Quote:
Originally Posted by Mort1997
Free Today on Amazon UK - Emerald City: 1 (Laura Benton mystery) by Chris Nickson
'Seattle, May 1988'
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Thanks, Mort1997. Please forgive the nostalgia induced by this title.
Back around 1980, give or take a year, the city of Seattle, or perhaps the city's tourist bureau, sponsored a contest to give Seattle an appealing nickname. It was a wildly popular contest and my losing entry was Fungus Burg. My proposal did receive radio attention and many callers supported it.
The citizens were not allowed to vote for the winner. Some privileged persons chose Emerald City to much populist criticism and disgust. I mean, how twee and sentimental! After all, the unofficial state song is Louie Louie (it did not become official because when it came to a vote, it was discovered that the 80-some-year-old author of Washington, My Home was alive and heartbroken).
I still cannot see 'Emerald City' without disappointment at my loss in the contest. Fungus Burg is more accurately descriptive and in line with the general attitudes of the citizens.
