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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
November 29, 2012     Shelton Mason County Journal
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November 29, 2012
 
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JOURNALEDITORIAL KOMENCOMMENT Olympic Peninsula always inspiring to late, great author "f you treasure the wondrous Olympic Mountains, then you must read "The .Untamed Olympics, the Story of a Peninsula." Ruby E1 Hult wrote it in 1954, and to this day its equal has not appeared. Ruby's is the definitive book about the Olympic Peninsula. "Those mountains! -- it was uncanny how they insinuated into every part of my life," she exclaimed. "I gazed upon them mornings, evenings and weekends from my apartment windows. It was like living with one great maste~,piece viewed through many frames and from various perspec- tives." Thus inspired, she set herself to learn all she could about the moun- tains that so attracted her. From her workaday world in Seattle, she searched for informa- tion about the Olympic Peninsula. She would By JOHN find bits and pieces but KOMEN nothing that would truly qualify as a real history of the Olympics. She set about to fill the gap. She filled notebooks with her research; she haunted the Seattle Public Library for information. "A book was needed," she decided. "A book filled with every possible bit of lore I could discover about the area. The book I so much wanted to read but which did not exist." E1 Hult had arrived in Seattle in 1945 intent upon entering the University of Washington to study writing. She already was a published author; "Steamboats in the Timber" about her North Idaho home in the Coeur d'Alene region. But she felt moved to improve her craft, and so she came to the University of Washington. She lasted nine months before her funds ran out. She supported herself as a Seattle office worker, and in her spare time continued her Olympic Mountains research. It had been two years and she had yet to set foot on the Olympic Peninsula. Finally came a vacation, and she made the trip. By bus she made her way, first to Shel- ton, the Gateway to the Olympics. Then to Port Angeles, and there she met Herb Crisler. She had heard many times that if she wanted to know about the Olympic Mountains, she must meet Herb and Lois Crisler. The Crislers lived year-around in the Olympics at Humes Ranch, an isolated former homestead high in the mountains above the Elwha River, a place reached only by hiking some 4 miles from Whiskey Bend. E1 Hult became a frequent visitor to Humes Ranch, visits that eventually re- sulted in a long-distance romance of many years between the redheaded Ruby and the mountaineer Herb. But we digress; that's a subject of another story some other day. "To me the writing of 'The Untamed Olympics' could be compared to walk- ing down a road so long, so devious in its windings that if I had known its nature in advance I would never have dared set foot upon it," she wrote in a preface to the book. She thanked scores of sources, including a Simpson official who "showed me Simpson Logging Company operations in Shelton and sent me to (Camp) Grisdale." The result is a 246-page book with 20 more pages of bibliography and index. It earned her a well-deserved reputation as the premier writer of Northwest regional history. E1 Hult dropped out of sight after her productive writing years, and many re- ferred to her as "the late Ruby E1 Hult." But we found her one September day in 2007. She was 95 years old, nearly blind, teth- ered by a long thin hose to an oxygen tank, living in one room in an assisted living home in North Seattle. But she was alert and talkative, and we engaged her in a de- lightful hour-long interview on videotape. A year later she was gone. We are thankful she left behind "The Untamed Olympics." LETTERSTOTHEEDITORTM • John Komen, who lives on Mason Lake, was for 40 years a reporter and edi- tor, TV anchorman, national TV network correspondent, producer, columnist, edito- rial writer and commentator. His column, Komen Comment, appears each week in the Shelton-Mason County Journal. in Apn estimated 89 million U.S. shop- While we're not complaining -- the hundreds of families and children in need ers braved crowded stores and more money people spend at retailers, the during the holidays. They supply coats to ong lines on Black Friday. Ad- more tax revenue businesses generate to children who don't have one. They donate ditionaUy, more than 35 million visited keep firefighters and authorities on the their time and energy to make sure area retailers' stores on Thanksgiving Day, streets -- we wonder if people should take cold weather shelters stay open to those purchasing all kinds of deeply discounted a step back and consider the purchases who've lost their home to foreclosure or items on what has traditionally been con- they are making, addiction. sidered the busiest shopping day of the It's easy to get swept up in the hype. There are dozens of nonprofits that year. Commercials advertising holiday sales fill could use a small donation. Ten dollars According to the Washington, D.C.- the airwaves and in print, showing jaw- could be the difference between life and based National Retail Federation, con- dropping deals on everything from televi- death for a homeless child, person or pet. sumers spent an estimated $59.1 billion sions to automobiles. While the Black Friday frenzy of 2012 between Thanksgiving and the following In this day of near-record foreclosures, is now a distant memory, the holiday Sunday. This year, the average holiday bankruptcies, high credit card debt and shopping season, and the deals retailers shopper spent $423 during the four-day homelessness, we urge shoppers to pur- will offer to lure you to their stores, are holiday weekend. That's up about $25 per chase within their means this holiday, just now hitting their stride. As you work consumer from last year. season and beyond, your way down the aisles of savings, con- Regardless of how you spin the num- We also ask that in this season of giv- sider giving even a portion of the savings bers, one thing's for certain -- Black Fri- ing, you remember those in our commu- from this year's hottest new toy, gadget day has become its own "holiday." More so nity who struggle to simply put food on or electronic to one of our local charities. than ever, families are hitting stores the the table. They are the masters at making a dollar day after Thanksgiving and opening up Each year, local organizations, volun- stretch during the holiday season and their wallets, teers and charities in Mason County help year around. coOIN6 EXTINCT,9 35th race District a Journal Letter Policy disgrace Editor, the Journal I am compelled to write after the November election. specifically the race for the 35th Legislative District, Position 1. Never have I seen -- nor did I think it possible for -- elected lead- ers to stoop so low as to create and distribute false, slanderous lies about their opponents. It is obvious that the perpetrators wanted this race to be emotion- ally driven and were will- ing to do anything, even lying, to ensure victory. It should be illegal to make any statements in a politi- cal campaign that will harm or destroy the credibility of any opponent. There is a law that "You shall not kill." This is always thought of as taking a life. But what about "killing" a person's credibility, their reputation and their good name? I am aghast at the vot- ers in the 35th Legislative The Journal welcomes and encourages your letters to the editor. We will print signed, original letters of local interest. We will not publish letters that are libelous or scurrilous in nature. Signed letters should provide contact and address information for the Journal. of voters voted to put back the two-third majority re- quirement on raising taxes, yet they re-instated the in- cumbent in the 35th District who repeatedly overturns the very same initiative when it comes up in session. I have lost all faith in our election system and in the voters in the 35th. Elected leaders in the 35th District tell us how hard and complicated it is to do the right thing. Elected leaders in the 35th District even encourage us to elect someone else who is will- ing to do the job. Yet those resented. Voters in the 35th Dis- trict, you had your chance and you blew it. You blew it big time. You have no right to complain about the 35th District, Position 1, for the next two years because you will have no one to thank but yourselves. Shame on a democracy where voters vote from emo- The Nov. 22 article "Vol- unteers fill backpacks for local school children" should have stated that Saints' Pantry raised $85,000 through its community proj- ects. All of those funds were donated to community pro- grams. tion instead of intelligence. Shame on a democracy that Sendle eis to elects leaders who do not listen to their constituents. Shame on a democracy that allows candidates to descend to low blows to ensure vic- mai!~hemtoSheiton POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Shelton-Mason County Journal, RO. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584. Published weekly by Shelton-Mason County Journal, Inc. at 227 West Cota Street, Shelton, Washington Mailing address: RO. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584 Telephone (360) 426-4412 • www.masoncounty.com Periodicals postage paid at Shelton, Washington District who either can't or same people are re-elected l'~ Shelton-Mason County 111| won't get it through theirover and over, showing that lit ~ 1,~ ,~ t~ ~ ~ I1| thick heads to think aboutthe,voters in the 35th really % I ~ t how they vote. The majoritydon t care how they are rep- Shelton-Mason County Journal is a member of Kari Sleight, publisher usPs 492-800 Washington Newspaper Publishers' Association. Newsroom: Maggie Burdick, ad representative SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Adam Rudnick, editor $37 per year for Mason County addresses, Natalie Johnson, reporter Front office: Donna Kinnaird, bookkeeper $51 per year in state of Washington but outside Gordon Weeks, reporter Mason County, $61 per year out of state. Emily Hanson, sports reporter Renee Chaplin, circulation Cricket Carter, mailroom supervisor Owned and published by Shelton-Mason County Journal, Inc tory. Moron Robert Aaron EO BOX 4301 SheldOn Shelton Advertising: Dave Pierik, Sr. Acct. Executive Composing room: William Adams, graphics Pressroom: Kelly Riordan, production manager Travis Miller, press operator Mary Northover, press assistant Page A-4- Shelton-Mason County Journal- Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012