What motivated you to do a book on Hawthorne Boulevard?
I wanted to celebrate the fabulous place where we live and tell the story of how it got this way.
What were some of the most interesting things you learned about Hawthorne Blvd.?
The building on the southeast corner of 36th and Hawthorne is a great example. It was a Safeway store when it was built and then it was a Fred Meyer. Later the windows were boarded up and it was a warehouse for Union Furniture. Today, it is the Bread and Ink Cafe, and you can tell it was a grocery by the newer bricks under the windows that were added to fill the openings where produce racks once extended out on the sidewalk.
This book contains both description and images. What images stand out?
The bridge fire in 1902, the Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade on Hawthorne in 1948, the giant cake at the Fred Meyer Grand Opening in 1951, and the neighborhood that disappeared under the bridge ramps in 1957.
How can readers obtain this book?
Visit www.hawthornebook.com to buy a book and join the discussion of Hawthorne history, or find it in your local bookstore.