“I’m interested in people who aren’t the lucky ones, who maybe have a tougher time surviving, and telling their story” – Mary Ellen Mark When we think of Seattle and the movies we usually start with the box office hits like You've Got Mail or Singles that were shot in Seattle and prominently feature our fair city but it is the documentary Streetwise, that grew out of a LIFE magazine piece by the noted photographer Mary Ellen Mark, that provides us with one of the most powerful film depictions of the Emerald City. From the preface: In April 1983 reporter...
Seattle book scene takes a big hit: Paul Constant leaves The Stranger
Paul Constant, the long time book editor and content machine for The Stranger, has announced he is leaving “Seattle’s Only Newspaper.” Following on the heels of other top writers and contributors who have recently exited, his departure marks the end of the glory days for the paper. This is a huge blow for the Seattle book scene. Nobody covered the local book beat better. Nobody provided more extensive coverage, nobody showed up at more events, nobody. Constant clearly has some renaissance leanings, he has also capably covered film, food, breaking news and the 2012 presidential election, but he is first and foremost a...
Seattle: The Book Buying Capital of America
The results are in and Seattle takes the cake when it comes to buying books. For her New York Time Opinion Piece, What People Buy and Where, Elizabeth Currid-Halkett utilized the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Expenditure Survey to track differences among cities in household spending in various categories from 2007 to 2012. In the book category Seattle ran away from the field by spending a whopping 68% more than the national average on books! Full disclosure: I live here and I buy a lot of books :-)
Poetry Returns to the Buses of Seattle
The bus is a unique public space—rich with stories, character and poignant vignettes. It’s a space where, for a short while, all of us are going in the same direction After a 7 year break poetry is back on the buses of Seattle and it has returned in grand style with the theme of "Writing Home" leading the way. 850 people packed the (re) launch party that featured a slew local poets. Poems were read in English, Russian, Somali, Spanish and Vietnamese. A true poetic celebration to the diversity that makes Seattle a special place. The poems are "written by the person across the...
Seattle Public Library launches the Pike Place Market Digital Collection
"We believe handmade, homegrown and face-to-face are still the best ways of doing things." It was an August day in 1907 when "crowds of shoppers seeking fresh produce and bargains descended...The first farmer sold out of produce within minutes. Within a week, 70 wagons were gathering daily to sell along the newly named Pike Place, a wooden roadway that connected First St. to Western Ave." The Pike Place Market rests just under the Space Needle when it comes to Seattle's prominent landmarks. It is both a tourist mecca and community hub. In all, the Pike Place Market Historic District comprises 9 acres. It is...