Before we get too far into summer, it’s update time for a few spring subjects, beginning with a local acknowledgement of an extraordinary scholar.
It is hardly the norm to earn a doctorate before getting a community college degree, but that’s what happened in the case of Matt Grindy, featured in this column June 1.
A 27-year-old Kamiak High School graduate, Grindy died earlier this year in Tallahassee, Fla., where he was Florida State University’s debate director. Before he died of cancer Feb. 12, the university held a commencement ceremony in his hospital room. The university president and a dean granted Grindy his Doctor of Philosophy in speech communication.
Last week, it was Edmonds Community College’s turn. At graduation exercises Friday, an honorary degree was granted in Grindy’s honor. Gov. Chris Gregoire was there as a graduation speaker, and met with Matt’s family.
Josh Grindy, Matt’s brother, went up with his parents, Scott Grindy and Cynthia Ronning, to accept the associate degree. Scott Grindy presented the college with a copy of “Emmett Till and the Mississippi Press,” a book his son co-authored.
“We were very honored,” said Josh Grindy, 25. Gregoire, he added, noted that Matt had inspired students in his life, and his story will continue to do so. As a cancer survivor herself, Gregoire had high praise for all that Grindy accomplished while fighting the disease, Josh Grindy said.
With Grindy’s family was state Rep. Marko Liias. The Mukilteo Democrat had been Matt Grindy’s debate partner at Kamiak. Grindy had earned 80 credits as a Running Start student at EdCC, but he went on to Western Washington University to earn a bachelor’s degree before finishing his associate degree.
John Michaelson, EdCC’s vice president of college relations and advancement, said the last recipient of an honorary Associate of Arts degree, in 1999, was Karen Miller, formerly a Snohomish County Council member and college trustee.
Scott Grindy will save Matt’s EdCC degree, along with other treasures of his son, to pass along to the next generation. “It’s something for our grandson, Ian,” he said.
Honored by the AquaSox
On April 30, I wrote about Edie Evans, a grocery checker at the Safeway on Broadway in Everett. At 62, after more than 30 years on the job, Evans was forced to retire because of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. The incurable disease has hampered her speech. In later stages, it impairs movement and breathing.
Evans did just fine Sunday when she was honored by the Everett AquaSox. Before the team’s home opener against the Boise Hawks, Evans walked out in front of the crowd and threw a ceremonial pitch.
“It was fun. I had my three sons and one daughter and their families,” said Evans, who recently returned home to Lake Stevens from a family reunion in Arkansas.
Teresa Sarsted, director of accounting and player housing for the AquaSox, said the VIP pitch was part of a Strike Out ALS night at the ballpark. A booth offered information about Lou Gehrig’s disease, and Sarsted said it was fitting that someone from the community be represented at the game.
Evans’ pitch? “She did well,” Sarsted said. Underhand or overhand?
“Overhand,” Evans said. A veteran of adult sports leagues in Snohomish and Lake Stevens, she added “I used to play left field.”
Elvis still lives on
If I’ve learned nothing else, I’ve learned this: Raise the subject of Elvis Presley, there will be no end to it.
On April 11 and 25, I wrote about a Presley photo showing the King with my late father-in-law, who had worked at a Dallas radio station in the 1950s. When I asked if readers might have their own Elvis pictures, I should have expected the flood that came. I should have said, “Don’t Be Cruel.” As much as I appreciated the enthusiasm, I couldn’t keep up with all the Elvis e-mail coming from here to Italy and back again.
At risk of stirring it up again, I’ll share one more scrap of Presley correspondence. Mike Cockrum, 52, of Marysville has a novel Elvis collectible. His grandparents, the late Homer and Georgia Cockrum, owned a ranch in California’s San Fernando Valley where the 1957 Presley movie “Loving You” was filmed.
He doesn’t have a guitar or a piece of Presley clothing, no. Cockrum owns an old tractor seen in the movie. It’s still in California. His e-mail said: “Here are a couple of pictures of Elvis with the tractor in the background, and a couple of the tractor as it is today.”
Sure enough, same tractor. What a thing to have.
“Elvis was there about four days,” Cockrum said. His grandparents told him the King was polite, “but after the film crew left, the place was such a mess they vowed never to do it again.”
He hopes to move the tractor and store it in Idaho.
Too bad. Couldn’t Marysville use a rusty old Elvis tourist attraction? Don’t answer that.
Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlstein@heraldnet.com.
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