BOOTH WHO? - Washington State Digital Archives

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Acknowledgements Phil Graham, publisher of The Washington Post, famously observed in 1963 that journalism is a “first rough draft of history.” From his debut as a state senator in 1970 to his “last campaign,” the Death with Dignity initiative in 2008, Booth Gardner’s career was chronicled by some of the most talented journalists the state has ever seen. They have left us a first draft that’s rich in detail, remarkably accurate and rarely rough. Before becoming a fulltime historian, I spent 42 years as a newspaperman – writing the second and third drafts on the side – so I admit to some bias. There’s an old saying in journalism that I first heard from the great Northwest historian Murray Morgan, who cut his teeth in newspapers: “The best way to ruin a good story is to check it out.” But very few of the “first rough drafts” I read didn’t hold up to further scrutiny. From dozens of reporters working on deadline I was gratified to find only a handful of substantive errors, all relatively benign in the bigger picture – the wrong date, a misspelled name or two. Notably, if David Ammons, Peter Callaghan, Booth in his prime. Gardner family album. Walter Hatch, Bob Partlow, Joe Turner or Carol Ostrom wrote it, you can take it to the bank. From various soapboxes, the legacy of the Gardner years is also enriched by some inimitable voices, including Richard W. Larsen, Adele Ferguson, Joel Connelly, Rebecca Boren, Shelby Scates and Henry Gay. During the 1980s, the “new journalism,” with its emphasis on lively description and dialogue, melded with the best of the old – accuracy and attention to detail. When Gardner was governor, there were three times as many reporters covering Olympia. Seattle had two vigorously competitive daily newspapers. Ed Seeberger, who wrote a definitive guide to the Washington State legislative process, and legislative historians George W. Scott and Don Brazier can also attest to the quality and quantity of the “daily clips” of articles about government in Washington state. It was the golden age of Washington journalism. I doubt we will ever see its like again. The Internet may be vox populi personified, but it’s scary to grasp just how many people believe that everything they read on line is the gospel truth – every half-baked urban legend, rumor and rant. I thank all those hard-working, underpaid reporters, columnists, editorial writers, photographers and cartoonists for helping me tell Booth Gardner’s life story. Booth also 190
had a platoon of volunteers – “The Clippers” – who employed scissors and paste every day to assemble huge scrapbooks for him. Thanks to them, the Washington State Archives contain microfilm featuring virtually every story ever written about Gardner from the time he announced for governor in 1983 until he left office 10 years later. Conscientious historians know how important it is to corroborate oral histories and interviews. Those clippings, together with the work of some outstanding Northwest historians, were invaluable to this biography. Special thanks to David Zeeck of The Tacoma News Tribune; Frank Blethen and David Boardman of The Seattle Times and Chris Rush and Doug Barker of The Daily World at Aberdeen for generously sharing their photo files. Thanks also to the late Walt Crowley and his wife, Marie McCaffrey, for HistoryLink.org. Sources Interviews and conversations with: Booth Gardner, Jean Gardner, Doug Gardner, Gail Gardner Gant, Cynthia Perkins, Joan Blethen, Laird Harris, Denny Heck, Dean Foster, Rosalie Gittings, Chris Gregoire, Dan Evans, Al Rosellini, Ron Dotzauer, Steve Excell, Larry Faulk, Ralph Munro, Terry Sebring, Dick Milne, Duane French, David Ammons, Peter Callaghan, Walter Hatch, Stephen Merrill, Mari Clack, Norman “Bud” Branchflower Jr., Shirley Winsley, Joe Staton, Jim Griffin, Robert G. Edie, William Gerberding, Emory Bundy, Reese and Cecile Lindquist, Nick Handy, Sam Reed, Margi Pratt, Dr. Tom Preston, Chris Carlson, Chase Riveland, Mary Faulk Riveland, Don Brazier, Bill Bell III, Mike Murphy, Jill Severn, Joe Daniels, Charles Z. Smith, Robert F. Utter, Brad Owen, Sid Snyder, Adele Ferguson, Bob Partlow, Joe Turner, Orin Smith, Sheryl Hutchison and Charles R. Cross. Historians, archivists, librarians, colleagues, journalists and other sources whose advice and work proved invaluable: Trova Heffernan, Lori Larson, Dick Allen, Robert Johnson, Rick Anderson, Constantine Angelos, Louis Balukoff, Doug Barker, Karen Barkstrom, Mike Bay, Knute Berger, Daniel Bergner, Shannon Besoyan, Les Blumenthal, Don Brazier, David Brewster, Charles E. Brown, Marty Brown, Nicolette Bromberg, Jack Broom, Lyle Burt, Susan Brynes, John Cahill, Jim Coates, Teresa Cronin, Robert Cummings, John De Yonge, John Dodge, Sandi Doughton, Don Duncan, Stephen H. Dunphy, Kathie Durbin, Stuart Elway, Dick Ferguson, Marcia Friedman, Nick Gallo, Al Gibbs, Susan Gilmore, Jean Godden, Susan Gordon, Arthur Gorlick, Jody Gripp, Dave Hastings, Worth Hedrick, Ben Helle, Sandy Hofferber, Vance Horne, Dave Horsey, Claude Iosso, Kristin Jackson, Austin Jenkins, Pat Jenkins, Greg Johnston, Dean Katz, Jim Kershner, Steve Kink, John Komen, Rachel La Corte, Greg Lane, Larry Lange, Chris Lautz, John Lawrence, Mike Layton, Gordon Lee, Mark Matassa, Pete McConnell, John McCoy, Robert McDaniel, Pete McConnell, Mike Merritt, Bill Mertena, Neil Modie, Lee Moriwaki, John S. Murray, Rich Nafziger, Eric Nalder, Robert T. Nelson, David Nicandri, Scott North, Dee Norton, Mike Oakland, Kit Oldham, Kevin B. O’Reilly, Virginia Painter, Michael Paulson, Laura Parker, Ed Penhale, Emmet 191
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BOOTH WHO? BOOTH GARDNER A BIOGRAPH
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Who’s who (In order of appearance
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Richard A. Davis, whom Booth named
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Introduction If you go to see Booth
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No public figure in Washington Stat
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the trenches during the WEA’s fir
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Dan Evans disagrees. Not long after
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Chapter One: Booth’s roots He loo
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in 1874 and served from 1875-1881.
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to soak the smoking roof, which was
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with their son, William Jr., with w
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Chapter Two: The curve ball At the
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A few days later they had his birth
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21 Brick had moved up to sales mana
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in 1941. Evelyn Booth had moved to
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one because he’s very smart. And
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ecord on the turntable. It was play
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your energies.” He managed to be
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Chapter Three: Alone in the world I
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the divorce, was also mourning a da
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I ran away.” He walked to town an
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student body vice-president, the re
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Booth fondly remembers another game
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with the Oakland A’s. “I’m su
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when he became Pierce County execut
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Norton Clapp, by now president and
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Chapter Six: Orphaned Booth Gardner
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unsurprised but relieved the scanda
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Baarsma was an activist Democrat wi
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“So what did you think?” “You
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the big league he found himself in.
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Chapter Eight: On-the-job training
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On November 28, 1978, federal agent
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outcome for Pierce County would be
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With the battle fully joined, Faulk
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Faulk says he muttered something un
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taken office in January, capping hi
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its most important roles was to pro
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administration’s ticklish negotia
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$100,000,’ he says. “In short,
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“Why do I want to do it?” Booth
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In the beginning was The Message:
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store, didn’t want to write big c
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campaign manager says, leaning forw
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ordered a batch of T-shirts that sa
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With four days to go, McDermott’s
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candidates spent an hour answering
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Chapter 12: Transitions & Lessons
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In agency after agency, I’ve seen
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commander of McChord Air Force Base
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eform was “doable.” He was abou
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downturns, state government was bal
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unpleasantries. “…[T]hey just p
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lood sugar. He routinely started wo
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Critics said the press was overly s
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speech or having to meet with someo
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in the state’s prisons and severa
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In the closing hours of a hectic se
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all economic development efforts is
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The Republicans had also lost sever
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abilities and the nature of the U.S
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that without hiking taxes. He also
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Harris says the Gardner team undere
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“governmental operations director
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65 percent favorable vs. 61 percent
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Booth said she was going there to u
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Despite a dozen years as a county c
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mechanic and a cook whose grandpare
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vote. Maleng, who many believe woul
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the best years of our lives ahead o
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“Booth Gardner is the antithesis
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get over that phobia of public spea
Page 145 and 146: was doable. Apparently it was heard
Page 147 and 148: lanket of snow. Three-thousand Seat
Page 149 and 150: comprehensive growth-management reg
Page 151 and 152: in “a global, historical, human c
Page 153 and 154: out. McDonald and Locke were worrie
Page 155 and 156: term limits proposal on the Novembe
Page 157 and 158: Its centerpiece -“play or pay”-
Page 159 and 160: The consensus in the chamber was th
Page 161 and 162: was fascinated by the machinations
Page 163 and 164: district “like a breath of fresh
Page 165 and 166: Next, he sat for an interview with
Page 167 and 168: At TVW’s annual Gala on February
Page 169 and 170: Booth on Vashon Island in 2006. Pho
Page 171 and 172: second deep-brain surgery. I’m si
Page 173 and 174: would be difficult under any circum
Page 175 and 176: thanks to his tennis coach at Pacif
Page 177 and 178: of Hospice & Palliative Medicine wa
Page 179 and 180: terminal illness people are very de
Page 181 and 182: case, given modern palliative care
Page 183 and 184: of being praised for empathy and se
Page 185 and 186: equests for aid-in-dying drugs. Thi
Page 187 and 188: Anybody who stood in his way turned
Page 189 and 190: Appendix: “Who’s for a divide?
Page 191 and 192: A mural by Barry Faulkner at the st
Page 193 and 194: weeks after its first issue in the
Page 195: committee of the Seattle Community
Page 199 and 200: Source Notes Abbreviations: Associa
Page 201 and 202: allergenic pillow is from “The Go
Page 203 and 204: Chapter 11: Put on your crash helme
Page 205 and 206: Patch Governor…,” from “Gardn
Page 207 and 208: from “President Borrows School-re
Page 209 and 210: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uTR
Page 211 and 212: French, Hiram Taylor, History of Id
Page 213 and 214: Smith, Charles Z., oral history by
Page 215 and 216: Index Symbols 9th U.S. Circuit Cour
Page 217 and 218: Department of Community Development
Page 219 and 220: Kirkland, Washington 3, 159 KIRO-TV
Page 221 and 222: Pontius Building 12 Poodle Dog 77 P
Page 223: Twist, Oliver 3 U Uhlman, Wes 52, 7
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