Exceptional stories from Washington State

The stories of Washington State University are stories of the state, covering agriculture and architecture, geography and geology, history and industry, people and places, and a lot more from the Puget Sound to the Palouse.

 Many of those stories are gathered in The Evergreen Collection: Exceptional Stories from Across Washington State, an anthology to celebrate 20 years of Washington State Magazine. No matter where you live in the state or what interests you, you’ll find something in the book to draw you in.

In this episode, editor Larry Clark and associate editor Adriana Janovich read some excerpts from the book, discuss how it came about, and share a few of their favorite stories.

You can buy the book at WSU Press or bookstores.

Produced by Larry Clark. Music by WSU emeritus professor and composer Greg Yasinitsky.

Transcript

Ep 34 Evergreen Collection podcast

Dec. 11, 2024

[music]

Larry Clark  00:10

I'm Larry Clark, editor of Washington State Magazine at Washington State University.

Adriana Janovich  00:15

And I'm Adriana Janovich, associate editor at Washington State Magazine.

Larry Clark  00:20

We worked together on The Evergreen Collection: Exceptional Stories from Across Washington State. It's a collection of stories from Washington State Magazine. These aren't just the stories of Washington State University, though. Washington State University stories are Washington stories.

Adriana Janovich  00:37

This book represents the best writing of the first 20 years of Washington State Magazine. I haven't been here that long. I came to WSU two years before the magazine celebrated its 20th anniversary, and as Larry and I began talking about that milestone, we realized we were sitting on a treasure trove of stories, hundreds of stories that had appeared in the magazine from 2001 to 2021. 

In the book, there are stories that feature statewide appeal, as well as stories that are categorized by geographic regions: around the Puget Sound, along the Columbia River, in the Cascade Mountains, and here along the rolling hills of the Palouse. The stories capture the depth and breadth of the great state of Washington and its agriculture and architecture, geography and geology, history and industry, people and places and a lot more.

Larry Clark  01:30

You know, no matter where you live in the state or what interests you, you're going to find something here in this collection.

Adriana Janovich  01:38

Through this anthology, we are hoping our stories reach a wide audience. Our magazine is mailed to WSU alumni and stakeholders. All of the stories in it and in this book feature ties to WSU. They show the reach and impact WSU has had on the state and beyond. But anyone who lives or has an interest in Washington state, whether or not they are Cougs, will enjoy this collection.

Larry Clark  02:03

Absolutely. One of the great things is we also have had wonderful writers over the years who have contributed to the magazine and are represented in this book, and they have a way of capturing those stories, those voices, and describing the state that we all, frankly, love. 

I'm going to read a piece from the introduction of the book that will tell a little bit about the types of stories that we're looking at here.

Ancient and recent cataclysms, massive redirection of water into irrigation, migrations of people, and the construction of signature buildings and even nuclear reactors, all are woven into the tapestry of this place we call Washington. Tim Steury, the founding editor of the magazine, and other contributors bring those stories to life. Some of the chapters span the entire state. Others concentrate on the rain-soaked coast, shady forests, sharp-edged mountains, powerful rivers, bountiful fields of crops, basalt-lined scablands, and unique cities. While you're on this journey, you'll meet people who call this state home and enlighten us with their history, perspective, and talents. No one has longer history or perspective than the Native people who came to this region thousands of years ago. Their stories in this collection, like the rediscovered village of Ozette on the Olympic Peninsula, or the life of Chief Kamiakin on the central plateau, tell but a fraction of the long history of Indigenous people in this part of the world. Many other people you'll meet in this collection will fascinate and amuse you. Here you'll be introduced to gardeners, architects, winemakers, orchardists, biologists, poets, cheese makers, mountaineers, even a man who gave away mountains. Speaking of cheese, no survey of Washington state is complete without food. Cougar Gold’s signature sharp cheddar flavor, in a can no less, may have originated in a WSU lab during World War Two, but you could find fans all over the state and the country. So many foods hail from Washington, and whether they're made, grown or caught, they tantalize their senses. Rainier cherries, with their golden pink hue, offer culinary and visual delight. We have trout, salmon, onions, potatoes, so much local food to savor. 

In fact, Adriana, one of those stories was written by you about Rainier cherries, and it's a wonderful piece. Could you read a little bit of that?

Adriana Janovich  04:39

Yeah, one of the things I love so much about working at Washington State Magazine is the chance to still get to do some food writing. Before I joined the staff here, I was the food editor at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, and in every issue since I got here in 2019, I've written our In Season feature spotlighting a seasonal ingredient and a few of those pieces are in this collection, including Rainier cherries, which I will read now. 

Their skin is thin and sensitive. They're easily bruised, and their season, six to seven weeks, if we're lucky, is more fleeting than summer itself. That short harvest time and extreme susceptibility to wind and rain and temperatures either too hot or too cold, are just a couple of reasons why Rainier cherries are so special. These spectacular stone fruits are prized for their sweetness and color. Distinctive and delicate Rainiers: the color of a buttercup tinged with a pleasing pink to bright red blush are little gems. The appeal of those contrasting colors is what makes them stand out on the tree and in the retail market. It's just a good combination, said Washington State University horticulturist and cherry expert Matthew Whiting. He calls Rainiers tree candy, their flesh, creamy, yellow, firm, gently floral, exceptionally sweet, is made up of nearly 1/5 sugar, or anywhere from 17 to 23 percent. The Rainier is a wonderful tasting fruit, Whiting, said, with such high sugars and typically very low acidity, it truly is like eating a piece of candy, except it's much better for you.

Larry Clark  06:26

That's great. I love Rainier cherries. And you also wrote about some of the apples, which are Washington’s signature fruit, including our latest, Cosmic Crisp. That was a mouth-watering story as well. We also write about wine in the in the book, and of course, wine is another big piece of Washington state's agricultural enterprise. Do you have other favorite stories that you enjoyed?

Adriana Janovich  06:54

I enjoyed working on the Mount St. Helens anniversary story and finding out that we have this treasure trove of ash stockpiled just waiting for the right researcher to come along and use it for some kind of project. That was fun. I also enjoyed meeting some of Washington state's small farmers and getting to profile them. Larry, what are some of your favorite stories in the collection, or what are some stories that stand out to you most?

Larry Clark  07:25

I'll tell you, there are a lot in this book that I enjoyed. The history of hospitality was a fascinating one to me. Architecture, we have a couple of different stories, one of which you wrote about architecture in the northwest, on significant buildings, and also the style. One is the man who gave away mountains, which is more of a historical piece, but it really is about an eccentric character who bought and gave away mountains to create state parks. And then the apple detective. You wrote about apples and Cosmic Crisp and some of the commercial apples. Well, there all these unusual apples around the state, heirloom apples that people have forgotten about in their backyards, in their barnyards.

Adriana Janovich  08:16

I like the Cougar Gold story, how Cougar Gold made the world a better place. I've written about Cougar Gold before. I didn't write this story, but I kind of wish I had.

Larry Clark  08:26

Well, Tim Steury wrote that story, and Cougar Gold is such a ripe subject for stories. For sure that one jumps out too. The other cool thing I think about this book is that it talks about the history of the state, some of these signature events that we've had, like Mount St. Helens, and also, you know, big issues that are affecting the state, like Hanford and the cleanup there. And what are we going to do about that? Or soil. You know, we have a lot of agriculture in the state, and there are some important issues to consider around soil and for readers of this book, they're gonna find all of that. It was quite a process putting it together, though, wasn't it? 

Adriana Janovich  09:12

Yeah, it took much longer than I thought, but it was a lot of fun. One of the things that was so hard about putting it together was just narrowing down the amount of stories that we initially wanted to include. We had a spreadsheet that was twice as long as what ended up being in the book. So I already think we need to do a volume two.

Larry Clark  09:35

We definitely have a lot, when you have two decades of stories in the magazine, a lot of them still relevant, still pertinent and very interesting. We definitely had a tough time culling it down to exactly what's in here. And one other aspect of the book that I'll mention is that it has beautiful photos. You know, as a magazine, over the years we've displayed photos that show the absolute grandeur of the state. This book has a selection of them with each section that really capture that feeling and that imagery.

Adriana Janovich  10:15

I think our magazine looks beautiful. I love the covers. I think the content is compelling and touches all areas of the state. As much as I would like to think that people save every issue of Washington State Magazine, and maybe some people do, you know, more often than not I think they end up probably being recycled at some point. And it was really important for me when we were approaching our 20th anniversary to think about collecting these stories in a more permanent way and presenting them in a more permanent way that would stay on people's shelves a lot longer. 

Larry Clark  10:53

I agree with that. This does pull it all together and gives them something that they can that they can keep, and also give as a gift.

For people who haven't seen the book yet, or they're interested in reading these stories, the book is available through WSU Press. Our colleagues there helped us put the book together, and it's for sale at wsupress.wsu.edu, and that link will be in the show notes too. 

Thanks for listening to our Washington State Magazine podcast. If you want to hear more stories from Washington State University, visit magazine.wsu.edu. Or follow the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen.

Our music is by WSU emeritus music professor and composer Greg Yasinitsky.

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