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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