Yesterday was Tim Egan Day

The Seattle Public Library hosted 'A Salute to Tim Egan' last night at the inconvenient hour of 5:30 PM.

Tim Egan is a Seattle native who won the Pulitzer Prize for Journalism in 2001. He's most well known for writing about the Pacific Northwest. A couple of weeks ago he was awarded the National Book Award for The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Stories of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl.

Seattle is so excited about Tim Egan winning the National Book Award that he needed to be introduced by five people. First someone from the library (who? Our notes do not say), followed by Mayor Nickels and three city council members. Both Nickels and council President Nick Licata revved up the way-back machine, reminscing about when they knew Tim as a fresh-faced student writing for the UW Daily. Egan later threatened to tell incriminating stories about frat parties, but did not deliver. To top off the introduction, the council members and Nickels read an honest-to-God proclamation declaring December 13, 2006 'Timothy Egan Day'.

We bet you would have looked at your first cup of coffee yesterday with an entirely different frame of mind if only you had known you were drinking it on Timothy Egan Day.

Tim Egan then read a few passages from The Worst Hard Time and answered questions cleverly comparing yesterday's disaster with today's clumsy political machine, always a hit with Seattle crowds.

You missed it, we know. It was raining. You were still working. You didn't hear about it in time. Well, don't whine, you can hear him read some more or listen to an interview on Fresh Air. But you will not be able to download any of the delicious, free, lemon-flavored cake. The cake is gone forever. Nyah, nyah, nyah.