What they're saying about 'Book II'...

"Drawing on various local writers and sources, “Magnolia: Making More Memories,” is smartly written and beautifully presented. I wonder how many city neighborhoods around the country could produce a history book of such high standards and disciplined passion. “Magnolia: Making More Memories” belongs in the hands of anyone who cares about Magnolia."

-Mike Dillon, Publisher Magnolia and Queen Anne News, writer, historian

"This volume opens more doors into the community’s secrets. It does important work in making accessible the exciting story of the archaeological investigations at West Point. The public little realizes the extent to which these finds enhanced our view of Native American and Puget Sound history. Another vital public service is keeping alive memories of old railroad days and of World War II, both at Fort Lawton and in the neighborhood. These times were critical in shaping the community we know today. And, of course, learning more about the mystery houses of the Boulevard is a wonderful bonus!

"Don’t think this book is just about Magnolia. It is an invaluable tool for anyone interested not only in local history but in the history of Seattle and the region. "

-Mimi Sheridan
Local Historian

"In the preface to Magnolia, Making More Memories, there is an articulated wondering, “If we write it, will they read it?” I say they will. In going through the book’s proofs, I was so pleased that I am compelled to say more: this Volume II is even better than Magnolia: Memories & Milestones the prize-winning Volume I, offering of 2000, that is still widely considered the best presentation of a neighborhood history in Seattle.

"Rather than rank these two beaming books we may rather encircle them as two splendid parts – so far – of the on-going Magnolia Historical Essay Project. The Magnolia Historical Society was formed in 2001 largely by the collegial covey of Magnolia authors who created the first volume. My how those thirteen founding members have multiplied! I counted thirty-four names on the author’s page for “Making More Memories.”

"Many of their clever essays concentrate on the years spanning the two world wars. One example is “Bad Judgment in Cebu,” the venerable Hal Will’s wise and funny recounting of his initiation into Army life in the Philippines at the end of World War II. His “Early Railroad Days in Interbay” is an illustrated essay whose subject begins in the 1880s and includes nostalgic photos by Will himself of local steam locomotive days in the 1940s.

"Monica Wooton is also a pleasure to read. Her “One Flash White, One Flash Red: Magnolia's Guiding Light,” is a brilliant recounting of both the storms and silences that mark the history of Magnolia’s now 125-year-old West Point Lighthouse.

"Another thought: Magnolia: Making More Memories is carefully and wonderfully illustrated. It was a transcendental jolt to see two parts of Asahel Curtis's 1909 panorama of Magnolia's Pleasant Valley printed large across the centerfold of pages 142-143. Barbara Wade Gates' grandmother Elenora Epley moved to the valley in 1907. Wade Gates took me by the hand with her accompanying essay "Valley Girl" to explore Curtis's uncanny and yet lovely valley through the decades as it matured into Wade Gates memoirs and Magnolia moments of the 1940s.

"Another articulated hope for this book was that from its readers comes “curiosity, respect and joy.” This curious reader respectfully expects a Volume III that will joyfully explore Magnolia’s 1950s and beyond."

-Paul Dorpat, author, historian, Seattle Times Pacific Magazine columnist "Then and Now", author of many books, most recently: Washington Then & Now

More reviews...

Mike Dillon, Magnolia News