COVER STORY WRITTEN BY WILLIAM DIETRICH PHOTOGRAPHED BY TOM REESE
ON THE COVER: Developer Ron Sher's devotion to the idea that people need a third place, besides work and home, to meet friends and socialize inspired Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park. An overflow crowd waits for a book signing by Senator and former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.

PLANT LIFE Winter Break With luck, a "normal" Northwest winter will bring us the temperature ups and downs our gardens prefer. ON FITNESS Good Vibrations A new machine shakes it up for flexibility. NOW & THEN Linked to the Lake LETTERS Letters to the editor

TASTE Pucker Up For Persimmons These tart fruits can be perfectly sweet if eaten at the perfect moment. NORTHWEST LIVING Best-Laid Plans Musings in a design journal led to this easy-to-live-with home on Mercer Island. SUNDAY PUNCH Marriage by the Book