-
A trip to ‘the end of the world’
Until yesterday (March 9, 2022), I had never been to Pullman, Washington. I’m almost embarrassed to admit that. I’m 67 years old. I’m a native Washingtonian. My brother went to Washington State University, for crying out loud. My beloved Husky football team plays there every two years. It’s just that, for me, it was never on the way to anywhere. When we went to Montana, or points beyond, we always drove through Spokane. What’s Pullman on the way to? Moscow or Lewiston, Idaho? Heck, even George Raveling, the Cougars’ great basketball coach who worked the sidelines there from 1972-1983, once…
-
Remembering a life well-lived
Early Bethany Covenanter Alice Van Liew Anderson had a story to tell – of God’s faithfulness and goodness, through the joys and tragedies of her long and full life Sometimes you meet people that just stand out. Alice Van Liew Anderson, to me, was one of those persons. Just a year before she died – during the depths of the pandemic – she wrote her life story in a book titled “Looking West: Remembering a Life Well-Lived.” Raised by Swedish immigrant parents, on a stump farm at Baker Heights just east of Mount Vernon, she tells her story. I was…
-
Here today, gone to Maui
Vicki and I recently returned from a trip to Maui. We figured it was our sixth trip to the Hawaiian island. We took note of the new, much-improved rental car center upon our arrival at the airport in Kahului that wasn’t there when we last visited in 2019. That prompted me to exclaim: “I guess we haven’t been here in three years.” Pandemic travel restrictions aside, it struck me how odd that statement was. Some members of our family have never been to Hawaii. I had equated a visit to Hawaii as if it were as commonplace as a trip…
-
The story behind ‘the backstory’: Remembering David Virta
The Seattle Times’ Pacific NW magazine in October published my story on a collection of fall hikes. It was a nice, 12-page spread designed by the magazine’s art director, David Miller and edited by Bill Reader, the mag’s editor. “D-Mill” and I worked together at The Times for more than 30 years, Bill and I for about 20 years. In assigning this story, Bill also asked me to write a “backstory,” a short page 2 piece that usually accompanies the front-page story. It’s supposed to offer some insight about the author and the “story behind the story.” Well, here’s a…
-
Sign of the times: The 24-7 world of college football recruiting
The first of two national signing days for high-school football players has come and gone, and once again we’re reminded of the importance of college football recruiting. Each year, it seems, college football coaches are under ever more scrutiny for their ability to recruit – or not. Jimmy Lake’s lackluster 2021 and 2022 recruiting classes – especially his failure to keep high-profile, in-state recruits home – is one of the reasons he was fired as coach at Washington. Contrast that to the highly-ranked classes maniacal recruiter Mario Cristibal put together at Oregon, and you know why the University of Miami…
-
A PEEK INSIDE THE LAKE SHOW
Vicki and I are personally witnessed the “ups and downs” of Jimmy lake’s brief tenure as the football coach at the University of Washington. We shared an elevator ride with him. You could say we saw this all coming down on several levels. You groan. It’s true, though. We did really ride the elevator with the embattled coach before the UCLA game on October 16. Only, he didn’t look like a coach in trouble. Far from it. We had just been to the “off leash” deck at Husky Stadium to share a beer. We were about to take the stairs…
-
ON THIS CHURCH FOUNDATION I BUILT MY LIFE
Bethany Covenant Church of Mount Vernon recently turned 100. As a nearly-lifelong attender of BCC I was on the committee that planned the centennial celebration October 23-24. I guess that makes me an old guy. We began meeting in April, and one of the things I wanted to do was profile in a video two or three people in the church for each of the 10 decades on consecutive Sundays leading up to the 100th anniversary. Decade No. 1 (1921-1931) highlighted two charter members: John Lund, my grandfather, and Nels Elde, my great grandfather. Also among the 16 charter members…
-
Mount Pilchuck is a peak set apart
September is a great month for a day hike. I shared my hike to Mount Pilchuck’s historical, restored fire lookout in a story in Sunday’s Seattle Times. The mountain also has some historical significance for me. I’m old enough to remember seeing the lights from the old ski area at the top of the mountain while driving down I-5 in the early 70s. https://www.seattletimes.com/life/outdoors/reach-mount-pilchucks-historic-lookout-for-a-view-of-the-cascades-from-a-peak-set-apart/https://www.seattletimes.com/life/outdoors/reach-mount-pilchucks-historic-lookout-for-a-view-of-the-cascades-from-a-peak-set-apart/
-
THE HILLS ARE ALIVE …. WITH HISTORY
This was a story that was decades in the making. As a young boy, I remember riding in the car over Stevens Pass and my dad pointing out, “you see those collapsed snowsheds over there? An avalanche of snow wiped out a passenger train, and many people lost their lives.” So when Seattle Times Features Editor Stefanie Loh pitched a story idea to me about “hiking for history buffs” I knew exactly where I wanted to go – the “Iron Goat Trail” that follows the ill-fated Great Northern Railway route built in the late 1800s. I never made it to…
-
A visit to Indiana’s Cathedral of Basketball
I have a deep affinity for college basketball and football venues. It’s no secret to Vicki, our daughters (trust me, they have childhood memories of trips to college campuses to prove it), or anyone who knows me very well. For me, it’s as if the place the game is played is as interesting as the game itself. So imagine my excitement when I had the opportunity to visit the holy grail of all college basketball venues: Historic Hinkle Fieldhouse on the campus of Butler University on the north outskirts of Indianapolis. We had flown to Indy the night before, and…
