David Clark Brewster (born September 26, 1939) is an American journalist and the founder, editor and publisher of the ''

Seattle Weekly The ''Seattle Weekly'' is an alternative biweekly distributed newspaper in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded by Darrell Oldham and David Brewster as ''The Weekly.'' Its first issue was published on March 31, 1976. The newspaper ...

'' and the Northwest news website Crosscut.com. He is also the founder, creator and former executive director of the nonprofit cultural center

Town Hall Seattle Town Hall Seattle, or Town Hall locally, is a cultural center and performance hall located on Seattle, Washington, USA's First Hill at 1119 8th Ave. Built as Fourth Church of Christ, Scientist, Seattle, a Church of Christ, Scientist church, from ...

Biography

Early life

He was born on September 26, 1939 in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Jones, p. 625Jones, p. 626 His father was a 1930 graduate of the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

and Marjorie Jane Anderson. He was born into a family with Midwestern roots that traces back directly to ''

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...

'' passengers,

Love Brewster Elder Love Brewster () was an early American settler, the son of Elder William Brewster and his wife, Mary Brewster. He traveled with his father, mother and brother, Wrestling, on the ''Mayflower'' reaching what became the Plymouth Colony in Mas ...

, a founder of the town of

Bridgewater, Massachusetts Bridgewater is a town located in Plymouth County, in the state of Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the town's population was 28,633. Bridgewater is located approximately south of Boston and approximately 35 miles east ...

; Elder William Brewster, the Pilgrim colonist leader and spiritual elder of the

Plymouth Colony Plymouth Colony (sometimes Plimouth) was, from 1620 to 1691, the British America, first permanent English colony in New England and the second permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony. It was first settled by the pa ...

; and William Bradford, Governor of the Plymouth Colony and the second signer and primary architect of the

Mayflower Compact The Mayflower Compact, originally titled Agreement Between the Settlers of New Plymouth, was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the men aboard the ''Mayflower,'' consisting of separatist Puritans, adventurers, an ...

Provincetown Harbor Provincetown Harbor is a large natural harbor located in the town of Provincetown, Massachusetts. The harbor is mostly deep and stretches roughly from northwest to southeast and from northeast to southwest – one large, deep basin with no dr ...

.Jones, 86Jones, 54Jones, 142Burt, 71Berlin, p. 14Welles Gaylord, p. 130He is also a descendant of

Martha Wadsworth Brewster Martha Wadsworth Brewster (April 1, 1710 – ) was an 18th-century American poet and writer. She is one of only four colonial women who published volumes of their verse before the American Revolution and was the first American-born woman to pu ...

, a notable 18th-century American poet and writer, and the Rev.

Reuben Gaylord Reuben Gaylord (April 28, 1812 – January 10, 1880) was the recognized leader of the missionary pioneers in the Nebraska Territory, and has been called the "father of Congregationalism in Nebraska."Punchard, G. (1865) "Congregationalism in Nebras ...

, a clergyman and a founder of

Grinnell College Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College. Grinnell has the fifth highest endowment-to-stu ...

.He is also a cousin of Robert Norton Noyce (1927–1990), nicknamed the Mayor of Silicon Valley, the inventor of the

integrated circuit An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...

or microchip and a co-founder of

Fairchild Semiconductor Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc. was an American semiconductor company based in San Jose, California. Founded in 1957 as a division of Fairchild Camera and Instrument, it became a pioneer in the manufacturing of transistors and of int ...

in 1957 and

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...

in 1968.

Education

He graduated in 1961,

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

, with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

and he received his

Master's Degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from Yale University in 1963.

Family

In 1962, he married Joyce Skaggs, a 1961 graduate of

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

. She was a writer for the Office of University Relations in the President's Office, at the University of Washington in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

. She retired from that position in 2008. She is the daughter of Charles Skaggs and Juanita ("Nita") Allen. David and Joyce are the parents of two daughters, Kate Eliza Brewster and Anne Olivia Brewster.

Career

After graduating from Yale, he moved to Seattle in 1965 to teach English at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

. He left teaching after a couple of years to write for the ''Seattle Times'', ''Argus'' magazine, and ''

Seattle Magazine Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of N ...

'', then an arm of King Broadcasting. He was also an assignment editor for

KING-TV KING-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Seattle, Washington, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Everett-licensed independent station KONG (channel 16). Both stations share studios at the Home Plate ...

. Brewster was founding editor of the ''Seattle Weekly'', which first published on March 31, 1976, celebrating the dedication of the

Kingdome The Kingdome (officially the King County Stadium) was a multi-purpose stadium located in the Industrial District, Seattle, Industrial District (later SoDo, Seattle, SoDo) neighborhood of Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. O ...

and the return of Major League Baseball to Seattle. Attorney Doug Raff and arts patron

Bagley Wright Bagley Wright (April 13, 1924 – July 18, 2011) was an American real estate developer and philanthropist. He was president of Bagley Wright Investments, was a developer of Seattle's landmark Space Needle and chair of Physio Control Corp. from 196 ...

were investors (investing $100,000) at start up (The Wright family eventually became the largest, though a minority holding, owners of the Weekly until it was sold in 1997). The free weekly paper focused on covering Seattle arts, culture and politics. He sold the paper 21 years later to

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...

Publications for an unannounced sum. Eastside Week, a ''Seattle Weekly'' spinoff, put the spotlight on Seattle suburbia. A political reporter named Rob French introduced readers to a new group of youthful conservatives – John Carlson,

Kirby Wilbur Kirby Allen Wilbur (born November 11, 1953) is an American talk radio journalist in Seattle, Washington and a conservative political activist. He served as the chair of the Washington State Republican Party. Early life and career Wilbur was born ...

, and others – who have been the nucleus of this state's political opposition for the past two decades. He also originated the "Best Places" guidebook series covering Northwest (northern California to Alaska) dining, lodging and getaways. The series is published by

Sasquatch Books Sasquatch Books is an American book publishing company based in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1986 by David Brewster of the '' Seattle Weekly'' and primarily publishes nonfiction books about the western United States and Canada and cover ...

. He also jumped into the local Seattle political scene in the 1977 mayor's race, promoting

Paul Schell Paul E. S. Schell (born Paul Ervin Schlachtenhaufen; October 8, 1937 – July 27, 2014) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 50th mayor of Seattle, Washington from 1998 to 2002. Early life and education The oldest of six chi ...

(he lost that year to

Charles Royer Charles T. Royer (born August 22, 1939) is an American news reporter and politician who served as the 48th mayor of Seattle, Washington (U.S. state), Washington from 1978 to 1990. After serving as mayor of Seattle, Royer became the director of t ...

). Schell, a well-connected developer and former dean of the University of Washington School of Architecture, (now known as the

University of Washington College of Built Environments The College of Built Environments (CBE) is an academic college at the University of Washington in Seattle. The CBE offers programs in architecture, construction management, landscape architecture, real estate, and urban planning. From 1957 to 2009 ...

) was touted as gubernatorial timber and U.S. Senate material. Ultimately, he did get elected mayor – in 1997, after the Weekly had been sold and had endorsed Charlie Chong. His latest venture is Crosscut.com, which specializes in coverage of the Northwest, originating its own stories out of the region but also shining a light on worthy journalism and Web sites. He announced in November 2008 that the commercial venture into the world of Web journalism was shifting to nonprofit status, due to slow growth in online advertising and the current low rates for such ads. He transformed a former

Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes informally know ...

church in the

First Hill First Hill is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is named for the hill on which it is located, which in turn is so named for being the first hill encountered while traveling east from downtown Seattle toward Lake Washing ...

neighborhood in Seattle, into a civic crossroads hosting chamber music, best-selling authors, dialogue on national issues and presidential candidates.

became a springboard for the

Bill Bradley William Warren Bradley (born July 28, 1943) is an American politician and former professional basketball player. He served three terms as a Democratic U.S. senator from New Jersey (1979–1997). He ran for the Democratic Party's nomination f ...

presidential campaign in 2000. In 2004,

Howard Dean Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, lobbyist, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 200 ...

drew large crowds, but they didn't translate into caucus votes. ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

'' magazine founder

Michael Kinsley Michael E. Kinsley (born March 9, 1951) is an American political journalist and commentator. Primarily active in print media as both a writer and editor, he also became known to television audiences as a co-host on ''Crossfire''. Early life and e ...

referred to it as "The Church of David Brewster." He was President of the English Pub Association, Inc., which operated the Mark Tobey Pub in the 1980s; and a member of the board of directors of numerous arts organizations. Brewster is currently the Executive Director of Folio: The Seattle Anthenaeum, a private independent library in downtown Seattle which was founded in 2014.

Notes

References

Sources

*Berlin, Leslie ''The man behind the microchip: Robert Noyce and the invention of Silicon Valley '' Publisher Oxford University Press US, 2005 *Burt, Daniel S. ''The chronology of American literature: America's literary achievements from the colonial era to modern times'' Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2004. *Jones, Emma C. Brewster. ''The Brewster Genealogy, 1566–1907: a Record of the Descendants of William Brewster of the "Mayflower," ruling elder of the Pilgrim church which founded Plymouth Colony in 1620.'' New York: Grafton Press, 1908.

External links

* ttp://crosscut.com/ Crosscut* ttp://www.seattleweekly.com/ Seattle Weeklybr>Town Hall Seattle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brewster, David Living people Yale University alumni 1939 births American male journalists