LFS: The Storyteller

©2013 text and photos by LeeZard July 12 – Anacortes, WA to Spokane – 326 Miles The Cascade Mountains divide Washington State in more ways than one. Physically, they are the north-south spine between the densely populated western third of the state – Seattle and the Interstate-5 corridor – and Eastern Washington, the so-called “Inland Empire” that runs all the way into Idaho. The mountains are also called “The Cascade Curtain” because crossing them is like going from one dimension to another. While Washington is called The Evergreen State, most of the evergreens are west of the Cascades. So are most of the liberals, most of the money and most of the votes. The late Democratic Senator Warren Magnuson famously said, “You can see all the votes you need to get elected statewide from the top of Seattle’s Space Needle.” It drives the folks in Eastern Washington crazy. Talking about driving, I left Anacortes this morning for Spokane looking forward to a long, leisurely ...

©2013 by LeeZard In reality, my journey begins tomorrow when the rubber literally meets the road and I begin THE Road Trip. My literary journey began today in Everett, WA, however, with my first set of interviews. For those of you who’ve missed the agonizing run-up to THE Road Trip, I am driving around the country to gather people’s stories about how their lives were affected by The Great Recession. You can follow my journey here on the blog and, ultimately, in the book that will follow. The journey began today because I squeezed onto the schedule of Mayor Ray Stephanson at ten this morning. I made a couple of stops before my meeting and gathered some other stories.  First, an observation; if you tell someone you are writing a book, more often than not they not only open up to you, they are both friendly and encouraging. That might change down the road but that’s they way it is in Everett. The City of Everett (pop. 103,000) sits in Seattle’s shadow 25 miles to...