NOW LET US PRAISE the greatest Northwest pop-cult book ever written (other than Loser, of course.)
I speak of Wet and Wired: A Pop Culture Encyclopedia of the Pacific Northwest, by Randy Hodgins and Steve McLellan.
The two Olympians have previously written a history of Seattle-set movies, published a short-lived print and web zine called True Northwest, and produced a comedy radio show. This modestly-produced, large-size trade paperback is their masterwork.
Its 226 pages cover over 500 of the most famous and/or influential people, places, and things in the Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver metro areas (plus a few side trips to Tacoma and Spokane). Mixing and matching the region’s three big cities means even the best expert about any one town won’t already know everything in the book (though I, natch, was familiar with at least most of the topics).
In short, easily digestible tidbits of prose (curiously laid out at odd angles), you get–
- Artistic and literary figures (Lynda Barry, Jacob Lawrence, cartoonist John Callahan, essayist Stewart Holbrook, whodunit-ist J.A. Jance).
- Business and political leaders (the Nordstroms, software moguls, progressive populists, big-business Democrats, Wobblies, and John (Reds) Reed).
- Food and drink favorites (Rainier and Oly beers, the Galloping and Frugal Gourmets, Dick’s Drive-Ins, Fisher Scones).
- Media (J.P. Patches, Wunda Wunda, some of the CBC’s blandest Vancouver-based dramas, The X-Files, Northern Exposure, Keith Jackson, Ahmad Rashad).
- Music (The old Seattle jazz underground, the Wailers/Sonics garage bands, and a certain latter-day music explosion or three).
- Attractions, Places, and Events (the 24-Hour Church of Elvis, the Java Jive, the Kalakala, Ivan the gorilla, Ramtha).
- Sports and Recreation (all the big pro and college teams, a few long-gone outfits like our North American Soccer League teams, legendary (Rosalynn Sumners) and infamous (Tonya Harding) stars).
…and lots, lots more.
The book’s only sins, aside from a handful of misspelled names, are those of omission:
- You get Nordstrom and the late Frederick & Nelson, but not the Bon Marche.
- You get Ivar’s and Brown & Haley (“Makes ‘Em Daily”), but not the great roadside attraction that was Tiny’s Fruit Stand in Cashmere, WA.
- You get Vancouver music greats DOA and 54-40, but not Skinny Puppy or even k.d. lang. (Its Seattle music listings are equally uncomprehensive, but there are other places you can go to read about that.)
- Portland comic-book publisher Dark Horse gets a listing, but Seattle’s Fantagraphics Books (and the locally-based portion of its stable of artists) isn’t.
But these are relatively minor quibbles that can (and, I hope, will) be rectified in a second edition. What Wet and Wired does have is well-written, accurate (as far as I’m able to tell), and a great mosaic of glimpes into our rather peculiar section of the planet.
TOMORROW: Cirque du Soleil pitches its tent in Renton’s Lazy B country.
HEADLINE OF THE WEEK (Tacoma News Tribune, 8/21): “Giant Salmon a Scary Prospect.” I can see the horror movie ad campaigns now….
IN OTHER NEWS: Sometimes justice does occur!
ELSEWHERE:
