Seattle and the Roots of Urban Sustainability: Inventing Ecotopia

Acknowledgments

xi Acknowledgments The academic life can defeat our best efforts to dwell. Over the last ten years I have made many places home. This book is shaped by that experience and by the people who have helped me to think more deeply about place. In New Mexico I found a group of scholars who helped me the most. David Farber taught discipline and freedom. I have benefited from his intense and careful mind and his open intellectual curiosity. He asked the critical questions at the right times and has been a generous and constant supporter of my work and career. I owe Virginia Scharff deep thanks. Her commitment to students and colleagues, her prodding and humor, and her dedication to environmental and American West history taught me invaluable lessons about community. With Sam Truett I got to know the field of environmental history in the best way possible, including perambulatory discussions at Armendaris Ranch in southern New Mexico. I’ll never forget Sam’s generosity. Chris Wilson helped me think more carefully about both visual evidence and everyday landscapes. Thanks also to Linda Hall, Vera Norwood, Pat Risso, Ferenc Szasz, and especially Timothy Moy. Tim modeled a down-to-earth approach to excellent teaching and critical thinking. We miss him. Many big and little institutions provided temporary shelter. For several years I also found a home working with an amazing group of people under the guidance of a talented editor and professor, Durwood Ball, at the New Mexico Historical Review. Thanks to those who helped to shape my foun- xii A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s dation. James Martin deserves special thanks for thinking with me over the years and for sharing many a sustaining meal of carne adovada burritos at the Frontier Restaurant; Eric Loomis read drafts and took walks; John Herron suffered many “very Sanders days,” and I was lucky to have him as a critic and sounding board. Thanks also to Jonathan Ablard, Javier Marion, Ev Schlatter, Lincoln Bramwell, Judy Morley, Jennifer Norden, Sarah Payne, Amy Scott, Kim Suina, Blair Woodard, Tiffany Thomas, Kyle Van Horn, Catherine Kleiner, Jeff Roche, and Rob Williams—I feel lucky to have shared time and ideas with such a strong group of scholars and storytellers . Numerous librarians and archivists at public institutions provided temporary quarters. My deepest thanks go to Anne Frantilla at the Seattle Municipal Archives, who humored me and helped me find solid footing in the records collections at the old and the new Seattle Municipal Archives. Thanks also to all the staff and librarians at the University of Washington branch libraries and particularly the University of Washington Special Collections. Trevor Bond and Cheryl Gunselman at Washington State University Manuscript, Archives, and Special Collections have been wonderful new colleagues. They, along with Mark O’English and Pat Mueller, were generous with their time reacquainting me with the Washington Tilth papers . The Puget Consumer Cooperative allowed access to their collection of newsletters from the past forty years. The Museum of History and Industry , a Seattle treasure, supplied much of the visual evidence that was important to this project. In Maine I found safe harbor for two years. Thanks especially to Elizabeth DeWolfe, whose professionalism is unparalleled and who perfectly models the balance of scholar and teacher. Thanks for taking a chance on me. A broader community of far-flung scholars read the manuscript at different stages and offered thorough and generous critiques. Thanks especially to Carl Abbott for his kindness and close readings; to anonymous peer reviewers at the Pacific Historical Review; to Raymond Mohl, Martin Melosi, and Cynthia Miller; and to the peer reviewers for University of Pittsburgh Press. Thanks to the Pacific Historical Review for allowing me to reprint a chapter that was originally published as Jeffrey C. Sanders, “The Battle for Fort Lawton: Competing Environmental Claims in Postwar Seattle ,” Pacific Historical Review 77, no. 2 (May 2008): 203–36. Matthew Klingle shared his considerable understanding of Seattle’s environmental and po- xiii A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s litical history and asked incisive questions early and later in the process. I wish I had even half of Matt’s integrity, energy, and skill. He is a wonderful model. Mark Feige made insightful comments late in the process. This work also benefited from a unique conference at the...