Hutch: Baseball’s Fred Hutchinson and a Legacy of Courage. Written by Mike Shannon; Illustrated by Scott Hannig. (Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co., 2011. 216 p.)

Recommendation by:
Sean Lanksbury, NW and Special Collections Librarian, Washington State Library

Mike Shannon and Illustrator Scott Hannig’s graphic novel biography of professional baseball player and manager Fred Hutchinson is a detailed graphic novel, complete with bibliography, index, and copious notes.  The duo trace Hutch’s entire life: his family history and childhood  in Seattle’s Brighton neighborhood, his up and downs in both major and minor league baseball (including two stints with the Seattle Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League), enlistment in the United States Navy for the majority of World War II, return to a mostly winning career as baseball manager, and his battle with cancer that ultimately took his life in 1964.

To many readers, Hutch’s name is synonymous with the Cancer Research Center founded in 1975 by his brother, Seattle Surgeon Dr. William Hutchinson.  Thoroughly researched and cleanly illustrated, this quick read will delight sports fans and fill in the outline for those unfamiliar with one of the Pacific Northwest’s early professional sports heroes.

ISBN-13: 978 0786446254

Another book on Hutch, Fred Hutchinson and the 1964 Cincinnati Reds, by Doug Wilson was released in 2010 and is also recommended reading.

Available at the Washington State Library, NW 796.357 SHANNON 2011
Available as an eReader edition.
Not available as an talking book, or as a Braille edition.

Richard Bennett. Untitled, ca. 1940s, tempera on paper. MOHAI, 2006.38.1

The Art of Richard Bennett. By David F. Martin. Seattle, WA : Museum of History & Industry: University of Washington Press, ©2010. 80p.

Recommendation by:
Rand Simmons, Acting Washington State Librarian, Tumwater, WA.

For those unfamiliar with Richard Bennett, Martin’s book  gives a quick introduction to the artist’s life and contribution to Pacific Northwest art. The book was published in conjunction with an exhibition at the Museum of History & Industry in Seattle that ran August 28, 2010 to March 27, 2011.

The biography is easily read and tells the story of this painter, printmaker, author and illustrator who began his life in southern County Cork, Ireland, later hobnobbed with New York City artists, and became one of the nation’s leading illustrators of children’s book. He authored seven books including children’s books such as Skookum and Sandy (1935) and Shawneen and the Gander (1937). Bennett illustrated over 200 books, including several by bestselling and noted writers.

The Art of Richard Bennett includes 30 pages of plates of Bennett’s works. The section on publications and illustrations may be of interest to researchers. Sadly, the book is not indexed.  Bennett was born in 1899 and died in 1971.

ISBN-13: 978-0939806072

Available at WSL, NW 760.092 MARTIN 2010
Not available as an eBook.
Not available in talking book or Braille editions.

Slade Gorton: A Half  Century in Politics.  By John C. Hughes.  (Olympia, Wash.: Washington State Legacy Project, Washington Secretary of State, 2011)

As a state legislator, attorney general and U.S. senator, his 50-year career in public service put him on the front lines of a host of controversial issues—from redistricting to fishing rights disputes, the battle over the spotted owl and dam breaching. His service on the 9/11 Commission revealed his tenacity to find the truth. Often characterized as an icy intellectual, Gorton emerges as a complex, thoughtful man.

Read more at the Legacy Project’s Oral History site.

Some reviews have already started pouring in.  Consider this one from John Dodge, Environment Reporter for The Olympian.

Available at the Washington State Library, NW 979.7043 HUGHES 2011
Available as a free eReader edition.
Not available in Braille or Audiobook editions.

Lillian Walker, Washington State Civil Rights Pioneer: A Biography and Oral History. By Lillian Walker & John C. Hughes. Olympia, WA : Washington State Legacy Project, Office of the Secretary of State, c2010. 198 p.

Recommendation by:
Rand Simmons, Acting Washington State Librarian, Tumwater, WA.

“It was 1944, the apex of World War II, and on the home front the Navy was keeping an eye on its Negroes. Twelve hundred worked at the Bremerton shipyard, including 300 newcomers in the first eight weeks of the year. They were angry because many businesses, including cafes, taverns, drug stores and barber shops, displayed signs saying, “We Cater to White Trade Only.” One of the dissidents was 31-year-old Lillian Walker, whose husband worked at the shipyard. She was the recording secretary of the Puget Sound Civic Society, a civil rights coalition formed by the newly chartered Bremerton branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.” (Excerpt from Lillian Walker: Civil rights pioneer, John C. Hughes, http://www.sos.wa.gov/legacyproject/oralhistories/lillianwalker/default.aspx.)

This is the definitive biography of Ms. Walker, a civil rights pioneer in Washington State. It is both a biography and an oral history and eminently readable. Readers interested in race relations, civil rights history and the civil rights of African American women in particular will enjoy this book. This book is about the history of Bremerton, Washington and will appeal to those with an itch to read well written local history as well as to those who love to read biographies.

ISBN-13: 978-1889320229

Available at the Washington State Library, NW 323.092 WALKER 2010 / WA 353.1 St2lil w 2010.
Available in a Braille edition.
Oral history is available as a PDF edition. View online from Washington State Library.
Not available in talking book edition.