Writing the Northwest

Hill Williams reported Northwest news for decades. Now, in his memoir, he transforms his favorite and most memorable stories into inviting, candid narratives that bestow a remarkable gift--a window into the heart of an affable and seasoned regional journalist.

Employing a genuine, homespun style with a hint of nostalgia, he reminisces about unforgettable people, places, and events he covered, natural and human history, and a vanished time in his chosen profession. He writes about Hanford and a Coast Guard officer's heroism. He recounts interviews about whale-hunting in canoes, studying salmon at the University of Washington, and a famous dog-sled run. He captures what it was like to grow up on the dry side of Washington during the 1930s and 1940s and to work before computers became ubiquitous. He shares his own eyewitness accounts--the flooding of Celilo Falls, the first water flowing from the Columbia Irrigation Project, a 1952 nuclear test in Nevada, the sulfur emanating from the crater atop Mount St. Helens, and a mysterious, massive chunk of earth in the middle of the scablands.