History: Tacoma blessed by books and babies

Re: “New Book on Meeker a tale for our times,” (Bill Virgin column, TNT, 9/25).

Books and babies share certain similarities. Each require a gestation period. Each enter this world on a specific date. And each has the potential to dramatically change history.

A hundred years ago, in 1916, both a book and a baby made their public debuts here in Puget Sound country: Ezra Meeker’s pioneer memoir was titled “The Busy Life of Eighty Five Years,” and a baby boy was born in Tacoma named Murray Morgan.

Sixty three years later, in 1979, the boy had grown into a talented writer, and exquisitely echoing our local history in print, Morgan published the now classic “Puget’s Sound - A Narrative of Early Tacoma and the Southern Sound,” wherein he heaped much well-earned praise upon the character of Meeker.

Now yet another book singing the praises of Ezra Meeker, Dennis Larsen’s “Hop King,” has been published, and it is indeed a “tale for our times.” Why? Because Meeker is significantly connected to McNeil Island. How? Read any of the books mentioned above. Then simply consider which “p” word you’d prefer determining the destiny of that beautiful island: prisoner, predator or pioneer?

This story was originally published September 28, 2016 at 10:54 AM with the headline "History: Tacoma blessed by books and babies."