Roadside Oddities and Other Offbeat Stuff

With the author of “Washington Curiosities” at the Washington State History Museum

Tacoma, August 7, 2014: From the Washington Serpentarium to the world famous Java Jive, the Evergreen State is filled with odd and wonderful people, places, and things. In “Washington Curiosities,” Harriet Baskas takes readers on a tour of the state’s best of the weirdest and there’s no better place to hear more about these than at the Washington State History Museum.

At 12pm on August 13 at the History Museum, readers can meet Harriet herself to hear more of the curious stories she collected in her research around Washington and have her sign a copy of the book “Washington Curiosities.” Visitors can purchase a copy a copy in the Museum Store for $16.95.

Some of the oddities included in the book are:

• Cheese Days
• Slug Fest
• McMillan Family Mausoleum
• The sculpture of record-producing Holstein cow, Possum Sweetheart
• Rosie the Walking Fish
• Marvin Carr’s One-of-a-Kind in the World Museum

This program is included in museum admission. Adults = $9.50, Students/Seniors = $7, and ages 5 and under are free. Washington State Historical Society Members get in free. Until Labor Day, active duty, reserve, and guard service members get free admission to the History Museum along with up to five members of their family. Military ID required. We are a Blue Star Museum.

Harriet Baskas Biography:  Harriet Baskas is currently a regular contributor for NBC News Travel and CNBC Road Warrior and reports on airports and air travel in a monthly column for USATODAY.com, where she also maintains 50 airport guides. Her work also appears in AAA Journey and other outlets and on her blog, StuckAtTheAirport.com. Her published books include Washington Icons (Globe Pequot, 2010), Oregon Curiosities (Globe Pequot Press, 2007) and Washington Curiosities (Globe Pequot, 2004, revised 2007, 2011), Stuck at the Airport, (Simon & Schuster, 2001), Museums of the Northwest, (Sasquatch Books, 1999) and (with co-author Adam Woog), Atomic Marbles and Branding Irons: A Guide to Museums, Collections and Roadside Curiosities in Washington and Oregon, (Sasquatch Books: 1993).

Her newest book: Hidden Treasures: What Museums Can’t or Won’t Show You, was published by Globe Pequot in October 2014.

For more than twenty years, her radio stories on unusual museums, airports, and other topics air aired regularly on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered program and on other nationally distributed public radio programs. She is currently working on a radio series about the 50th anniversary of the Seattle World’s Fair.

Harriet has also served as the General Manager of several public radio stations, including KBCS in Bellevue, Washington, KBOO in Portland, Oregon and KMUN in Astoria, Oregon, a station she put on the air. (Biography excerpt from http://www.harrietbaskas.com.)