LFS: The Storyteller

©2013 by LeeZard I can’t believe it; I am hitting the road in less than a week. I can’t give the exact date yet because I am waiting to hear if I can get an interview with the mayor of Everett (WA). I carefully selected Everett as my first “official” stop for interviews because of its history. In fact, I’ve already written the first few paragraphs of Chapter I for the book that will result from this trip: The City of Everett (pop. 103,000) sits in Seattle’s shadow 25 miles to the north. This old mill town is a fitting place to start my journey. Early in its history Everett rode the economic ups and downs of the railroad, mining and timber industries. In 1916 the city endured one of the early labor movement’s most violent confrontations, The Everett Massacre, between members of the Industrial Workers of the World (The Wobblies) and local authorities aligned with the business community. It came during a shingles workers strike ...

©2013 by LeeZard Some of you may have noticed I’ve been quiet for the last week or two. Some of you may have appreciated that. No apologies for returning but I will explain where I’ve been. There was a little hiccup last week as I continued preparing for THE Road Trip. The Physician’s Assistant (PA) at my favorite dermatological clinic spied something she called “worrisome.” I have reason to worry; my oldest brother died at the age of 64 with cancer throughout his body, spurred in part by Melanoma. That’s the skin cancer that gets on what I call The Highway to Hell and spreads via your lymph system. If it is fast spreading and aggressive, it is deadly. As a result, I go in every six months for a checkup, including photo comparisons with previous exams. It’d been seven months since my last checkup and, with THE trip imminent; I thought I’d stop in before hitting the road. PA Catherine del Secco conducted the examination, primarily on my upper torso where my Adoni...