1. Back in the fall of 2018, Debbie started a school year long substituting job at Charlamagne, the French Immersion elementary school she taught at in Eugene for several years before we moved to Greenbelt, MD.
In the fall of 2018, we'd been living in Kellogg for a year.
I was enjoying many of the aspects of Kellogg life I've written about over the last several years: living so close to Christy and Carol, family dinners, living close to life long friends, hanging out at The Lounge, hiking, exploring the area, and more.
But, after living near Washington, D.C., going to the New York City metropolitan area to visit Adrienne and Jack and coupling those visits with forays into Manhattan, and after leaving a robust smaller city like Eugene, the one thing I missed in Kellogg was living where a culture of arts and letters thrived, where such a culture is routine.
So, I began making cultural trips to Spokane. I also made one such trip to Missoula in 2019 (to see Jerry Douglas and Tommy Emmanuel) and I drove to Billings when it was Hiram's turn to be a part of the President's Own Marine Corps Band touring group and attended their performance there. Billings was the closest the 2018 tour came to Kellogg.
I had decided, by 2019, to lean on what was happening in downtown Spokane and through Whitworth University to fulfill my desire for attending lectures, plays, art exhibits, movies, live concerts, and anything else that captured my interest.
I expanded this cultural safari in the fall of 2019 when I joined Mary Chase, Kathy Brainard, Linda Lavigne, and others to play trivia at different venues around Spokane.
By mid-March of 2020, soon after I'd gone to hear tribute bands at the Bing play music by Cream one night and Pink Floyd the next night, the pandemic was upon us.
No more trivia.
No more concerts.
No more cultural safaris.
I would begin learning how to culturally satisfy myself at home with movies, live streaming content on the World Wide Web, and reading.
It worked.
2. I bring this all up because this evening I returned to my Spokane cultural safari.
Between March 2020 and last night, I approached public events very cautiously because of my trust in medical observations that the caronavirus attacked diminished kidneys.
In addition, I didn't attend most public events after my May 11, 2024 kidney transplant because my immune system had to be shut down significantly to keep my body from rejecting my new organ and I didn't want to complicate my recovery by adding illness to it.
But, a couple of months ago, when I read that Leah Sottile would be in Spokane on April 2 as she promotes her latest book, Blazing Eye Sees All, I bought a VIP ticket so that I would receive a signed copy of her book, get a complimentary (for me, non-alcoholic) drink, and have a chance to meet and chat a bit with Leah Sottile.
When I introduced myself to Sottile, she let out a mild gasp, knowing from our brief bit of correspondence that I was the guy who set out to read the books on the list she published as a counter to the NYTimes' list of best books of the 21st century. She knew I had succeeded in reading every one of her listed books.
She told me, as she had written to me, that she was honored that I had taken her book list so seriously.
Others were around to visit with Leah Sottile, so I didn't tell her how much that list of books expanded my horizons, both in terms of the world we live in and in terms of my world of reading. I'd say that, at most, only about two books on that list were books I would have read on my own -- most of them were books I'd never heard of.
One author on her list, the only one with two books on it, and a writer who has helped Leah Sottile with her work, Spokane's Jess Walter, semi-interrupted my conversation with Leah Sottile (no problem) and then he and I accidentally sat side by side during the evening's program.
I left him alone.
While I might have wanted to tell him how much I enjoyed the three books of his I've read, I thought, no he's enjoying this evening with friends, talking about "civilian" stuff (like the upcoming Final Four). If I want to express my appreciation of what I've read, I can do so by other means or attend his June 10th program when he will promote his newest book.
3. The Spokesman Review launched a project several years ago called Northwest Passages. Its mission is journalism and book focused. Among other activities, Northwest Passages hosts a far reaching online book club and hosts events like tonight in which an author presents a book of hers or his by being interviewed by a professional writer.
This evening, Leah Sottile gladly submitted herself to the questioning of former Spokesman Review journalist Emma Epperly. Epperly asked a series of probing question about New Agism, the subject of Sottlie's newly published work, giving special attention to how Sottile, well-known and respected for her journalistic integrity and stellar ethical standards, went about journalistically researching and conducting interviews about a subject that is as elusive and and, for some, a focus of derision, as New Age beliefs and practices.
Leah Sottile answered these questions directly, intelligently, wittily, and humbly. She was humble in the face of such a huge subject, knowing that she can't tell the whole truth in a single book and aware that even has meticulously as she researched and sought out people's experiences and knowledge, she might not have gotten everything right.
On her podcasts, I've listened to Leah Sottile conduct face to face interviews with a wide range of people, including police officers, Cliven Bundy family members, FBI agents, anarchists, extremists -- whether eco-terrorists or white supremacists--, and I'm always deeply impressed with how she gains the trust of those she interviews.
This evening, she talked some about how she earns trust and I'll sum up what she said this way: she seeks truth, is genuinely and humbly eager to learn how those she talks with see the world, understand their experience, and want to discuss it. She doesn't rush those she interviews. She's not after soundbites. She's not what's known as a "gotcha" journalist. She invites those she talks with to tell their truth, however long it takes, and, with an exception here and there, these people then respond to Sottile's probing follow up questions.
I parked down at the River Park Square and enjoyed my several blocks hike up to the Steam Plant's rooftop, where this event took place (indoors!), and back again.
I love city walking.
I miss the long walks I used to take in Seattle, DC, New York City, Portland, Spokane (when I lived there), and many, many years ago, London.
I thought a lot as I walked and then drove back to Kellogg how I need to return to my cultural safari outlook of the fall of 2018-March of 2020.
With my immune system getting stronger, I need to pay more attention to what's playing, who's performing, who's reading, and what's happening through Whitworth and try to get back to leaning on Spokane and my alma mater, Whitworth, for cultural enjoyment again.
Here are a couple of links to conclude with.
First of all, KHS Class of 1972 member, Kenton Bird was featured as the guest author of a Northwest Passages event on Sept. 6, 2024. He was interviewed by Spokesman Review reporter Jim Camden about the book he co-authored about Tom Foley. You can watch and listen to them talk (and learn more about Northwest Passages) by clicking on this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTf9-KbHN98&list=PLO4UFBdqq__l8zIlFs_cYD29m9-S3l19v&index=12
Second of all, if you'd like to see other videotaped programs presented by Northwest Passages, here's the link to their YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLO4UFBdqq__l8zIlFs_cYD29m9-S3l19v
Leah Sottile's presentation hasn't been posted yet -- I hope to see it go up before too long.