Feliks Banel's guest on this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY is Eleanor Boba, a public historian based in Seattle who recently discovered that the large bronze commemorative plaque for the Interstate 90 Homer Hadley Bridge across Lake Washington is missing.

Homer Hadley is the Seattle-based engineer credited with the idea for a concrete floating bridge, and for the design of the original 1940 Lacey V. Murrow Lake Washington Floating Bridge (which sank on November 25, 1990 while undergoing renovation). The bridge named for Hadley was opened to vehicle traffic circa 1990, though it was not officially dedicated to him until July 17, 1993.

We've shared photos of the plaque - which the Washington State Department of Transportation tells CASCADE OF HISTORY they are not able to locate - and the now empty plinth to which it was attached for many years, at the CASCADE OF HISTORY Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/cascadeofhistory

For more information, please see Eleanor Boba's Blog Post:

https://remnantsofourpast.blogspot.com/2025/11/on-beaten-path-tracing-i-90-trail-in.html

CASCADE OF HISTORY has reached out to Homer Hadley's descendants to gather their reaction to news of the missing plaque, but as of Monday, November 24, 2025, we have not yet heard back.

CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most Sunday nights at 8pm Pacific Time via SPACE 101.1 FM in Seattle and gallantly streams everywhere via www.space101fm.org. The radio station broadcasts from studios at historic Magnuson Park – located in the former Master-at-Arms’ quarters in the old Sand Point Naval Air Station - on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle.

Subscribe to the CASCADE OF HISTORY podcast via most podcast platforms and never miss regular weekly episodes of Sunday night broadcasts as well as frequent bonus episodes.

Feliks Banel's guests on this LIVE BROADCAST of CASCADE OF HISTORY include Paul McClintock of Whidbey Island, who created many 18th century documents for Ken Burns' "American Revolution" documentary series currently airing on PBS; Mitsy Hunter of Spokane Preservation Advocates on the recent successful grassroots campaign to defeat a city ordinance which would have created a moratorium on historic districts; highlights from a 2021 interview with seasoned journalist (and "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" announcer) Bill Kurtis on his 1971 coverage of the D.B. Cooper skyjacking; and Julie Green Lombardo -whose father Del Green was a member of long-ago Seattle barbershop quartet the Four-Do-Matics - for whom we play a vintage recording by the group on an old LP that she'd never heard before. We also shared sad news from Jean Sherrard about the passing of longtime Seattle historian and author Junius Rochester - to whom we will pay tribute in an upcoming broadcast.

Links to information about all of these stories are available at the CASCADE OF HISTORY Facebook page:

www.facebook.com/groups/cascadeofhistory

This LIVE broadcast of CASCADE OF HISTORY was originally presented at 8pm Pacific Time on Sunday, November 23, 2025 via SPACE 101.1 FM and gallantly streaming live via www.space101fm.org from historic Magnuson Park - formerly Sand Point Naval Air Station - on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle.

Subscribe to the CASCADE OF HISTORY podcast via most podcast platforms and never miss regular weekly episodes of Sunday night broadcasts as well as frequent bonus episodes.

On this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel presents his 2021 D.B. Cooper skyjacking 50th anniversary special "COOPER FIVE-OH."

"COOPER FIVE-OH" includes an all-star lineup of D.B. Cooper experts and witnesses. We interview the FBI’s Larry Carr, lead agent on the case when it was closed several years ago. We also talk with Cooper skyjacking passenger Larry Finegold, and Seattle Times photographers Greg Gilbert and Bruce McKim, who were both at SeaTac Airport that night as the skyjacking unfolded, and who both took iconic photographs. Also joining us is D.B. Cooper hunter and expert Eric Ulis, and Bryan Ingram – who, as a child, discovered $6,000 of Cooper’s cash along the Columbia River in 1980.

"COOPER FIVE-OH” was produced and hosted live by Feliks Banel on a commercial radio station in Seattle, Washington on Thanksgiving Eve, November 24, 2021 - 50 years to the night of the infamous skyjacking.

CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most Sunday nights at 8pm Pacific Time via SPACE 101.1 FM in Seattle and gallantly streams everywhere via www.space101fm.org. The radio station broadcasts from studios at historic Magnuson Park – located in the former Master-at-Arms’ quarters in the old Sand Point Naval Air Station - on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle.

Subscribe to the CASCADE OF HISTORY podcast via most podcast platforms and never miss regular weekly episodes of Sunday night broadcasts as well as frequent bonus episodes.

On this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel presents an archival interview with Danny Swanson, grandson of the founder of historic Swanson's Shoe Repair in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood.

Swanson’s Shoe Repair is the subject of a long feature story in the Seattle Times this weekend. Reporter for the Seattle Times is David Gutman, and the piece is called “How one Seattle cobbler explains a century of economic change":

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/how-one-seattle-cobbler-explains-a-century-of-economic-change/

Swanson's Shoe Repair website:

https://swansonsshoerepair.com/

Our interview with Danny Swanson is from CASCADE OF HISTORY’s “sister program” – a monthly live broadcast from the Wallingford Farmer’s Market in the summer of 2023 called “The Wallingford Local,” produced as a joint project with the non-profit Historic Wallingford and SPACE 101.1 FM. Danny Swanson was a guest at our July 26, 2023 live broadcast from Meridian Park in Seattle’s Wallingford neighborhood.

The Wallingford Local Archival Podcast Page:

https://soundcloud.com/thewallingfordlocal

CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most Sunday nights at 8pm Pacific Time via SPACE 101.1 FM in Seattle and gallantly streams everywhere via www.space101fm.org. The radio station broadcasts from studios at historic Magnuson Park – located in the former Master-at-Arms’ quarters in the old Sand Point Naval Air Station - on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle.

Subscribe to the CASCADE OF HISTORY podcast via most podcast platforms and never miss regular weekly episodes of Sunday night broadcasts as well as frequent bonus episodes.

On this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel presents his archival interview from 2013 with Bryan Johnson, longtime KOMO Radio and TV journalist in Seattle. Johnson describes his early career at KOMO Radio in the late 1950s, and the morning he was on the job - Friday, November 22, 1963 - and had to break the news that President Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas. During the interview, we also listen back to a piece Johnson produced for ABC News' national radio feed about Seattle area reaction to the death of JFK.

CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most Sunday nights at 8pm Pacific Time via SPACE 101.1 FM in Seattle and gallantly streams everywhere via www.space101fm.org. The radio station broadcasts from studios at historic Magnuson Park – located in the former Master-at-Arms’ quarters in the old Sand Point Naval Air Station - on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle.

Subscribe to the CASCADE OF HISTORY podcast via most podcast platforms and never miss regular weekly episodes of Sunday night broadcasts as well as frequent bonus episodes.

On this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel tours Metsker Maps at historic Pike Place Market on First Avenue in downtown Seattle, Washington on the eve of the 2025 holiday shopping season.

Guest and "tour guide" is Walker Willingham, longtime Metsker employee and knowledgeable expert on maps and cartography. Mr. Willingham gives a tour of the store, tells about its history, and describes some of the maps, globes and books that make Metsker Maps one of the most distinctive retail establishments in the Pacific Northwest. He also shares his thoughts and philosophies on world map projections and the future of paper maps.

PLEASE BE FOREWARNED: this 30-minute episode features a couple of SERIOUS map nerds.

For more information about Metsker Maps' hours and location (as well as its online store):

https://metskermaps.com/

CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most Sunday nights at 8pm Pacific Time via SPACE 101.1 FM in Seattle and gallantly streams everywhere via www.space101fm.org. The radio station broadcasts from studios at historic Magnuson Park – located in the former Master-at-Arms’ quarters in the old Sand Point Naval Air Station - on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle.

Subscribe to the CASCADE OF HISTORY podcast via most podcast platforms and never miss regular weekly episodes of Sunday night broadcasts as well as frequent bonus episodes.

Feliks Banel's guest on this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY is Bill Willingham, whose book, "Oregon Gold: A History of Mining from the Civil War into the Progressive Era" was just published by OSU Press in Corvallis, Oregon.

The history of gold mining in Oregon is not widely known and appreciated. Bill Willingham grew up in Eastern Oregon, and says his new book was about 70 years in the making.

I spoke with Bill Willingham by phone on Thursday, November 20, 2025.

For more information about "Oregon Gold: A History of Mining from the Civil War into the Progressive Era" from OSU Press:

https://osupress.oregonstate.edu/book/oregon-gold

More info about Sumpter Valley Dredge State Heritage Area:

https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=park.profile&parkId=174

More info about Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Area:

https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=park.profile&parkId=5

CASCADE OF HISTORY Facebook page for more info about upcoming events with Bill Willingham on December 7, 2025; January 10, 2026 and February 8, 2026:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/cascadeofhistory

CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most Sunday nights at 8pm Pacific Time via SPACE 101.1 FM in Seattle and gallantly streams everywhere via www.space101fm.org. The radio station broadcasts from studios at historic Magnuson Park – located in the former Master-at-Arms’ quarters in the old Sand Point Naval Air Station - on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle.

Subscribe to the CASCADE OF HISTORY podcast via most podcast platforms and never miss regular weekly episodes of Sunday night broadcasts as well as frequent bonus episodes.

Feliks Banel's guests on this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY are Ilyssa and Dave Kyu, authors and editors of the "CAMPFIRE STORIES" series for Mountaineers Books. Their most recent volumes in the series focus on specific regions of the United States, and present collections of place-based essays and poems along with carefully curated information for the thoughtful traveler.

Their latest is called “Campfire Stories: The San Juan Islands: Tales & Travel Companion.”

CASCADE OF HISTORY spoke by phone with Ilyssa and Dave Kyu on Wednesday, November 19, 2025.

More info about “Campfire Stories: The San Juan Islands: Tales & Travel Companion" from Mountaineers Books:

https://www.mountaineers.org/books/books/campfire-stories-the-san-juan-islands-tales-travel-companion

More info about the CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS for a future volume dedicated to the Oregon Coast:

https://www.campfirestoriesbook.com/call-for-submissions/oregon-coast

Earlier episode about "CAMPFIRE STORIES: Volume II" from August 2023:

https://soundcloud.com/cascadeofhistory/coh-ep-33

CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most Sunday nights at 8pm Pacific Time via SPACE 101.1 FM in Seattle and gallantly streams everywhere via www.space101fm.org. The radio station broadcasts from studios at historic Magnuson Park – located in the former Master-at-Arms’ quarters in the old Sand Point Naval Air Station - on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle.

Subscribe to the CASCADE OF HISTORY podcast via most podcast platforms and never miss regular weekly episodes of Sunday night broadcasts as well as frequent bonus episodes.

Feliks Banel's guest on this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY is author and radio historian Michael C. Keith. He’s a retired academic, and prolific author and editor of fiction and non-fiction. Among his titles are the iconic text book THE RADIO STATION, and the collection of essays RADIO CULTURES: THE SOUND MEDIUM IN AMERICAN LIFE.

Michael C. Keith also worked closely with the late Norman Corwin, American radio playwright and author, and the man responsible for WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS. WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS was a live broadcast on all four American radio networks on December 15, 1941 - just eight days after the attack on Pearl Harbor - marking the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights.

CASCADE OF HISTORY will be presenting WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS live from, and in partnership with, Town Hall Seattle and live on SPACE 101.1 FM on December 15, 2025 at 7:30pm Pacific Time. We spoke with Michael C. Keith on November 13, 2025 in order to provide some history context in advance of the 2025 production.

For more information about attending WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS at Town Hall Seattle:

https://townhallseattle.org/event/we-hold-these-truths/

CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most Sunday nights at 8pm Pacific Time via SPACE 101.1 FM in Seattle and gallantly streams everywhere via www.space101fm.org. The radio station broadcasts from studios at historic Magnuson Park – located in the former Master-at-Arms’ quarters in the old Sand Point Naval Air Station - on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle.

Subscribe to the CASCADE OF HISTORY podcast via most podcast platforms and never miss regular weekly episodes of Sunday night broadcasts as well as frequent bonus episodes.

On this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel presents an archival interview with the late Gene Casey from November 2015.

It was late on the snowy night of November 17, 1955 when an aging DC-4 full of soldiers on their way home from Korea took off from Boeing Field in Seattle. Within minutes, the plane crashed and burned in a residential neighborhood in the community of Burien, Washington. Twenty-eight of the 74 people on board died in the crash. Propeller maintenance errors were later blamed. In 2015, Feliks Banel spoke with one of the survivors – a man named Gene Casey, who in 1955 was a 19-year-old soldier from Chicago.

Though he was badly burned and had other serious injuries, Gene Casey helped another fellow soldier escape from the burning wreckage. Casey was promised a medal for his actions, but never received anything. Mr. Casey passed away in 2023 on the 68th anniversary of the crash. He was 87 years old.

Feliks had tried to get the Defense Department to award Mr. Casey a medal, and reached out to officials in his home state of Florida and in Washington, DC – but he was not successful. Much of it hinged on finding the fellow soldier who Casey had helped rescue from the crash. Feliks believes he identified that soldier – but the man is long deceased, and his living relatives have never responded to multiple phone calls and emails.

We’ve posted photos and more information about Gene Casey at the Cascade of History Facebook page. If you have any information about Mr. Casey’s actions in the November 17, 1955 crash in Burien, Washington, please get in touch by sending an email to: [email protected]

CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most Sunday nights at 8pm Pacific Time via SPACE 101.1 FM in Seattle and gallantly streams everywhere via www.space101fm.org. The radio station broadcasts from studios at historic Magnuson Park – located in the former Master-at-Arms’ quarters in the old Sand Point Naval Air Station - on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle.

Subscribe to the CASCADE OF HISTORY podcast via most podcast platforms and never miss regular weekly episodes of Sunday night broadcasts as well as frequent bonus episodes.