Once Upon a Time in Seattle

Great book and great seller! I barely had finished ordering this terrific book before it arrived--unbelievable!

Like almost anything by Watson, this is eminently readable, and chock full of the sometimes twisted history of Seattle. As a 3rd generation Seattleite, I loved getting more insight into people like Roy Olmstead, Seattle police lieutenant, and my uncle's bootlegger. I lent it to a neighbor, also a local, but someone who experienced the Jet City in the 1930's and '40's, and knew many of the people and places Watson describes here. I gave it to him in our shared alley one morning, and an hour later as I drove away, he was still standing in the alley grinning, and pointing to the book, and plaintively calling out "I KNEW him!" or "I used to deliver kegs there!!" I think he liked it. The book is too short, but you can't have it all. It's far more fun than "Sons Of The Profits", the benchmark Seattle biography. By the way, in re: my use of the term "Jet City" anybody who calls Seattle "The Emerald City" should know that that nickname was picked in a contest in the 1980's, & the winning entry was submitted by a California realtor who had a summer home in the San Juans. As a card carrying, life long Lesser Seattleite, I never use that term, which was stolen from Eugene, Or., home of the Eugene Emeralds baseball team(and the University of Zero). Jet City, Queen City, Rain City, or New York Alki, anything but E****** City!!