This is one of the best books about the Northwest. Corr does a great job blending the story of an activist family with the rise of Seattle after World War II. Next to "Skid Road," my favorite on Seattle. Should be a movie. A great female lead character in Dorothy Bullitt.

Corr's book is more valuable than the narrow title suggests. More than a history of a powerful Seattle family and its TV-Radio empire, Corr's larger theme is the post-war growth of Seattle, the price of its progress and the universal tension between idealism and commerce. This story is interesting because Dorothy Bullitt did not set out to make money in the new medium of TV. Rather, she and her son, Stimson, created a new media force that shook up the sleepy newspaper-dominated local media. Well into the 70's KING-TV scooped many big stories. Corr does a masterful job of tracing the early deviations from the "King ideal"--Dorothy's dumping of her son in favor of Ancil Payne, the shift from hard news to TV celebrities, and the ultimate cash out by Payne and Dorothy's daughters. Along the way Corr paints many colorful portraits--the Machiavellian Payne, Dorothy's hopelessly dysfunctional grandchildren, the bright and attractive Jean Enersen--the lone remaining link to the glory days, the irasicble Don McGaffin--a throwback to the hard drinking, hard working, macho muckrakers of the turn of the century, and the glib, shallow Jim Foreman--the self-described "ratings machine" and low water mark for KING's television journalism. There is much to savor in this well written and colorful book. One hopes that Corr will soon devote his considerable talent to a subject with broader appeal.

Corr has done lovers of radio, and television, specifically those of us in the Pacific Northwest a tremendous favor, capturing the drama of the Bullitt family. His writing is lively and the story is compelling in its narritive detail. You'll learn of the struggles, gambles and tremendous paybacks the Bulletts made as they began and grew their broadcasting kingdom. If I had any criticism, it would be that the book is a little short of details concerning KING-AM and KGW-AM's heydays as Top 40 Rock N Roll outlets. The author completely fails to include, KINK-FM, one of the most interesting and hybrid FM radio stations in the country. If you are at all interested in radio, television or Northwest business history, this is definately a book worthy of purchasing.

For anyone interested in the early "movers and shakers" of Seattle and particularly in the woman who built the first broadcasting empire between San Francisco and Minneapolis, this book will prove useful. Dorothy Stimson Bullitit's successful competition--without any previous business training--against the broadcast giants, her striving for higher standards in TV programming and her support of educational television and classical music radio all make her worthy of a biography. While the minutae of domestic details about her early life in Seattle's high society may interest some, to devote almost half the book to the period before her love affair with broadcasting began does slow the pace. Although it is obvious that the writer knew and admired her subject, the biography would have benefited from the writer being more selective in her details and aiming for a more objective interpretation.

As a native of Western Washington I enjoyed this book. Not only for the local history, but for the story of a woman. She was a woman who could have played cards and held tea parties, but she chose to use her brains, and money, to bring quality television to the Northwest. I, and many other baby boomer children, benefited from the efforts. Dorothy reinvented herself after the deaths of her father, brother and husband. It's a profile in courage, to borrow a JFK book title.