Washington has a mixed history with liquor . Efforts to ban or restrict it date back to 1854\, before the region even attained statehood\, and &ldquo\;blue laws&rdquo\; remained on the books well into the twentieth century. Yet a modern craft distilling boom is hap pening in the Evergreen State\, and our distillers have emerged as forerun ners in the burgeoning American Single Malt revolution.
\nHow did wh iskey inspire both trouble and innovation? How did its import by settlers affect Indigenous communities and other groups? And how did whiskey play a role in the very creation of our state?
\nJoin author and journalis
t Becky Garrison as she distills the history of the barrel and the bottle
in our state. Meet Jimmie Durkin\, an enterprising saloon owner\, and Roy
Olmstead\, a former Seattle cop turned gentleman bootlegger\, and other fa
scinating figures who turned to the business of liquor.
Presentation Schedule
Port Angeles M
ain Library: Thursday\, August 6\, 5:30pm
Clallam Bay Branch Library:
Friday\, August 7\, 1:30pm
Forks Branch Library: Friday\, August 7\,
5:30pm
About the Presenter
A graduate of Yale Divinity School and Columbia University Sc
hool of Social Work\, \;Becky Garrison \;has been covering this re
gion&rsquo\;s food\, beer\, and liquor culture for over a decade. Garrison
&rsquo\;s nine books include \;Distilled in Washington: A History\, the first book
that documents the history of distilling in our state. The book was selec
ted as a Top Ten Spirited Awards 2025 Nominee by the Tales of the Cocktail
Foundation. In her work\, Garrison seeks to explore the intersections of
craft culture\, sustainability\, spirituality\, and community building.
Eve
nt Partner
Humanities Washington is a nonprofit organization dedicated to opening minds and bridging divi
des by creating spaces to explore different perspectives. For more about H
umanities Washington\, visit humanities.org.
This event is part of the Summer Reading Program\, generously supported by loca
l Friends of the Library \;gro
ups.