State oral-history program profiles Nirvana bassist, state justice

OLYMPIA — What do a grunge bassist, a former newspaper columnist and the state's first black Supreme Court justice have in common?

They're the first to have their lives profiled in a new statewide oral-history program unveiled Tuesday by Secretary of State Sam Reed.

Reed was joined by Nirvana bass player Krist Novoselic, former Bremerton Sun columnist and reporter Adele Ferguson and former Justice Charles Z. Smith.

"Looking back, we're saddened because so many important stories were never recorded," said John Hughes, the program's chief historian and former publisher of The Daily World in Aberdeen.

The Legacy Project compiles oral history and biography to document the experiences of Washington citizens who've had an impact on the state — from civic-minded citizens to rock stars, governors and elected officials. Reed said the histories will primarily be offered online because of budget constraints.

The oral histories are collected and the biographies written by Hughes. The articles are posted to the secretary of state's Web site along with photo galleries of the subjects.

Reed said the inaugural members of the program are unique in their own ways:

• Novoselic, an Aberdeen High School graduate, said even though he's traveled the world with Nirvana, he still keeps coming back.

"You make it big in the music industry, and you think you can move to Beverly Hills, or Palm Springs, or somewhere, but I love Washington state," he said.

Novoselic now lives in Deep River, a small southern Washington community along the Columbia River. He once ran for lieutenant governor, is actively involved in his local Grange and stays politically active by advocating for increased grass-roots political involvement — "making democracy more democratic," he said.

• Ferguson was the first female member to join the up-until-then all-boys club of the Capitol press corps in 1961. As Ferguson put it, she was the first female political reporter to not "just cover the governor's ball."

Breaking in wasn't easy, she said, but by the end of her tenure she was feared by many state politicians. On Tuesday, Ferguson briefly showed some fangs when Hughes, the chief historian, said he could — but wouldn't — reveal her age:

"I would have you killed," Ferguson said.

• Smith, in addition to being the first black member of the state Supreme Court, was also a University of Washington Law School professor, and served on the bench in King County courts.

The Secretary of State's Office plans on releasing more historical profiles soon, including those of former Gov. Booth Gardner and the state's first female Supreme Court justice, Carolyn Dimmick.