sportsmen’s Club staged the annual Kid’s Fishing Derby. Lloyd was Chairman and represented the Sportsmen at Hi-Yu meetings, too.    Salty's on Alki, former loca”  ...(more)

“When I first went to work at the West Seattle Herald as an apprentice in the composing room, I was still living with my great aunt on Capitol Hill. The commute included a cable car ride from 15th and Madison down to First Avenue and a streetcar ride from there to West Seattle. The trip took us down the Spokane Street corridor on a 30-ft high trestle, across the bascule bridge and past then Bethleh”  ...(more)