The Invisible Gentle activist Scott Glascock lived his beliefs
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Who was Scott Glascock and why is his passing so invisible in the news search engine at http://news.Google.com/news?hl=en&ned=&ie=UTF-8&q=Scott+Glascock ? How did his work in the progressive movement make any difference?
This article was published in the Seattle Times. The Gentle Activist, evidently an advocate for a strong center position, may be passing without notice. Don't you know him or his works?:
Monday, May 16, 2005, 12:00 A.M. Pacific
Gentle activist Scott Glascock lived his beliefs
By Warren Cornwall
Seattle Times staff reporter
In death, as in life, Scott Glascock took the unconventional path.
He literally dictated his own obituary, a lengthy, candid memoir of a life that touched many of the seminal events of progressive politics, particularly in Seattle. It was published as a paid obituary notice in yesterday's paper.
His experiences extended from California's Free Speech Movement, in the 1960s, to the rise of the gay-rights movement, the AIDS epidemic of the '80s, and the blending of liberal politics and for-profit business in the '90s.
"It continued to amaze me how many different things he had done in his life," said David Foecke, a friend and co-owner with Mr. Glascock of Cafe Flora, a well-known vegetarian restaurant in Seattle's Madison Valley.
Mr. Glascock died of cancer Thursday (May 12) at his Capitol Hill home. He was 63.
He was born in southern Oregon on Dec. 16, 1941, into relatively conventional surroundings. The son of upper-
middle-class Republican parents, he spent most of his youth on his family's farm in California's San Joaquin Valley.
He earned a degree in Asian studies at the University of Washington and then an MBA at the University of California, Berkeley. He took a job at Bank of America in San Francisco, then got married.
But already Mr. Glascock's life was starting down a much different road. At Berkeley he joined in the Free Speech Movement, a protest of university restrictions on students and a landmark event in the rise of 1960s campus activism. After a day at the bank, he would shed his work clothes to attend meetings of the Peace and Freedom Party, an anti-war political organization founded in 1967.
After he moved to Seattle in 1969 and immersed himself in work for social change, Mr. Glascock's own personal life took a turn. In 1972, he separated from his wife and came out as a gay man. About the same time, he began an involvement in progressive projects in Seattle that would last the rest of his life.
"He's a wonderful example of being a nexus point between the sort of evolving parts of progressivism in this community," said Chris Hurley, a friend and former executive director at Bailey-Boushay House, founded to provide services for people with AIDS.
In the 1970s, Mr. Glascock lived in a collective of men promoting the feminist movement, worked on a UW program for students and alumni supporting social change, and demonstrated against nuclear-armed Trident submarines coming to Puget Sound, according to his obituary.
In 1983, he became executive director of the Pike Market Medical Clinic, a low-income health clinic, replacing Hurley. He co-wrote a guide to eating in Seattle, called "Seattleats." He became active in the movement to bring attention to the AIDS crisis.
Then, in 1991, he became general manager of Cafe Flora — an experiment in fusing vegetarianism with a for-profit business.
In recent years, he left the restaurant to help create the Tierra Learning Center, a facility near Leavenworth, Chelan County, that hosts retreats and programs dedicated to social change and spirituality. Colleagues and friends describe him as a gentle, soft-spoken person, fueled by strong political sentiments and a compassion expressed through his longtime devotion to Buddhism.
"He basically brought a gentleness to his management that resulted in people having a tremendous amount of loyalty to him and seeing him as not just their supervisor, but as a friend, a mentor," said Foecke.
While other members of his family didn't share his political beliefs, Mr. Glascock remained close to them, said Janie Somps, one of his two sisters. Years ago, during a heated discussion, the two agreed to avoid more conflicts by not talking about politics or religion, said Somps.
Despite those differences, Somps said she deeply admired her younger brother.
"I was in awe of him, at what he accomplished," she said.
Mr. Glascock is survived by his partner Jimi Ray Malary, and sisters Janie Somps, of Reno, Nev., and Mary Anderson, of Orinda, Calif. Remembrances can be made to Group Health Hospice, 1730 Minor, Suite 1500, Seattle, WA 98101, or online at www.ghcfoundation.org./>
Warren Cornwall: 206-464-2311 or wcornwall@seattletimes.com
