a genteel correction: walt crowley

Dear Michael:
Loved your end-of-912 piece. One correction, however, going back to Point/Counterpoint. John actually sought me out, not vice versa, as a kindred soul from the "radical media" (him the UW Spectator of the 1970s, me the Helix of the 1960s) when I was still writing for the Weekly. KIRO decided to do a P/CP format in 1985 and approached Carlson because -- no joke -- it was stumped for potential LIBERAL participants in Seattle! He suggested me and we auditioned together with a debate over anti-Apartheid sanctions on Halloween Night 1985, a story you tell perfectly.

To our mutual astonishment, KIRO then decided to pair John with David Brewster. As John tells the story, he and David spent two hours over lunch in the old Mark Tobey before they found something to disagree over (I think it was the check). Brewster then decided TV was passe and dropped out of the deal, forcing KIRO news director John Lippman (a real piece of work) to crawl back and beg me to participate starting in May 1986.

Believe it or not, those REALLY were kinder, gentler times, and John and I did work together to shed more light than heat in our bi-weekly bouts; we even agreed occasionally, which drove Lippman ballistic. When KIRO leapt "out of the box" and into oblivion in May 1993, John went over to KVI. He arranged a show offer for me, which I declined on the possibly faulty theory that I was "too cool for hot talk." As you know, I do not regard myself as a populist, and I do not think the toil of feeding the insiatiable public appetite for grievance, resentment, and paranoia has had a positive effect on John. At the same time, my conceit is that tending the garden of history -- even a little plot like our state's -- can be more influential (subversive?) over the long run than bellowing into the gales of popular prejudice and ignorance.

Best,
Walt Crowley
President/Executive Director
History Ink/HistoryLink
The Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History
Visit www.HistoryLink.org

Comments

[sparky]

Hey Walt, I remember when KIRO went " Out of the Box." Poor Susan Hutchinson could not walk and read the news off the teleprompter at the same time. It was painful to watch. She left shortly after that.

I miss your presence on TV

[sarge]

What a different world it might have been if Walt Crowley had been on Seattle talk radio instead of say, Mike Siegel.

Love History Link Walt, and I agree with Sparky--it would be great to have you back on TV!

[Amy Worden]

Kick out Schram and bring on Walt!

[Simmy]

Yes! Walt for Ken!

[chris]

Yes, someone other than Schram. I used to like some of his opinions , but this weeks statement that he was going to stand in front of the nearest courthouse and blow smoke around until the police show up because 901 passed was a low point for him.