‘Jerry’ on line 2
Marijuana advocacy through the back door: Now the story can be told: In the late 1980s, a man named “Jerry,” concealing his identity to protect his local business, went on a Seattle talk radio show to criticize U.S. marijuana laws. “Jerry” now reveals, thanks to a change in public attitudes about pot, that he is Rick Steves, Edmonds travel guru and a backer of the recent initiative to legalize marijuana (above).
Steves now uses the “Jerry” handle on local radio only when he wants to promote bus tours of Europe’s tackiest tourist traps.
Hidden treasure: A $13 art print that turned out to be an Alexander Calder lithograph worth $9,000 is just the latest big score by lucky Goodwill shoppers (Page A2). Recently, a Salvador Dali sketch worth $21,000 was discovered at a Goodwill in Tacoma.
Excuse The Buzz while we take a closer look at the signature on that “Dogs Playing Poker” print hanging in the rec room.
Don’t know much about history: On this day in 1992, British engineer Neil Papworth sent the first text message, “Merry Christmas,” from his work computer to the mobile phone of a Vodafone executive (Today in History, Page A2).
When Papworth told his family of his breakthrough, his wife showed him the phone bill with $120 in texting charges from his teenage daughter.
—Jon Bauer and Mark Carlson, Herald staff
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