History lives on

Is is too hard to imagine saying good-bye to writer and historian Walt Crowley, so let's not. Instead, it would be a far better and more fitting tribute to propagate the broad sweep of thinking with which he approached contemporary issues, and to embrace with renewed vigor his legacy, HistoryLink.org, the online archive of Washington state history.

A memorial service will be held Tuesday for Walt — "Mr. Crowley," as the rules of obituary writing would dictate, seems so alien — but it surely will feel more like a pause than a close, because there is so much more work to do. An election looms, and what would it be without Seattle's historian of wit and grace weighing in?

In fact, Walt left a final column, on our epochal transportation crossroads, which appears on the cover (page C6) of today's Seattle Times Opinion section. He sent it in good spirits, knowing that he would be facing surgery in a few days:

"My cancer has returned and I undergo a major operation this Wednesday. Assuming success, I will likely be unable to respond to any requests for editing or rewrite for at least 10 days. If you only need to perform minor, non-invasive surgery on these (without anesthesia), feel free to do so.

"Thanks for the opportunity to keep my 'voice' out there. Best, Walt Crowley."

Walt had his voice box removed earlier in the year for treatment of cancer of the larynx, a circumstance he approached with aplomb. We shared his anticipation of success from his latest operation — and had no fear his copy would need any degree of surgery, so clearly did he write. We were right about the latter, sadly wrong about the former.

Walt died Sept. 21 following a stroke.

For thousands of television viewers, he will be remembered for his bow ties, spectacles and liberal sparring with conservative commentator John Carlson on their KIRO-TV telecasts. Yet, it was with the founding of HistoryLink.org that he transcended politics du jour and enabled citizens to grasp the march of civic events.

Wondering how we got to this point in our roads and transit debate? Read all about it at www.historylink.org, with essays from Walt and other writer-historians there.

Curious about the early entry of women and minorities as leaders at Seattle City Hall? Type in "Bertha K. Landes," "Wing Luke" or "Sam Smith." Want to know what booming area was once considered "the backwater of a backwater town"? Type in "Lake Union" and read the file subtitled, "The Evolution of a Dream."

On Oct. 1, 2000, Walt and the HistoryLink staff began a yearlong series of columns in The Times to mark the 150th anniversary of the founding of Seattle and King County. In setting up the essays on the region's "turning points," Walt wrote:

"The trajectory of our community's evolution was not charted by the gods or blind dialectics but set by living people making hard choices in the real world. Sometimes they displayed great vision and courage, sometimes they succumbed to greed and prejudice. Sometimes they mastered the forces of society, economics and nature, sometimes these forces mastered them.

"And at pivotal moments, our forebears' decisions and actions set into motion developments that changed the vector and character of all that would follow."

History, to Walt, was not past, but prologue, and that is why we cannot say good-bye.