
john nagy
When I first started MISCmedia as a registered business in 2000, I rented a private mailbox from a new shop in Belltown, The Home Office. (UPS shipping, fax service, and top ten lists—all under one roof!)
I knew it was my kind of place when I saw the welcome mat outside the door. It read HI, I’M MAT.
That line actually referred to the store’s founder, Matt Hale. He was a charming, genial, soft spoken fellow.
His store was, and is, on the ground floor of the Seattle Heights condo tower. A few years back, Hale sold the store and took a doorman gig at the building’s front desk.
He was walking home from that job on Aug. 3 when five thugs attacked him, really bad.
His attackers haven’t been identified or found.
Hale’s been in Harborview ever since.
Until Wednesday night.
That’s when he showed up at a neighborhood public safety meeting in the Labor Temple, to rousing applause.
Hale went back to Harborview after the meeting. He’s still got a long road ahead of him.
But he’s got a lot of us on his side.
UPDATE: David Nelson has a more thorough roundup about Wednesday night’s event, and about neighborhood businesses who’ve chipped in to help support Hale’s recovery.