Memories of Christopher Reeve...

Back when I lived in Manhattan, I had the privilege of meeting the late actor Christopher Reeve, whose life and courage has inspired so many of us.

The encounter happened after he had become known worldwide for his role as Superman. I was taking an acting class at Barnard, working on my undergraduate degree. Christopher had studied acting at Julliard, which is about 50 blocks south of Barnard, at Lincoln Center. His father went to Columbia University for a master's degree and his mother went to Barnard -- so there was a connection.

We got to class and the teacher announced that we would be having a guest instructor. The classroom where we met was a small auditorium with a raised stage. We students usually sat on the hardwood floor in circles, but today we were all facing the stage as our teacher made her introduction.

We had no idea who the guest instructor was going to be. When this tall (he was 6'4"), good looking man walked across the stage and then sat down on the edge and smiled at us, it was kind of surreal. He said, "Hi, I'm Chris." Totally casual.

The girl who was sitting next to me hit me in the arm. “That’s Superman!” she whispered excitedly. I nodded my head, but didn't take my eyes off of him. It was really cool – he seemed to be completely unaffected by his fame. He told us how he got started in the business. He told us his fears about taking on the role of Superman – that he didn't see himself as a super hero. He was really approachable; self-deprecating even, but at the same time he exuded an amazing self-confidence.

After he talked with us about himself for a while, he gave us an hour to ask him questions. We were all wannabes (after all, it was an acting class), and some people even asked him to get them a job in the business. He was incredibly patient.

He encouraged us to dare to dream. He admitted that often in life it is who you know, but he said that if we had a burning desire to express ourselves creatively, then we should keep trying, no matter what.

Years later, after he was tragically paralyzed, I saw that he did just that. He never stopped expressing himself creatively. He was truly a remarkable man. He is no longer with us (he died on Oct 10, 2004), but I can still vividly remember that day.

Pike Place & David Cassidy

Folks from the David Cassidy Downunder Fansite heard that he is the topic of discussion in a chapter of Pike Place -- they posted that part of the book (Chapter 18) on their site: http://davidcassidyfansite.com


To read the section of the book (part of Chapter 18): http://davidcassidyfansite.com/InPrintPages/Pike_Place_David_Cassidy_(in_Chapter_18).pdf

The book mentions other singers from that time (early 1970s) including Bobby Sherman, Davy Jones, Jimi Hendrix, and Simon & Garfunkel -- as well as the first "Bumbershoot," which was called "Festival '71" back then (1971 was the first one -- it's been running continuously since then). For more info on Bumbershoot: http://www.bumbershoot.org/

Posters in Downtown Seattle

150 Pike Place posters all over downtown Seattle...

Pike Place Logo

The publisher sent me a scan of the embroidered shirts that they are creating. They say that it's about 11,000 stitches... Can't wait to see it!

M.

Pike Place 1911

Another great old photo -- this one is from 1911.

Just about all horse-drawn vehicles here...

M.

Pike Place Dog T-Shirt

The publisher (Quarrystone) of "Pike Place" has created an online store of clothing and other things with the image from the cover of the book -- and also a new 100th anniversary logo. My favorite item is the "Dog T-Shirt" ...

They are also creating T-shirts with the logo and sending to stores in Pike Place Market.

M.

Pike Place Market

As the 100th anniversary of Seattle's favorite public market draws near, I will share photos and news stories of interest. Here is a photo from 1915 -- note the mix of horse-drawn and gasoline-powered vehicles! And, of course, the public transportation (trolley)...

M.

Pike Place -- Book Club

Starting next week, a Kennewick (WA) book club will be reading Pike Place (thanks, Jackie!). Kennewick is one of the three "Tri-Cities" (the other two are Pasco and Richland). I can't wait to get their feedback!

M.

Pike Place -- Starbucks

There's a picture of the Pike Place Starbucks in Monday's (4/23/07) Desert Sun (Palm Springs, CA) -- the caption says that they've kept the store as it was in the beginning.

Click on the photo of the girl (who's name is "Bobbie" -- just like the character "Bobbi" in the book).

You can just picture the first proprietor, history teacher Zev Siegl (one of the three founders of Starbucks), standing behind the counter...

From the novel, Pike Place:

We couldn’t afford to buy lunch for all of us at the market, but my mom had packed apples for us to eat on the way home. As we were making our way back to our parking space, we came upon a store that smelled of fresh coffee.

“Oh, Daddy – let’s go into this store,” my mom said. “It smells so good.” And it did smell good. We all filed into the store and Scottie and I were quick to notice that they were giving out small cups of coffee to sample. We quickly lined up to get our free cup.

“Is it okay with your parents for you kids to sample coffee?” asked the guy standing behind the counter. He was wearing a white apron with the word ‘Zev’ stitched on it. We weren’t sure if he was mad at us or if that’s the way he always sounded.

“I think it’s okay. They let us have it at home,” I said, looking back at my parents. My mother was on the other side of the shop, looking at some fancy coffee machines that were lined up on the shelves. My dad was intrigued by a bunch of boat stuff that was on another wall.

“Hey, folks. Is it okay with you if I give your kids a sample of one of our richest, dark-roasted coffees?” Zev called out to our parents. Both my mom and dad looked a bit embarrassed for a moment, but as they walked over to talk to the coffee guy, the smile on his face seemed to put them at ease.

“Is it okay with you?” my mother asked him tentatively.

“Sure, it’s fine with me. Gotta start ‘em off on the good stuff, right?” Zev laughed to himself. “Here. Why don’t the two of you try some of this brew? We just roasted these beans about an hour ago.”

My parents were only too thrilled to sample the rich-smelling coffee, and they accepted the small cups and blew on them for a minute before they each took a sip. They drank their coffee black; we, on the other hand put three cubes of sugar each into our little paper cups, along with a hefty portion of cream. As we walked away from the counter, I saw Scottie grab two more cubes and put them in his pocket to suck on later. I wished that he had grabbed some for me.

“Wow,” my dad said, “this is good coffee!” My mom nodded her head in agreement. Scottie and I took a sip. It was different – strong, but with a slightly bitter aftertaste. I liked it, but not as much as I liked my mom’s coffee.

“Bobbi, come here,” Scottie whispered. “Look at this,” he giggled. Scottie was looking at a painting of a mermaid on the window in the front of the shop. The mermaid was buck naked and her mermaid tail was split in two. She was holding both ends of the tail with out-stretched arms. Scottie was staring right at her bare breasts. I grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the window and told him to close his eyes.

"That's disgusting," I said, but he just grinned at me. I frowned back. "Scott Johnson," I said, "sometimes I worry about you."

M.

Pike Place -- Ad

Pike Place ads start May 1, 2007.

Pike Place Interview

I just did an interview for a Seattle newspaper; I'm not sure when it will run, but here is the draft:

New Novel: Pike Place

Interview with the Author

Pike Place Market is to Seattle what the Mercato del Pesce al Minuto is to Venice or the Tsukiji Market is to Tokyo. The market plays a significant role in describing the rich culture of Seattle to audiences around the world, from film (Sleepless in Seattle and A Guy Thing) to television (Grey’s Anatomy and Frasier) to art (Pike Place by Thomas Kinkade). And now, Seattle’s oldest public market is part of the new novel, Pike Place. The book opens by inviting the reader in:

It had been a while since I rambled across the cobblestone streets of downtown Seattle. I was early, so I took my time and allowed myself to be drawn with the crowd into Pike Place Market. Stall after stall was laden with a Thanksgiving harvest: apples and peaches, asparagus, potatoes, pumpkins, early-winter squash, and – of course – the day’s catch. Besides halibut, prawns, and Dungeness crab, I saw at least five types of salmon: Chinook, Sockeye, Coho, Pink, and Chum. That’s what I wanted for lunch, the Chum. In just a few minutes, I would be meeting my family at Café Sport, a new restaurant that everyone was talking about. It was good to be home.

We caught up with the book’s author, Marilyn Howard Tschudi, and asked her about Pike Place and about growing up in Washington.

PPMN: Tell us a little about the novel, Pike Place.

Marilyn: I wanted to write a story where the characters face the good and the bad in life, and how people and places play such an important role in maintaining a sense of well-being. When I was planning the setting for the novel, I decided to draw on my own experiences. So I chose two Washington cities, Richland in the eastern part of the state, and Seattle.

PPMN: Those cities are quite different, aren’t they?

Marilyn: Yes, Richland was a town that was instantly created in World War II to house the engineers who were working on the Manhattan Project which, of course, produced plutonium for the first nuclear bomb. But no one really knew about Richland. In fact, back then, if you wanted to send a letter to one of the families in Richland, they had a Seattle address. And then the Army would drive the letters and packages from Seattle to Richland. Over the years, Richland has grown, but it’s still only a fraction of the size of Seattle.

PPMN: In the book, the characters are zipping around Seattle on their mini bikes. It’s hard to imagine a rural Seattle…

Marilyn: In the early 1970s, there were many wooded areas within the Seattle city limits. But the kids in the story soon realize that things are less safe in bigger towns. In one part of the book, some local boys break into the family’s garage to try to steal their mini bikes. The main character, a ten-year-old girl, is furious when her father doesn’t call the police.

PPMN: But they do call the police when something else happens, right?

Marilyn: When the oldest sister disappears on her way to an after-school job at the local Burger King, the family waits and then calls the Seattle Police Department. Since most crimes are sudden and unexpected, at first they are just stunned and expect her to walk in the door at any moment. But when days turn into weeks, they have to learn how to cope with the pain, but keep on living. That’s when they decide to have a birthday campout for one of the other sisters, right on the shores of the Puget.

PPMN: The kids dig for geoducks.

Marilyn: Most people outside the Pacific Northwest have never heard about geoducks, so I included it in the story. And, since the geoduck has few natural predators besides man, I was able to use it as a metaphor to describe the loss of innocence. The kids never find a geoduck, but they have a great time clam-digging.

PPMN: You set the book in 1971. What are some of the things in the story that are specific to Seattle in 1971?

Marilyn: There was a wealth of history to draw upon. Seattle’s own Jimi Hendrix had just passed away at the age of thirty. The first Bumbershoot was held, although back then it was called Festival ’71. Musicians that the main character liked were Davy Jones, Bobby Sherman and David Cassidy. Her older sister, of course, was listening to Bread. And probably the most famous Pike Place business, Starbucks, had its first shop a few steps away, on Western Avenue. In the book, the whole family stops at the small shop on their way back to the car:

“How would you like to buy a pound of some of these freshly roasted coffee beans? And could I interest you in a coffee grinder, or do you two already have one at home?” Zev asked. I guess he wanted us to buy something; after all, we had just drunk eight cups of his coffee, for free. My mother looked interested, but then she noticed the price.

“A dollar and seventy-five cents for a pound of coffee?” she whispered to Daddy. “I can get five pounds of Maxwell House for that on sale at Safeway!” My father put his arm around her shoulder and then smiled at the man behind the counter.

“I think we’ll pass today,” my dad said politely. “This was sure good coffee, though. Thank you for the samples, Zev.” Daddy always used a person’s name when he talked to them. I liked that about him. The man just nodded his head and looked over my dad’s shoulder at the next person in line. We followed my parents out of the store, and I stole another look at the logo on the window. The name of the store was spelled out around the naked mermaid. It said ‘Starbucks’.

“That store will not be able to stay in business,” my mom declared emphatically. “Can you imagine charging a dollar-seventy-five for a pound of coffee?” My dad just hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.

“I like your coffee best, anyway, Sweetheart.”

PPMN: This sounds like a delightful book. When is it coming out?

Marilyn: The publisher thought that it would be fitting to release Pike Place on the one-hundredth anniversary of the market, on August 17, 2007. They’re sending advance copies to all the Seattle-area libraries in July, so people can read the book before then. We’re looking forward to a great summer in Downtown Seattle.

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"Pike Place" novel -- galley proofs

Welcome to the Pike Place blog! The release date of Pike Place has been set: August 17, 2007 -- which is the 100th anniversary of Seattle's Pike Place Market.

We looked over the galley proofs this weekend and the book is about ready to go to print. We double-checked the chronology, which seems to be straightforward, but is a little tricky. The book opens in Pike Place Market in 1985, then goes back to 1971 and 1972 Richland and Seattle, Washington, and then ends where it started.

The cover has really come alive, especially with the adding of the pine trees behind the famous Public Market sign. We watched Sleepless in Seattle last week, and Tom Hanks and Rob Reiner walk down the street toward this sign -- the sign is also used in several episodes of Grey's Anatomy.

Even though I grew up in Washington, I'm learning more about it each day. In the coming days/weeks/months -- up to the release of Pike Place -- and then after it, I will share some of the interesting things that I uncover from the past as well as new things discovered each day about Seattle, Pike Place Market, and the wonderful Pacific Northwest.

M.