My Story
With my wife, Suwalee, and daughters at the University of Washington
I grew up next to the freeway. Only one house separated my bedroom from the on-ramp to I-5 just across from the University District in Seattle. To a young boy, the wash of the constant stream of trucks and cars sounded like waves at the beach. Anytime I stayed away from home, I missed the “ocean”.
As an eight-year-old, I rode my bike with my older brothers under the freeway and over to Husky Stadium on Saturdays during football season and sold game day newspapers for a nickel. “Get your game day rosters and Husky news”, I’d shout to the thousands who passed by me on their way into the game. I interacted with countless strangers and grew comfortable meeting new people. From time to time, someone who bought a paper from me would hand me a ticket to the game. Of course, I went to the games. “Someday, I’m going to play down there for the Huskies”, I thought to myself. And I briefly lived that little boy’s dream when I took the field in the 1982 Husky Spring Game. Suffice to say, I wasn’t very good and decided I should consider more scholarly pursuits.
From kindergarten through law school, all of my formal education occurred within a mile of I-5, but I’ve traveled all over the world, hitting every continent but Antarctica.
I’m guessing that my early years as a newsie outside Husky Stadium and along my paper route in in the University District, competing in law school mock trials and moot court, and my years as a tour guide all shaped me into the trial lawyer I am today.
