Assessing How We Define Diversity - Seattle University

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“One of the things writers and prosecutors have in common is the search for the truth.” Mark Lindquist Photos by Anil Kapahi 24 | True Crime Writer
T r U E c R i M e Writer Pierce County Deputy Prosecutor by Nick Gallo Mark Lindquist Writes Page-Turners t hrough the window of the Pierce County prosecutor’s office on the 10th floor of the County-City Building, Mark Lindquist has a million-dollar view of Mount Rainier, the Foss Waterway, and Tacoma’s newly revitalized downtown area. But from the same window, Lindquist, a 1995 graduate of the Seattle University School of Law, can peer down at dark, narrow alleys used by drug addicts and criminals. Not surprisingly, his eyes are drawn to the nittygritty netherworld below. As the team chief of the drug and vice unit for the Pierce County prosecuting attorney, Lindquist supervises a department that prosecutes about 2,800 cases every year. He also tries several homicide and high-profile cases each year. This fall, for instance, he prosecuted the young man found guilty of the shootings at the Tacoma Mall. At the same time, he is a longtime professional writer who has published four novels, the latest of which is The King of Methlehem, a fast-paced, riveting tour of the world of methamphetamines in the Tacoma area and the cops and prosecutors who combat it. “I’ve always believed in the axiom ‘Write what you know,’” he says. “After working 12 years here, a lot of stories have accumulated in my head.” Lindquist, 48, has taken a wild, unconventional path to the prosecutor’s office, a tale straight out of Hollywood. A Seattle native, he attended the University of Washington and then moved to Los Angeles in 1979 to attend the University of Southern California. Before long he was writing scripts for film studios, hanging out at late-night clubs with movie-biz figures, and becoming friends with writers who would become famous as the “literary brat pack”—namely Jay McInerney (Bright Lights, Big City); Bret Easton Ellis (Less Than Zero, American Psycho) and Tama Janowitz (Slaves of New York). In 1987 Lindquist entered the book-publishing fray with his debut novel, Sad Movies, a sardonic take on a young screenwriter lost in a haze of drugs and alcohol as he copes with the frustrations of working in Hollywood. He followed up three years later with Carnival Desires, a cautionary tale about a burned-out screenwriter and his friends in their late 20s who are getting too old for the party life yet aren’t ready to navigate the next passage. Both novels garnered strong reviews for Lindquist’s hip, contemporary style and cynical yet tender take on modern life. A Vanity Fair reviewer hailed his “smart, spare prose.” The Los Angeles Reader called him “among the most promising writers of his generation.” Shaped by his screenwriting experiences, Lindquist injected a fast-moving, stripped-down style into his novels, both of which are character-driven page-turners—witty, crackling, carried by strong dialogue yet containing a personal voice. Hollywood had noticed his talent, and by the early 1990s he had written dozens of screenplays for studios (though none have been made into films). “Then I hit the wall,” he says. “I had to take a break.” SU Magazine Fall 2007 | 25
Page 1 and 2: FALL 2007 Connecting Seattle Univer
Page 3 and 4: Volume 31 • Issue Number 3 • Fa
Page 5 and 6: People PHOTO BY ANIL KAPAHI global
Page 7 and 8: my dissertation and start looking i
Page 9 and 10: PHOTO COURTESY OF LORENZO VIGIL WIT
Page 11 and 12: PHOTO BY ANIL KAPAHI CATCH MORRIS A
Page 13 and 14: fair trade In Good(s) Conscience SU
Page 15 and 16: Faculty R E S E A R C H Dating Pool
Page 17 and 18: topic was immigration reform garner
Page 19 and 20: Khaled Jaraysa, ’08, is providing
Page 21 and 22: Khaled Jaraysa with his Seattle hos
Page 23 and 24: Real diversity occurs when Jacob Di
Page 25: With diversity comes Monica Nixon,
Page 29 and 30: ex-grunge rocker-turned-prosecutor.
Page 31 and 32: photo COURTESY OF MEG BEADE Volunte
Page 33 and 34: Alumni Events Monday-Wednesday, Dec
Page 35 and 36: Children’s Fund to help provide a
Page 37 and 38: Though she is a full-time staff mem
Page 39 and 40: class notes Richard Greiwe in 2006
Page 41 and 42: Belize trip Alumni are invited to e
Page 43 and 44: Emelissa Baluyot will serve as 05an
Page 45 and 46: Brigade (amphibious). He also serve
Page 47 and 48: the good word by pat o’leary, s.j

Assessing How We Define Diversity - Seattle University

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