Category — Good Reads

I have been resistant to football my entire life. My father–who played college ball–had to endure the nonchalant expressions of two daughters before he finally got the son that understood the joy of touchdowns, interceptions, and tailgating.

To his credit, my father still took me to Husky games. He was convinced that his “concern rays”—those rays that all sports fans exude that have been known to influence a game’s outcome—would infect me too. I had never seen him like this; early September transformed him in to a raging lunatic, gesticulating at the TV and ranting about the #*$(&*(@ Oregon Ducks. Not only was I impervious to his “concern rays, ” but I blamed football for stealing my dad away from me. (I finally got him back in January after the football mania subsided and he regained sanity.)

In high school and college, I had male friends and boyfriends patiently explain the game to me and quiz me: “What is a first down?” and “How many yards is a football field?” They groaned when I inevitably answered with “a tackle?” and “how long is a yard again?”

Imagine the irony when I discovered we had acquired a football book, entitled Notes from a 12 Man: A Truly Biased History of the Seattle Seahawks. As the publicist at Sasquatch, I am to be the champion of the book and the author, largely responsible for its commercial success. No pressure. Upon my introduction to the author, Mark Tye Turner, I felt that I should apologize for my lack of football knowledge and general ignorance. But as I read through the book, I found myself INTERESTED in what he had to say. He made football funny, informative, and approachable—something that I could get behind and something that I could become INVESTED in. As the book hits stores this week and football season begins anew, I’ve found myself embracing it, anticipating it, and realizing that maybe…I’m my father’s daughter after all.

Meet Mark:

SoDo Sports
September 8, 6pm

Elliott Bay Books
September 11, 7:30pm

Hawk’s Nest Bar and Grill
September 11, 9pm

Seattle SoDo Costco
September 12, 1pm

Tune In:

KZOK-FM Radio, The Bob Rivers Show
September 8

KING-TV
September 9

KISW-FM Radio, BJ Shea Morning Experience
September 10

KCPQ-TV, Q It Up Sports
September 10

710 ESPN Radio, The John Clayton Show
September 12

Mark Turner online:

http://marktyeturner.com

As a resident member of the Sasquatch book club, Get Lit, I seek books that stimulate conversation, engage the ethos, and broaden my perceptions. With that criteria in mind, I wholeheartedly recommend taking a look at The House of Hope and Fear: Life in a Big City Hospital by Audrey Young, M.D., when thinking about your next book club pick.

Whether you are on the treadmill at the gym or commuting on public transportation, universal health care is the current topic of controversy. Everyone has a strong opinion, but no one has the answer. Is this issue doomed to be unresolved like so many others facing our lawmakers? How will indecision directly affect our lives? No one can argue that health care is a personal issue. There is nothing more sacred than the trust people place in their doctors. Enter Audrey Young, an M.D. from the University of Washington, who started her medical career at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center, a big city hospital with a mission to treat anyone who needs medical care–without exception.

Author Audrey Young, photographed Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2004 at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. (Photo Copyright 2004 Ted S. Warren)

From patients without physical addresses to those who spare no expense, the people Dr. Young writes about become as real as the topic tormenting our government. Young is a doctor who has lived and breathed the public health care system, and she knows its flaws and strengths. She sees the need for a health care system that benefits rich and poor, old and young, insured and uninsured alike. The House of Hope and Fear is a realistic personal account of what it takes to balance the pressures of an inner city public hospital, and how to cope with the consequences of every decision. Audrey Young, who has been called a “fine storyteller” by People magazine, manages to bring humanity, poignancy, and intellect to a story that is, unfortunately, not uncommon in our country.