Norman Clark, author of "Mill Town," the social history of Everett’s first decades as a city, died Monday at his home in La Conner. He was 78.
Clark was president of Everett Community College from 1975 to 1978 and taught English and history at the college in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s.
But he is best-known in Everett for "Mill Town," which was the first meticulously researched account of the events surrounding the 1916 Everett Massacre, the waterfront battle between citizen deputies and union members that left between five and 12 people dead.
The book, published in 1972, opened raw wounds in Everett, where most people preferred to simply not talk about the massacre rather than confront the reasons for it, said Denise Ohio, who is making a documentary about the massacre.
Clark told Ohio in an interview that when "Mill Town" came out, "he had people taking pot shots at him from all angles, because this subject is still very much alive here. It had an emotional impact. Here was a serious scholar taking this subject seriously and bringing it to public attention in a masterful way."
"Norman is the man who made it OK to think and talk and write about Everett’s history," Everett Public Library historian David Dilgard said. "Until he took the heat involved in telling the story, everything was bottled up."
Ed Morrow, a former City Council member and member of the Everett Historical Commission, said he doesn’t think Clark ever knew all that he had accomplished.
"His knowledge, his love and his ability to write will be a treasure to the citizens of this community," Morrow said.
It was fitting that Clark wrote so much about Everett’s mills, said Clark’s son, Ken.
"He’d always been interested in the mills, and when I was growing up on Colby Avenue in north Everett, we could see the smokestacks of the Scott paper mill from our house," he said.
Clark wrote three other books: "The Dry Years: Prohibition and Social Change in Washington," "Deliver Us from Evil: An Interpretation of American Prohibition," and "Washington: A Bicentennial History." He also recorded an oral history of former state Supreme Court Justice James Dolliver with his second wife, Susan McKeehan.
Clark devoured history books and had a knack for remembering historical details when he traveled, McKeehan said.
"He would tell me stories wherever we went about the history of the place we were at," she said. "And it was never just a lecture. He made it interesting."
Clark was born in Mesa, Ariz., on May 10, 1925. His first wife, Kathy Henningsen, died in 1989. He is survived by McKeehan, Clark, daughter Karen Gould and brother David Clark. Private memorial services are planned.
Reporter David Olson:
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