Helen Sommers: An Oral History

pg. 132 Jim Boldt
eventually in the Legislature as they worked themselves
from school board, to city council, county
council and then they would run for the Legislature
as a public servant.
Maybe in their second term, they would find
an issue or a cause and they would go into that
committee subject area or maybe they would go
into leadership. Of course we had people who came
in who felt strongly about issues. But it seems like
today a lot of members are people who have a cause
and in some cases are biasedly committed to that
cause, so they come to the Legislature. And, all
of a sudden they find out they have to be a public
servant! It’s just one guy’s observation but I think
it’s now upside down. It’s a whole different world!
I remember in the mid-1970’s Rep. Bob Charette
(D-19 th District). One day in Helen’s absence from
the caucus, an issue came up about a fiscal matter.
Someone said, “Well, Helen’s not here so I don’t
think we should go into that right now because
she feels strongly about it.” Another member says,
“Well she should be here!” Charette stood up and
gave us one of the best quotes of all time! “We all
know she is Helen Sommers; but if we bring that
issue up now, without her here, she will be Helen
Winters, too!” (laughter)
Helen was solid, information based. I respected
her highly. After I left the Legislature, Helen and I
would get together, sometimes it would be for lunch
during session or we’d have a ‘non-issue’ dinner at
least once a year. I don’t know how many times
I met her for lunch at a little Italian place in her
district. I’d say, probably for the last three or four
elections when we’d get together for lunch, Helen
would say, “Maybe I’m not going to run again.
Maybe I should step out of the way.” And I’d say
“Helen, what are you going to do? You know the
place like the back of your hand; you can get what
you want for higher education, you can help with a
lot of causes. As long as you enjoy it and you have
your health, stay with it!” I had the highest respect
for her. I think one of the highlights for me was
having Helen as a friend I could talk to.
One time, I rode my Harley Davidson motorcycle
from Federal Way to Seattle so we could go
to lunch. This was when I was a lobbyist, but nine
out of 10 times, I didn’t even have an issue in front
of her. We were in a café that day, so I took an
extra helmet. I said, “Helen have you ever ridden
a Harley?” She hadn’t even been on a motorcycle!
She had that look - you know how she used to
raise one eye-brow and leave the other one down?
(laughter) She said “yea!”
So we threw our helmets on and went out. I took
a hard run through the parking lot; got out on the
street, around a corner and slipped a bit. She let me
know, politely that was enough, but she said, “Well,
now I can tell everybody I’ve ridden a Harley!” I think
she got a kick out of that. That was a big day for me.
I thought getting her on the back of a motorcycle was
one of the pinnacles of life.
Another great Helen story: I was a member – with
her encouragement – of the Burke Museum. One
of my side hobbies is amateur study of Northwest
Native Americans. I was fascinated when in 1996
two men, who were watching the hydroplane races
on the Columbia River, happened to find part of a
human skull on the edge of the river. Later, deliberate
searches turned up a nearly complete male skeleton
that is now known as “Kennewick Man!” There is
still question today about Kennewick Man. Initial
studies indicate an age of 9,000 years, making Kennewick
Man one of the oldest and most complete
skeletons found in the Americas.
A lot of people don’t understand the political
undertone on the tug-of-war on this issue. They had
the Kennewick Man bones at the Burke Museum
for awhile until they got the court case figured
out on whether or not the scientists could look at
it. Northwest Indian Tribes claim the remains of
Kennewick Man as their ancestors. So it’s still an
open case and the bones were locked in the basement
of the Burke.
Helen, who is very active in the Burke Museum,
took me there. She said, “I can get you close to
the bones, but we can’t open the door because it
was sealed under a federal order.” So, we went
down in the basement. We went through a couple
of locked doors, and Helen said, “Jim, I can’t get
you in, but touch that door because inside are the
bones of the Kennewick Man.” It was a real treat
for me. You know, that was a serious debate. The