We Never Knew Spokane Was This Appealing

Last week I mentioned that the movie “All Points Between,” filmed partly in Spokane last month, was based on a 1990 novel by Sharlene Baker titled “Finding Signs” (Alfred A. Knopf).

This made me curious: Did Spokane figure prominently in the book, too? After a trip to the library, I can now answer that question with an authoritative “yup.” In the novel, as in the movie, a young woman goes through many adventures and misadventures on a 1,500-mile odyssey to her ultimate destination: Spokane.

That’s right. Spokane is this book’s Holy Grail, as unlikely as that prospect might seem.

In a flashback at the beginning of the book, Brenda Bradshaw, the novel’s heroine, has reluctantly turned down a proposal of marriage from a Spokane man named Al and has returned home to San Diego.

Five years later, she gets a letter from Al saying, “Visit me, visit me, visit me.” She seizes this second chance and starts hitchhiking north. The bulk of the book consists of her roundabout journey back to Al, and back to Spokane.

Here’s how she describes entering Spokane for the first time.

“I was dead and dreary until I drove over the waterfall - a crashing waterfall right in the middle of the city, and suddenly I was awake and alive, singing, swinging down this street and that street … “

Locals will be baffled by some of the Spokane details - for instance, a downtown address is listed as “5626 3rd Ave. NW.” At another point, a character refers to Spokane as being in “the desert.”

But that’s understandable. The author was born in Massachusetts, was raised in Hawaii and California, and lives in North Carolina.

However, somewhere along the way, she, like Brenda, must have acquired a soft spot for Spokane.

Boy, does she look familiar

Ferris High School graduates of a certain age might do a double-take when they pass the paperback thriller “The Indictment,” by Barry Reed, on the newsstands.

The woman pictured on the cover is Ann Hagen, a 1988 Ferris grad, a 1992 University of Idaho grad and now a model in New York.

She came by modeling in an accidental way, said her mom, Sharon Lindula. She was a flight attendant living in New York when an agency scout spotted her strolling through Greenwich Village. He encouraged her to apply at an agency, which she did. So now she makes her living doing photo shoots.

Hagen also appears in September’s Parenting magazine, as an overworked mom, and on the cover of September’s True Love magazine.

“The Indictment” is the latest courtroom thriller by Reed, who also wrote “The Verdict,” which spawned the Paul Newman movie of the same name.

In case you think the life of a New York model sounds just too glamorous, consider that she still works as a waitress between modeling jobs.

Everclear connection

Speaking of familiar faces, we couldn’t help but notice Craig Montoya of Everclear in a full-page photo in the September issue of Spin.

Before joining up as the bassist in this Portland band two years ago, Montoya played in the Spokane bands Soul Hammer and Dropsy. Everclear is now breaking out nationally, as the feature in Spin attests.

Montoya is a former Mead High School Panther.

Spokane Jazz Orchestra

Last week, we announced a new director for the Spokane Jazz Orchestra, Dan Keberle.

This week, we’ll tell you when you can see Keberle and the orchestra in action. Here’s their season at The Met:

Oct. 7 - “Music of the Americas.”

Dec. 2 - “The Duke Ellington Nutcracker.”

March 16 - “All-Star Concert.”

May 3 - “Season Finale, with the Happy Hammers Reunion.”

Write the Spokane Jazz Society, P.O. Box 40137, Spokane. WA 99202, for season ticket information. Single tickets can be purchased now through G&B Select-a-Seat.

The ACT merger

Some big news is coming out of The ACT (Artistic Community Theater) in the Valley.

Owner-director Jamie Flanery has gone into a partnership with Cheryl-Ann Rossi, the head of Rossi Entertainment in Coeur d’Alene. Rossi, a veteran of “A Chorus Line” on Broadway, produces professional convention and touring shows, and also runs a theater school for youth.

She will continue to do both, but now she and Flanery will also collaborate on The ACT’s regular season of theater.

This could turn out to be a great example of creative synergy: Better local theater through collaboration.

The first ACT production of the season will be “The Nerd,” the Larry Shue comedy, Sept. 22 through Oct. 14. Call 921-1706 for tickets. The ACT is at 425 N. Evergreen Road.

Cheney Cowles grant

The Cheney Cowles Museum scored a prestigious Institute of Museum Services grant for general operating support last week.

The $112,500 grant was awarded on the basis of outstanding performance; only 26 percent of the applying institutions received a grant.

Pilchuck glass exhibit

Attention, glass art lovers.

The Washington State University Museum of Art in Pullman will open “Clearly Art: Pilchuck’s Glass Legacy” on Tuesday. It continues through Oct. 15.

The exhibit features 80 objects by such glass superstars as Dale Chihuly, William Morris, Ginny Ruffner and Howard Ben Tre, all past and present Pilchuck School faculty members.

This nationally touring exhibit traces the history of the school near Stanwood, Wash., which has become one of the world’s most influential centers for glass art.

Exhibition curator Lloyd Herman will open the exhibit with a lecture at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Fine Arts Auditorium at WSU.

Suddenly, the region is awash in world-class glass art. Dale Chihuly’s solo exhibit opens Oct. 27 at the new Jundt Art Museum at Gonzaga University.

, DataTimes