Thanks Edmonds!

With good cheer signing books and touring the town

On Sunday, I got to hang with the uber-friendly folks at the Edmonds Bookshop—my first book-signing event for the acclaimed groundbreaking thriller, Hiking Snohomish County. Okay, not that acclaimed and not a thriller, but at least I was relatively thrilled to chat with some fellow footsters, sharing trail stories and inside scoop while autographing quite a stack of glossy-covered books over a period of two-plus hours. Eleanor even served me up a hot mug of tea. So nice!

The book signing happened to follow a short hike around downtown, where a small cadre of locals and I enlightened ourselves with tidbits of Edmonds history. Like the founder dude, George Brackett, who allegedly pulled a fast one after Washington became a state in 1889. To reach the 300-resident threshold for becoming an incorporated town (a census-based count), Brackett wrote in the names of both his ox and Bill the dog.

And there’s the story of the fighter pilot, also from Edmonds, who smuggled his pet coyote into the U.S. Army and onto his aircraft so the two could fly missions together during WWII. For more, check out the Edmonds Historical Museum housed in a fine 1910 Carnegie Library building on 5th Ave. On the lower floor, the model train setup is awesome.

Around the corner is the 101-year-old Princess Theater (now Edmonds Theater) where the first talkie to reach town was the 1929 Broadway Melody, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture that year. The film packed the house. Just a week ago, Kris and I quite enjoyed catching a film there, Here with Tom Hanks. We highly recommend—the movie and the venue.

Edmonds Theater snack bar.

Edmonds can boast of its share of famous people who’ve called this place home, including trails geek Ira Spring, Senator Maria Cantwell, Congressman Brian Baird, author Robert Fulghum, pro-bowler Johnny Guenther, Olympic skater Rosalynn Sumners, Washington Wizards pro-basketball player, Corey Kispert, and former Wizards player, Martell Webster, among others. Yes, I had to look them up.

But when I asked my esteemed cadre who the most famous celebrity from Edmonds was, the resounding answer was Rick Steves. I knew this popular globetrotter ran his travel biz from Edmonds, but only learned on Sunday that he actually grew up in the town and has contributed mightily to good causes in the community. Celebrity status well earned.

Lastly, but not leastly, the Edmonds Beacon was kind enough to run a front page spread on me and the book in this week’s issue. The Beacon is the kind of great local paper that every community needs. Thanks to Brian for taking extra interest in my new guidebook. Curiously, we both had a connection to the Santa Barbara-Carpinteria area of southern California. I went to first grade there and body-surfed in the wild Pacific. I was like five or six. So in case you’re reading this (Brian or anybody), my apropos three-part “Saving Santa” story, based in Carpinteria, is here.

Thanks again Edmonds!