Alumni

Fall 2017

Fabric of the university

The ornate Washington State University mace, a convocation and commencement fixture, is perhaps the most widely recognizable of artist Tim Doebler’s creations.

But his artwork is interwoven throughout the University. Commemorative and recognition placards in building lobbies. A stone monument on Terrell Mall. Finely crafted tokens of appreciation awarded to University leaders and supporters.

“I see this as part of the fabric of the University,” says Doebler ’84 MFA, who is retiring in November after 38 years as an engineering technician with WSU’s fine arts department.

A Vietnam veteran and survivor of the bloody Easter offensive, Doebler returned to the States in 1972 and … » More …

Fall 2017

Live from New York . . .

When Ana Cabrera ’04 first set foot on Washington State University’s Pullman campus in 2000, she had no idea she’d be live on national television in 17 years.

She didn’t know she’d go on to work as a weekend anchor for CNN and live in New York City. She was unaware that she’d cover major stories like riots in Ferguson, marijuana legalization, and immigration—or that her life would soon be at the 24/7 mercy of the “news gods.” And she certainly couldn’t predict that the president of the United States would call her and her fellow journalists the “enemy.”

What she did know was … » More …

Fall 2017

Class notes

1940s

Charlotte Wirth (’48 Phys. Ed., ’55 MAT) and Marda McClenny (’74 Phys. Ed.) were inducted into the Washington State Girls Basketball Coaches’ Hall of Fame. McClenny coached the Walla Walla girls basketball team to three state tournaments and Wirth coached Walla Walla prior to Title IX. Wirth is also known for working to get equal practice time and equipment for the developing girls sports programs during the 1960s and 1970s.

1950s

Paul C. Anderson (’55, ’60 MA Poli. Sci.) taught political science at Yakima Valley College from 1961-94 and then retired to Port Townsend. He was a Delta Chi and lettered in golf at … » More …

Fall 2017

In memoriam

1930s

Catherine C. Hyslop (x’38 Ag., Alpha Gamma Delta), 100, May 4, 2017, Spokane.

1940s

Leila B. Kayler (x’40 Pharm.), 95, February 25, 2017, Odessa.

Elma Ryan-Bornander Anderson (’41 Speech and Hearing Sci.), 98, April 10, 2017, Seattle.

Robert Arleth Stier (’42 Gen. St.), 95, December 21, 2016, Olympia.

W. James Wride (’43 Phys. Sci., ’46 MS Chem. Eng.), 95, March 17, 2017, Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

Robert J. Beaubier (’46 Forest & Range Mgmt.), 99, September 17, 2016, Lewiston, Idaho.

Betty J. Sunofsky (’46 Home Econ.), 93, April 8, 2017, Long Beach, California.

Arthur R. MacKelvie (’47 Comm.), 94, April 10, 2017, Spokane Valley.

Eugene G. … » More …

Fall 2017

Bear watching

The headlines paint a dire picture: By the 2030s, global warming could completely melt Arctic sea ice, imperiling the 19 known polar bear populations that range across the United States, Canada, Russia, Greenland, and Norway.

Could, as some fear, the trend spell extinction for Ursus martimus?

For two of the country’s premiere polar bear researchers—wildlife biologists KARYN RODE ’99 MS, ’05 PhD, and DAVID C. DOUGLAS ’86 MS, both of whom work for the U.S. Geological Survey’s Alaska Science Center—the answer is a decided “No.”

But neither is the future rosy for the animals, according to Douglas, who uses satellite tracking to monitor their … » More …

Fall 2017

Talkback for Fall 2017

Even more Olympic connections

In “Cougs at the Olympics” in the Talkback section of our Fall ’16 issue, Don Brust asked the question regarding what other Cougs had the opportunity to go to the Olympic Games. Another response:

In 1978 the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) moved its headquarters from New York to Colorado Springs. At that time I was working there for CPAs Haskins & Sells. The USOC’s business manager/controller did not want to relocate, so I decided to apply and was lucky enough to be selected. The end result was that I was able to attend two Pan American Games (San Juan … » More …

Fall 2017

Where the trouble began

“Fiction is a document of trouble,” says novelist James Thayer ’71. The trouble began for Thayer as a teenager reading Bram Stoker’s Dracula on his father’s wheat farm in Almira.

“The narrator sees the Count leap to a window frame—and then crawl down the exterior of the castle wall like a lizard!” Thayer exclaims. “That scene scared me to death! It was a revelation as to the power of fiction.”

Now, decades later, the Seattle-based author of 14 novels teaches fiction writing through the University of Washington’s continuing education program.

“The main thing that keeps people from writing a novel is that it … » More …

Fall 2017

The accidental novelist

What began as a way to avoid going stir crazy while recuperating from a nearly fatal equestrian accident has become an award-winning western genre trilogy that blends suspenseful mystery and the allure of lost fortunes with good old-fashioned frontier fortitude.

Landscape architect STEPHEN B. SMART ’75 calls himself an unlikely novelist. He’s spent most of his life outdoors, designing everything from elaborate gardens and water features to a driveway gate cleverly concealed to appear as a fallen ponderosa pine. And in his free time, he’s more likely to be found atop a favorite mule exploring the Pacific Northwest backcountry than sitting at a keyboard … » More …

Fall 2017

James Thayer on the craft of the novel

James Thayer reads from The Boxer and the Poet

James Thayer ‘71 reads the first chapter of his romantic comedy, The Boxer and the Poet.

Tips and Techniques

Thayer started teaching the craft of the novel about ten years ago as a creative writing instructor at the University of Washington. He’s also a regular contributor to Author magazine.

Thayer, a natural storyteller, absorbed his craft through his lifelong voracious reading habit. When he first got the teaching job, he realized he didn’t have enough to say to fill a 90-hour, year-long course. So, as is his wont, he read a bunch of books. … » More …

Fall 2017

Steve Smart reads from Whispers of the Greybull

Steve Smart ’75 had spent much of the hot summer day making the rounds of the various landscaping and construction projects his company had underway throughout the Inland Northwest.

Back at his office atop a commercial nursery just outside Spokane, he agreed to take a break and read a selection from his first novel, Whispers of the Greybull. He’d have preferred to stay out on the work sites but got cleaned up and took a seat.

The novel, which Smart wrote while recovering from a near-fatal accident, is set in the Depression-era Midwest and was a recipient of a Will Rogers Medallion for inspirational … » More …