Think where mans glory most begins and ends, and say my glory was I had such friends. -- Wm. Butler Yeats

Faith and Jenny, Summer of 2011

Faith Sinanan died late this morning after taking on death her way.  Trying to remember dates, I believe that Faith was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006.  She walked 60 miles with the Kindred Spirits team for the September 2007 3 Day Walk.  Though my good friend Jenny had talked about her for years, that's where I got to know her.


Until this morning, she was a survivor -- but this past year or so cannot have been easy as she underwent additional treatments for cancer that had metastasized into her brain.   She underwent the famous gamma knife surgery twice.  Jenny was her diarist the last several years, so that all her friends could keep up to date with the travels and deliberate decisions of a truly free spirit while she continued to live life on her own terms.


No one wishes a cancer patient to live in pain or sorrow.  Faith made her plans in a deliberate way and enjoyed life to the fullest while she could, including all the support and good times from her cousin Jenny.  Jenny posted this entry around noon today.


Faith drew her final breath at 11:15 this morning in the same room where she gave birth to Viyda 22 years ago this week.  Gladys and Viyda were with her and her dear friends Sheila and Joan, and of course Bindi (meow) and Gracie (woof).  It is a clear sunny day here in Seattle with brilliant blue skies.  A pair of red-tailed hawks are circling our yard, riding a draft high above.

May you find peace in your heart, knowing our beloved Faith is free. 

The library is the most democratic of institutions

I'm testifying this evening on behalf of the Seattle Public Library's budget for 2012.  Here's a copy of what I plan to say.

"I am Annie Searle.  I’ve had a library card for over 30 years, and I use the Northeast, Green Lake and University branches. And I am a member of the Seattle Public Library Foundation board.

First of all, I would like to thank you for your consistent and thoughtful funding of the Seattle Public Library and its branches over the past several tough years.  We all know how tough the choices are that you have, especially this year.  I’d also like to thank the mayor for recommending no cuts to the Library budget this year.

The Library seems to have led the way over the past several years as it reduced its branch operating hours and staff in branches by 13% or over 9,000 hours per year.  Library staff took a 2% reduction in pay.  And today, 15 of our branches are open only 5 days a week, 7 hours per day.  That’s tough on the neighborhoods they serve.  The Library’s $5 million proposed budget for books and materials is down 14% from the 2010 budget that was adopted.  And, as each of you knows from your own library use, the Library’s 27 heavily used buildings are now in the peculiar position of having both increased traffic  and sorely needed upkeep and maintenance from that traffic.   

Despite the reduced hours and lower investment in books and infrastructure, the library currently has over 500,000 card carrying borrowers.

Especially with the cuts to Seattle schools library programs and in light of reduced operating hours at community centers which are often in close proximity to branches, I ask that you consider restoring some of the collections budget in order to serve what continues to be an increasing number of users at a time when we are still carrying the impacts of prior reductions."

Wishing My Friends The Best Walk Ever!

2008 Opening Ceremonies: Carrying the Flag

Kindred Spirits 2008 Across the Finish Line -- Mary Jo, Annie, Ginny and Carol

2007 Training Walk with Anna Terrones.  I miss her very much.

Though I know that other commitments kept me from training and walking in this year's 3 Day Walk for Breast Cancer -- coming up this weekend -- I nonetheless miss everything that leads up to the walk itself.  The friends that I made and the experiences we shared are cumulative.  They are important because everyone is training and raising money for a cause larger than themselves, usually out of personal experience or friendship with someone who has cancer.


I'll be out early Friday morning to cheer all the walkers out the gate at Qwest Field, and I'll see them again on Sunday when they leave Husky Stadium on the last leg of the walk. These three photos remind me of the very special experience of training for six months and then making the walks in 2007 and 2008.


To the 100+ members of my team, the Kindred Spirits, I wish you the joy that comes with knowing you are doing something genuinely important.  Year by year, you are changing the world.

Balancing Act.

You can see that over two weeks have passed since I last posted.  I don't think I am going to be able to keep this blog as active as I would like over the next couple of months.  I've got a new blog to support launch and marketing of the new book, Advice From A Risk Detective and that's where my attention will be. 

The book should be out by October 1, at which point I'll be back more often here.  It's hard to let go of something that I've written since 2007, so I'll just say "see you later."

Report from the field.

Annie & Lauren Du Graf --July 2009 Launch Party for ASA

I'm a very lucky woman.  I have the benefit of a learned critical intelligence reading and critiquing my book manuscript.  That would be Lauren Du Graf, ASA's first research associate and my good friend.  She saw early versions of the several chapters of the book last spring -- and she was on the receiving end last weekend when I finished the entire manuscript on the deadline I'd set for an early first cut.  She's the only person to date, in fact, who has read the whole manuscript.

So on Tuesday afternoon she delivered the news -- what I had described as a practical, hands-on manual filled with tips and checklists and titled "Safer, Not Sorry: Taking Reasonable Precautions" had morphed into another type of book, one with a distinctive voice that not only offered advice but also told stories with words and pictures.  She found that three of the four sections could be reworked, but wondered about the fourth which should be dropped if it could not be improved.  I am making it sound less polite than she put it, but that's what I like so much about working with her again -- she tells the truth and has an unerring eye for incongruities and fluff.

The result is that I've rewritten the introduction of the book, providing a better basis for the new title, "Advice from a Risk Detective: At Home, At Work, Online and On the Road."  And I have gutted and reframed the fourth section to an acceptable level, with more rewrite in store of course.  She has challenged me everywhere to be more explicit and state how I came to understand what risk is and how it can be managed.

I have a fair number of close friends, and a wide circle of colleagues.  Since we started working together on constructing the content for the ASA website, Lauren has both supported and challenged me without ever sucking up.  Tomorrow, we'll meet with the book's designer.  I asked her originally to sit in because she often is able to represent my perspective better than I can myself.  This time, though, she'll be sitting as an active partner because she's helped make the book as good as it will be in another week.