Seattle's Most Influential People

I'm on the list! Along with a Pulitzer Prize winner, a Nobel Prize winner, the mayor, and the Mariners

The Jan/Feb issue of Seattle magazine. Former Seahawk turned designer Michael Bennett is on the cover.

I am over the moon to be named one of the Most Influential People in the city by Seattle magazine.

The other people on the list include politicians, athletes, artists, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and scientists.

“These individuals make the city better… They don’t wait for perfect conditions. They don’t wait for consensus. They don’t wait for permission.”

If you see the magazine out and about, grab one for me! I want to send copies to my folks. Every grocery store and bookstore I’ve checked has been sold out.

In his Publisher’s Notebook at the start of the issue, Seattle magazine owner Jonathan Sposato writes that “in today’s Seattle, influence isn’t measured only by titles, platforms, or reach. It’s measured in courage, generosity, and a certain willingness to bear the weight of improving the place we call home. In 2025, influence comes from people who see this moment clearly—the opportunities, the inequities, the looming challenges—and decide to tackle it head on.”

He adds: “These individuals make the city better in ways both seen and unseen. They don’t wait for perfect conditions. They don’t wait for consensus. They don’t wait for permission.”

I can’t believe my luck to be considered in the same company as the other folks on this list.

And I’m thrilled that the piece about me—written by Bess Lovejoy—isn’t so much about me as it is about the whole FrizzLit community, from FrizzLit’s genesis five years ago as an online book club reading great books, to the new things we’ve just launched, like our small press FrizzLit Editions.

This is page 58 of the issue.

I know from two decades of working in journalism that any list like this is a little arbitrary — but I also know that the people who create such lists are doing their best to make the best possible list they can, reflective of the whole city.

It’s an honor to be recognized and to have the story of FrizzLit amplified like this.

There are several FrizzLit friends in that photo taken at the Sorrento during a Silent Reading Party, including Carmen, Justin, and Meghan.

Thanks to Bess Lovejoy for nominating me for this honor and writing the piece. Thanks to Jenny Jimenez for that gorgeous photo. And thanks to Seattle magazine editor Rachel Gallaher and design director Matt Cole for making me look so good.

There’s an online version of the Most Influential People feature but as of this moment, the piece shown in the photo above isn’t up yet. Only four of the dozen-plus profiles have been uploaded, including this rockstar artist and the youngest major in Seattle in more than a century.