Having been born and raised in Thurston County, I have fond memories wrapped up in this place. I remember when the Olympia Farmers Market was in the Shakeys Pizza parking lot. I remember Carnegie Building is the former home of the Olympia library. And I recall stopping at the Museum, now the Lord Mansion, on the way home from school to buy peppermint sticks. My mother would take us to a coffee shop downtown after Mass to play chess and hang out with evergreen students. We picked raspberries from Spooners and took tours at the Brewery.
So I like to think I know something about the area. I’m embarrassed to say I was wrong.
This week, I picked up a delightful book, Making Sense of Olympia by David Scherer Water published by Last Word Press. Last Word Books run this local press in Olympia, a really wonderful bookstore on 4th Avenue in downtown Olympia. Last Word Books has a nice selection of used books, and carries a selection of new progressive and/or anarchist literature. I always find something in the Poetry section. Although I haven’t seen it, I hear they have a great Zine collection.
Last Word Press “is a small press publisher of exceptional poetry, subversive pamphlets, & forgotten works of literature.” Founded in 2007, they specialize in arcane technologies, including offset, letterpress (and begrudgingly) digital printing, bookbinding, and creative design. I love that not only do they carry books that align with their values, but they actively publish works of that ilk as well. Making Sense of Olympia, first published in 2019, is a small book, designed to be easy to carry.
Making Sense of Olympia begins with a brief history of the area and, frankly, I learned a lot from it. From this general overview, I now have plans to visit the Billy Frank, Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge and the Squaxin Island Museum and Library to learn more about the indigenous history of this area. He touches on the history of Japanese and Chinese folks in this area as well.
Water devotes major portions of the book to short explanations/histories of parts of our area, from Bordeaux, the advent of Evergreen, the Procession of the Species, Artesian wells, Olympia Beer, and more. For a new person here, it's a great overview of this area, from a progressive viewpoint. One can then decide to learn more about a specific area, or be satisfied that you know where the first womens marathon Olympic qualifying was run, what a Mima Mound is, or where to inner tube on the Deschutes River.
The book brings up things I had not considered, such as what downtown Olympia will do in the face of the rising seawater. Given that the area is widely predicted to be underwater, will downtown relocate, morph into Venice, do nothing, or try something else? Will Olympia make sense without the vibrant downtown we have now? How will the transformation of Capital Lake back to an estuary change downtown?
Books that cause us to think about where we live, our combined history and values, our vision for the future are essential to our society. They don’t have to be a large splashy thing to ask the most important questions. How has our history brought us here, and where are we going? How can we make sure everyone is valued in that voyage?
We are lucky to have two four-year higher education institutions and a thriving community college in this area. The influx of new people with new ideas and viewpoints, with the energy to explore them, gives us a constantly changing landscape. Having the State Capital here gives us economic stability, as well as other viewpoints to consider. That confluence of ideas and philosophies has allowed music, the arts, and the literary scene to flourish. Rebuilding from COVID-19 gives us the unique chance to expand our literary scene as well. What will we do with that opportunity? What can we do together? Let’s find out.
Amy Lewis focuses on the literary world of Thurston County, spotlighting writers, small presses, book artists, poets, and storytellers of all types. Contact her – amy@thejoltnews.com – if you have a literary event, book, or reading.
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TomBoucher
This book is wonderfully odd, a mixture of true and fabulous, all with an aim to make you think, make you wonder, make you research Olympia's cool history. David is the fomenter of many droll projects, I hope you buy his book and meet him soon.
3 days ago Report this
Southsoundguy
If I want a progressive viewpoint I’ll stick my head in a wood chipper, which is probably where this and the rest of the progressive/anarchist “literature” belong.
3 days ago Report this
Snevets
@southsoundguy Please do us all a favor and stick your head in a wood chipper.
2 days ago Report this
Southsoundguy
More caring and compassionate liberal love, lol! Enjoy your self-terminating worldview, while it lasts....
2 days ago Report this
SharonM
“Making Sense of Olympia” sounds like an interesting book. I’m going to plan to pick up a copy. Thank you for your article, Amy!
Yesterday at 8:38 AM Report this