“This one goes to eleven.”  Nigel explains this to Rob Reiner’s character in Reiner’s classic Spinal Tap. RIP Mr. Reiner. I’ve been revisiting his impressive catalog of movies.  Meanwhile, this is the Eleventh Anniversary of our annual Lindquist New Year Newsletter, which covers movies, music, books, personal and professional highlights. Thanks for reading every year, or some years, or maybe for the first year. Again this year I tried to talk Chelsea and Sloane into watching Die Hard with me on Christmas Eve. Again I failed.  I did persuade them to watch the Paul Newman classic, Exodus, based on the Leon Uris novel. I had to explain to Sloane that Paul Newman was one of the biggest movie stars in the world for many years. Next up, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. RIP Robert Redford. We were reminded this year that life is short and uncertain. In Reiner’s movie The Bucket List, the Morgan Freeman character tells us the Gods will be asking these two questions at the gates to heaven, “Have you found joy in your life? Has your life brought joy to others?”

Family Sloane, now 15, is going to drive this year. Please send prayers. In the summer of 2024, Sloane made her screen debut in Peter Farrelly’s new Mark Wahlberg movie, which was shooting in Australia on the Gold Coast.  Sloane shares a scene with Mark. He was gracious and let her know the paparazzi were posting pics of them together. Friends have been asking when it will be out and the answer is this spring. Sloane had an excellent season for the Bellarmine Prep tennis team as a freshman and looks forward to her sophomore year on the team.  We live a little closer to Bellarmine now because we moved from Tacoma to University Place. Our 1919 Craftsman in Tacoma is going on the market in a couple of weeks. Our new home is brand new construction, wide-open loft-like floor plan with a view of Puget Sound and the Narrows Bridge, so it’s a dramatic change from a classic Craftsman in the Wedge District. We love it and look forward to visitors.  Chelsea continues to work as Director of Communications, Marketing, and Advancement for Bates Technical College. This year she and her team organized the celebration of the 85th anniversary of Bates with a successful gala. I saw some of you there, thanks.  For our 18th wedding anniversary, Chelsea and I went to a Cameron Crowe reading where he was interviewed by Eddie Vedder about his new book, The Uncool, which is a cool read.

Safety I’m honored to report Mark Lindquist Law was voted “Best Personal Injury Firm” in Pierce County for 2025, the second year in a row. This public recognition validates my philosophy of taking on select cases and select clients. Our boutique approach allows us to deliver the best service and best results. This year we successfully resolved my last case from the Boeing 737 Max 8 crashes. We also posted high-profile wins in seven-figure cases against county and city governments.  I’ve long believed accountability leads to safer communities. It’s been a blessing in my life to be able to contribute as both a prosecutor and a civil litigator.  Our case against against Boeing and Alaska Airlines from the Max 9 door plug blowout at 16,000 feet is still pending. We represent 35 passengers. Accountability is coming.  I continue to do “expert legal commentary” for local and national media and speak at conferences. One of the highlights of the year for me was returning to Jakarta where I spoke at an aviation conference.  Mark Lindquist Law, by the way, remains at our same office in downtown Tacoma.

Travel In addition to Jakarta and Dubai, we made it to Fiji and Hawaii this year. Fiji has a unique vibe I highly recommend. Tony Robbins built a beautiful new resort there on Savusavu Island called Namale. Getting there is a long, Planes, Trains and Automobiles style adventure.  In Hawaii, we took The White Lotus Tour at the Four Seasons. The tour is cool if you’re a fan of the show, which was shot there during Covid. We also, of course, spent time at our new place at Seabrook. Our older condo at Seabrook, Urban Ocean, is in the rental pool. Please let us know if you’re looking for a family and friends discount.  If you are wondering what Seabrook is like, watch The Truman Show.

Music Though I admit I’m behind the curve on this, I have to share the utter joy I’m finding in Susanna Hoffs and Matthew Sweet’s collection of covers, Under the Covers. Both the song choices and the performances are totally inspired. There is a heavy dose of tunes from the eighties.   Sloane had brunch with the ageless Ms. Hoffs this summer and is now one of her biggest fans. If anyone ever criticizes my parenting, I can point out I bought Sloane the Bangles first album when she was nine. Books Besides Cameron’s memoir mentioned above, I am a fan of Ryan Holiday’s new book: Wisdom Takes Work. This is the fourth and final book in Ryan’s Stoic Virtues series. If I didn’t send you a signed copy for Christmas, and you want one, please let me know. To repeat one of my philosophies yet again, Books are the best gifts. Sloane and I will be joining Ryan at a dinner party in Austin, Texas, this January, as I continue my never-ending endeavor to encourage Sloane to read, read, read, and support writers.  We wish you a peaceful, prosperous, and joyful 2026 that goes to eleven.

“You can’t always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes you might find you get what you need.” 

When I saw The Rolling Stones in Seattle a few years ago, I thought it would be the last time. I was wrong. 

Sloane and I saw the Stones just outside San Francisco this year and it was the best time. 

Welcome to the Tenth Anniversary of the Lindquist New Year Newsletter, which covers music, movies, books, professional and personal highlights.

This is the unexpurgated version with more book recommendations, more music, more movies. For the original version with less words but more pictures, go here.

Thanks for reading every year, or some years, or maybe for the first year! 

We appreciate our friends more and more each passing year.

School

In our biggest news, Sloane, now 14, started Bellarmine Prep. So far, so good. She will be trying out for the tennis team in spring.

Meanwhile, Sloane’s musical taste continues to evolve with the help of excellent parenting. Besides The Rolling Stones, she enjoys The Beatles, The Bangles, Depeche Mode, the Cure, Metric, Taylor Swift, Nirvana, R.E.M., U2, and lately I’ve been playing Bob Dylan for her. Dylan is an acquired taste apparently. 

In the midst of her busy life, Sloane made her screen debut in Peter Farrelly’s new Mark Wahlberg movie, which was shooting in Australia on the Gold Coast. Sloane shares a scene with Mark. He was gracious and let her know the paparazzi were posting pics of them together. 

Sloane is a longtime fan of Peter. She loves comedies and especially loves Farrelly Brothers comedies. When we were staying with Peter in Ojai, she quizzed him about various actors, where he got his ideas, and what he was doing next. A year later, she was on set with him in Australia, seeing how movies were actually made.

Finally, Sloane is busy with Biscuit, her new blond dog, which has, of course, become our new blond dog. He looks and acts a little like Enzo in The Art of Racing in the Rain, but doesn’t talk as much. 

Chelsea continues to work as Director of Communications, Marketing, and Advancement for Bates Technical College. More people are choosing technical education over traditional four-year colleges these days.

Thanks

I’m happy to report Mark Lindquist Law was voted “Best Personal Injury Firm” in Pierce County, 2024. Thank you.

This public recognition validated my philosophy of only taking on select cases and select clients. Our boutique approach allows us to deliver the best service and best results.

There is no better feeling that knowing you did absolutely everything possible for a client. This year, I resolved a case against the City of Tacoma for $14.9 million. We also won several other large awards that were big victories for our clients. 

In April of 2025, my case against Boeing in the crash of the Max 8 in Ethiopia will finally go to trial in Chicago federal court. The Lion Air crash cases are all resolved. 

We also represent 34 passengers from the Alaska Airlines Max 9 door plug blowout at 16,000 feet. That case likewise is rolling forward toward accountability and justice. 

Meanwhile, I continue to do “expert legal commentary” for local and national media and I always appreciate hearing your feedback, thanks. 

Finally, contrary to rumor, I’m not moving ML Law to Hawaii where the cover photo from the original newsletter was shot. Everything I want and need is here, except when I travel for my band or ocean fix.

Seabrook

We’ve enjoyed Urban Ocean at Seabrook, our two-bedroom getaway. We are turning it into a rental though because we recently purchased a four-bedroom loft in Seabrook with extra tall windows looking out on the ocean. Our new place is called Aeroknot. We have an Instagram, but it’s not active yet.

What’s this mean for you? We have room for friends and family to visit! Give us a call or shoot us a text. We’re there whenever possible.

Also, before visiting, I must insist you watch The Truman Show, because that’s the feel of Seabrook. We look forward to you joining us.

As John F. Kennedy said, “We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether to sail or to watch, we are going back from whence we came.” 

Books

No newsletter is complete without book recommendations. Ryan Holiday has a new book out: Right Thing, Right Now: Good Values. Good Character. Good Deeds. 

This is the third book in Ryan’s Stoic Virtues series. If I didn’t send you a copy for Christmas, and you want one, let me know. Books are the best gifts.

Walter Issacson wrote the smartest biography of Steve Jobs I read. So this year I picked up Issacson’s bio of Elon Musk, which is equally brilliant and especially timely. 

Earlier I mentioned The Bangles and now I have to add that the lead singer, Susanna Hoffs, wrote a novel any music fan and book reader will love, This Bird has Flown.

Returning to Peter Farrelly as well, his second novel, The Comedy Writer, is one of the funniest books ever written. Pete and I met when we were both writing our first novels. By coincidence, the same publisher, Atlantic Monthly Press, bought both of our manuscripts and Pete’s Outside Providence was published shortly after my first, Sad Movies.

Pete and I did readings together in L.A. in the eighties. I sort of remember this.

In between the time I wrote the original version of this new year newsletter and this unexpurgated version, David Lynch, the director, artist, Zen guy, and general visionary, died. He was 78, a smoker, and sui generis, if you’ll excuse my Latin. Catching the Big Fish, which he wrote, is possibly the best book I’ve read on the creative process.

As for my own writing, the day job is slowing down my current projects, but I’m encouraged by notes and posts I still see about Never Mind Nirvana or The King of Methlehem, thanks. I always appreciate hearing from readers and fellow music fans.

We wish you all a happy, peaceful, and prosperous 2025 where you get what you need.

Thanks for reading.

I wish you all a safe, sane, star-spangled Fourth of July.

As we celebrate our freedom, I’ll toast Albert Einstein who said, “Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.”

Einstein, who was Jewish, left Germany in 1932 as antisemitism was rising. He made his way to the United States where the sui generis scientist spent the rest of his genius life.

Boeing, Boeing, Gone

Five years after the second crash of a Boeing 737 Max 8, I’m gearing up my one remaining Max 8 case for trial in April 2025.

Additionally, my firm is representing 31 passengers on the Alaska Airlines flight where the door plug blew out of a Boeing 737 Max 9 at 16,000 feet.

Boeing has been delaying justice on Max 8 crash cases for years. The once great company has also been delaying reforms to its culture.

After negotiating a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the Department of Justice, Boeing violated the conditions of that agreement and faces further prosecution and penalties.

The Max 9 door plug blowout, among other incidents, demonstrates the continuing safety issues at Boeing. One of my clients and I appeared on a Dr. Phil Show episode, “Boeing Under Fire,” to discuss this. Dr. Phil, by the way, was smart and gracious.

In all of our cases against Boeing, I’m aiming not just for justice and accountability, but for Boeing to get its act together. Boeing management could take a lesson from Steve Jobs who said, “If you keep your eye on the profit, you’re going to skimp on the product. But if you focus on making great products, then the profits will follow.”

In the aviation arena, our firm is also representing and advocating for victims of sexual assault. There has been an unfortunate uptick in reports of in-flight sexual assaults according to the F.B.I.

Accountability is important for the perpetrators and for the airlines if company negligence contributes to the crime.

Epic Space

Mark Lindquist Law is now sharing office space with Evergreen Personal Injury Counsel, aka EPIC, in an iconic downtown Tacoma building. Come visit sometime.

The space is cool and so are the attorneys and staff at EPIC. We are associating on some cases.

You can see the new offices on the Mark Lindquist Law Google business page. While there, feel free to write a review, thank you.

You can also see the space in various interviews I did with FOX 13, or KOMO TV, or KING 5, or KIRO TV in our conference room.

While most of my cases are aviation related, or wrongful death and serious injury cases against the government, we handle other types of personal injury cases as well.

If we aren’t the right firm for you, I’ll refer you to someone who’s a good fit for your case. Happy to help friends.

Finally, I continue to do “expert legal commentary” for local and national media and I appreciate your feedback, even if it’s just, “Maybe you should wear something other than the same blue and red Rep ties.”

Books & Movies

Good news! Ryan Holiday has a new book out — Right Thing, Right Now: Good Values. Good Character. Good Deeds.

This is his third book in the Stoic Virtues series. I just started it, but I’m confident in recommending it to all my friends.

If you don’t buy it, I’ll likely buy it for you come Christmas. Books are the best gifts.

As for movies, well, Sloane and I are revisiting everything by the Farrelly brothers, especially Dumb and Dumber, Sloane’s favorite.

Peter Farrelly, a good friend from the Bad Old Days, has invited Sloane to the set of his new movie, Balls Up, to play a small, small part.

This means we are flying to Australia in August, which is winter there. Winter in Australia, however, is a lot like summer in the Northwest.

Sloane, by the way, starts high school this coming fall. She’s Chelsea’s height.

One More Thing

Steve Jobs used to say that a lot, “one more thing.” Walter Issacson’s biography of Jobs is one of the best I’ve read. I’m now into Isaacson’s bio of Elon Musk, which is equally fascinating for similar reasons.

Sticking with the theme of freedom and creativity, here is what Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa, says about our country, which he, like Einstein, made his home.

“If someone wants to accomplish great things, there is no better place than the U.S.”

Sure, sometimes we see enough dumbness to make Harry Dunn and Lloyd Christmas blush, but so it goes. I’m going to focus this Fourth of July on our everlong greatness.

And speaking of greatness, congratulations to R.E.M. on their induction to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Enjoy this video clip of “Losing My Religion” from the ceremony.

Thanks for reading.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall is winning me over as a season. Gratitude and gravy, family and friends, a time to reflect on blessings and lollygag. 

As author, Holocaust survivor, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel said, “For me, every hour is grace. And I feel gratitude in my heart each time I can meet someone and look at his or her face.”

I’m grateful for old friends and new friends, thank you. 

Book Recommendations 

Did you see the movie Searching for Bobbie Fisher? The child prodigy who was the subject, Joshua Waitzken, burned out on chess and turned to martial arts. He became a champion, again.  In a previous blog post I said I was going to read his book. I’m glad I did.

The Art of Learning, an Inner Journey to Optimal Performance is the story of how Waitzken succeeded spectacularly in two seemingly different endeavors. The lessons learned are universal.

Sloane, enjoying eighth grade, read To Kill a Mockingbird for school. I’m re-reading it. Harper Lee’s novel is even better than I remember, working on many levels. Both the far right and the far left have tried to ban it so you know it’s an awesome book. 

Our family will be watching the movie this Thanksgiving at Urban Ocean even though Sloane thinks there is something wrong with B/W movies.

ML Law 

I’m blessed to represent good people, albeit in challenging circumstances.  

Recently I was pleased to resolve a case against Seattle for nearly two million dollars. The family wanted justice and also wanted the city to change their policies regarding a “blacklist” used in 911 call responses. We accomplished both goals.  

Now I’m moving forward against Tacoma in a case where my client was paralyzed in a preventable shooting.  

You can read more about these cases and more on our website blog and media section.  

My case against Boeing for the crash of the Boeing 737 Max 8 in Ethiopia may finally be headed for trial in 2024. I’ll keep you posted on our firm website or firm Facebook page.  

I’ve been commenting on legal issues for various media, including KIRO radio and KING 5 where I’m currently on a panel discussing the Manny Ellis trial. Oh, and ML Law has a Google business page. I’d appreciate your review, thanks.  

In my New Year Newsletter, I’ll be sharing some firm announcements. Let suspense build. 

Band Camp 

Martial artist Bruce Lee said, “Instead of buying your children all the things you never had, you should teach them all the things you never knew.”  

For example, I’ve taught Sloane about Nirvana, Pearl Jam, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Cure, Talking Heads, The Smiths, Jane’s Addiction, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, Prince, The Replacements, X, U2, R.E.M. – Sloane has hung out with Peter Buck in his guitar room – and the band we will seeing in Seattle on November 26: Depeche Mode. See you there? 

In response, Sloane made me listen to Taylor Swift. Did you know Tay Tay did a cover of “American Girl?” Give it a listen. Seriously. 

China Syndrome 

Finally, Chelsea is back after two weeks in China where she traveled with Bates college students on a tour. Sloane and I did not burn down the house. We dined out.  

Thank you to everyone who wished Chelsea and me a happy 16th anniversary. We will hoist a toast to you and all of our friends and family this Thanksgiving.  

Thanks for reading.

Sun is shining, weather is warmer, so I’m posting the summer blog entry early.

I hope you’re enjoying this surprisingly bright spring and taking time to read.

Books and Authors

God bless anybody who spends the time to write a book, especially someone starting a new career. I am impressed by my good friend from the Bad Old Days, Susanna Hoffs, who wrote her first novel after turning 60. Titled This Bird Has Flown, her book was just published by Little, Brown and Company. Yes, the title is taken from a Beatles song. 

Depending on your age, you might remember Susanna as a guitarist and lead singer for The Bangles. A talent for writing songs doesn’t necessarily translate to the long form of a novel, but in Susanna’s case it did. Her book is clever, catchy, and has a contagious joie de vivre, like some of my favorite songs. It’s a love letter to music, romance, and life.

Another friend from the Bad Old Days, Phil Joanou, who directed the U2 movie Rattle and Hum, also has a first novel out relatively late in life, It Just Happened.

Narrated by a twelve-year-old boy, this is among the best coming of age stories I’ve read since Catcher in the Rye and Summer of ’42. I actually enjoyed it more than either of those classics because it’s set in the era of Watergate and The Happy Hooker and Phil, like Susanna, has a true knowledge of and affection for pop culture.

Here in Tacoma, my friend Jack Cameron is trying a different approach to the book game through substack. You might know of Jack as the man behind Tacoma Stories. I’m hooked on his newsletter and serial book.

One of my favorite non-fiction writers, Ryan Holiday, is coming to Seattle. He will be speaking with Robert Greene, the author of The Laws of Human Nature, among other books, at the Moore Theatre on September 21. Maybe I’ll see you there?

And I must mention two cool young authors I discovered through Twitter, Chandler Morrison and one of the more awesome author names in literature, Autumn Christian. Thanks Elon Musk. Yes, I am still on Twitter, albeit only occasionally.

And I’ve just started reading The Art of Learning, which was written by the Chess Master who was the subject of the book and movie, Searching for Bobbie Fischer, Josh Waitzken. He later became a martial arts champion. So far, so good. I’ll come to this book in a future post.

So many good authors, so little reading time. This weekend you can find me making time to read at Urban Ocean.

Google Reviews

On advice of friends like you, I opened a Google business page for Mark Lindquist Law. Many of you know my work and I would be grateful if you would add a review to the page. Right now the new page is lonely. Click here and put some good vibrations into Google. Thanks!

I have to add I’m deeply thankful for all the support I’ve received starting the new firm. I’m honored and blessed to be working on remarkable cases for cool clients. 

I am highly selective about new cases my firm takes on, but if we can’t help, I am happy to refer people to an attorney who is well suited to their case. Feel free to call me.

In my next email I’ll include updates on my case against Boeing and wrongful death cases against Clark County and Seattle, among others.

Meanwhile, you can check case progress on my firm website or firm Facebook page. Also, please sign up for the newsletter, which I send out about three times a year.

According to the Chinese lunar calendar, 2022 was the year of the tiger and 2023 is the year of the rabbit, so life may be a bit more calm and introspective. To everything there is a season.

Miscellaneous Mischief & News

Bates Technical College, where Chelsea works as Communications Director, had a successful seven-year re-accreditation site visit last month, so that’s excellent news. Additionally, Bates President Lin Zhou won CEO of the Year Award from the state’s trustee’s association. Bates is on a roll. 

Sloane, who turns 13 this summer, is finishing seventh grade at Saint Pat’s. Yes, some of you might recall she was born on 8/9/10.

She’s keeping up her grades while also taking care of a growing puppy, honing her tennis game, and hanging out with actresses. You may have seen a picture of Sloane and a thespian friend on my personal Facebook page?

As for tennis, I’m pretty sure Sloane’s goal is to beat me soon. That day is coming. I’ll keep you posted.

And happy Mother’s Day to all you mothers. God bless you.

Thanks for reading.

“You can always begin again.”

Both Buddha and Bono said this so it must be true.

For the Lindquist family, it’s been a year of new beginnings, interesting firsts, and good stories. And, as I like to say, person who dies with the most stories wins.

New Puppy

Our first snow at Seabrook, our first trip to Disneyland, and our first puppy were among the firsts of 2022.

For more pictures from Seabrook, including the Great Snow, visit our Urban Ocean Instagram.

Many of you were aware of Sloane’s relentless puppy campaign. I suspect you’re not surprised she prevailed. His name is Biscuit Ferris Lindquist. I amuse myself by asking, “Where are Sloane and Ferris?” I rewatched Ferris Bueller’s Day Off for the eleventh time this year.

As the Assistant Director of Communications at Bates Technical College, Chelsea had a crazy busy year. Among other things, First Lady Jill Biden visited Bates, which was a massive undertaking for the college. Still, Chelsea has found time to coach Sloane on puppy care. Biscuit is growing on Chelsea. And on me, too. 

I’ve been playing tennis with Sloane. She is on the verge of trouncing me. I’m continuing to educate her on the best bands, movies, and books before the bad influences of high school begin. She recently defended R.E.M. and Peter Buck when a schoolmate said the band was “lame.” I was proud. You have to stand up for what you believe in, especially when it comes to friends and favorite bands.

New Law Firm

Chelsea and I appreciate our many friends for the enthusiastic support of my new firm, thank you. We are also grateful to my clients for their continuing faith. After many years of incredible career experiences — writing and public service and an excellent firm — time came to form Mark Lindquist Law. 

In December, all four TV stations showed up to cover my first lawsuit filed under the new firm banner, a wrongful death case against Seattle involving a botched “blacklist” used in 911 call responses. Dan Beekman at the Seattle Times followed up with an article highlighting the need for Seattle to update and change their process. 

Part of what I love about my work is the opportunity to win justice for victims and their families and also accountability for corporations and governments engaged in bad conduct. This can lead to changes.

Speaking of corporate bad conduct, my case against Boeing for the crash of the Boeing 737 Max 8 in Ethiopia may finally be headed for trial in 2023. I’ll keep you posted on my firm website or firm Facebook page. 

Meanwhile, we are adding a “testimonial” section to the website. I’d be honored if you would email me a testimonial from your perspective as a client, colleague, opposing counsel, community leader, or whomever you are. I’m grateful to all of you who have already sent one, thanks.

New Years Day

In the winter of 1983 I bought U2’s War on vinyl. 

As I walked out of the store, I removed the LP from the bag for some reason. A stranger saw me staring at the cover art. Best album ever, he said. Or something like that. He was right. 

To my mind. “New Years Day” and “Sunday Bloody Sunday” were the amazing songs promised by “I Will Follow” on their first album. 

A few years later I was lucky enough to hang out with the band and see behind the curtain when my friend Phil Joanou was directing the U2 movie Rattle and Hum. Some of you have heard those stories. Now I’m listening to Bono’s book Surrender on Audible. Charlie Harger at KIRO radio deserves credit for advising me to listen to it rather than read it. 

Here is Bono in a radio interview, “I have written that book that sits in front of you right there is because I wanted to explain, to myself and to my family and to my friends, what I’ve been doing…. And it wasn’t just, you know, being off – running away with the circus. It was other extracurricular activity – mission creep, you could call it. But … it was key values of U2 that were being worked out here.” 

If you are trying to work out the key values of your life or work, this is a guidebook of sorts from an ambitious musician who has not worked it all out, but is having a grand time trying.

Still, my nod for best non-fiction book of 2022 goes to Discipline is Destiny by Ryan Holiday. “This means first, the discipline to step away and think: What am I doing? What are my priorities? What is the most important contribution I make — to my work, to my family, to the world?” 

Chelsea, Sloane and I hope you begin again and start some new stories this year.  We look forward to our paths and plot lines crossing.

Lately I’ve been writing more in my Mark Lindquist Law blog then in this author blog, so please connect with me there. Thanks for reading.

I’m grateful to be writing this from Bali. I’m taking a brief and beautiful break from one of my aviation cases in Indonesia. 

There is something Zen about the vibe here, which made me think it was a fitting time to post Chapter One of my Zen Lawyer column from the Tacoma Pierce County Bar News. 

I previously posted Chapter Ten on meditation.

Thanks for reading.

Zen Stories

“It’s not personal, it’s strictly business.”

Zen is a famously elusive concept. The word Zen is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese character chan, which derives from dhyana,a Sanskrit word for Buddhist meditation.

Buddha believed we suffer because of unsatisfied desires and resistance to the natural law of impermanence. Zen is an antidote of sorts. Because Zen defies precise description, Zen teachers use stories and riddles to illustrate the meaning.

One of my favorite Zen stories is known by different titles, including “Luck” and “Maybe.” My affection for the story may be due to the fact I’ve always felt lucky.

Luck Maybe

A farmer’s horse ran away. Upon hearing the news of the famer’s loss, his neighbors came to visit.

“Such bad luck,” the neighbors said.

“Maybe,” the farmer said.

The next day, the horse returned, bringing with it two wild horses.

“Such good luck,” the neighbors said.

“Maybe,” the farmer said.

The next day, the farmer’s son tried to ride one of the wild horses, was thrown and broke his leg.

“Such bad luck,” the neighbors said.

“Maybe,” the farmer said.

The next day, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. They did not take the farmer’s son because his leg was broken.

“Such good luck,” the neighbors said.

“Maybe,” the farmer said.

And so on.

Courtroom Luck

Catholic Buddhist Jack Kerouac put it this way in his novel, On the Road, “Nobody knows what’s going to happen to anybody besides the forlorn rags of growing old.”

During a recent trial, I watched a lawyer lose a motion to exclude a witness and become angry. When the witness took the stand, the lawyer was still angry. As the sympathetic witness testified, the lawyer grew angrier. The lawyer was still fighting the motion he lost, he saw the witness as a bad break, he was lost in his anger. As a result, he missed an opportunity to perhaps gain something from the witness.

I watched this un-Zen example play out with a sort of awe because the angry lawyer managed to violate three precepts of Zen in one cross-examination: 1) it’s not personal, 2) things are not always what they seem, and 3) be present in the moment.

Nobody knows what’s going to happen to anybody.

Finding Zen

Zen can be found everywhere, in stories, in songs, in the courtroom, and in any moment you choose. As Robert Pirsig, the author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, said, “The only Zen you find on mountaintops is the Zen you bring there.”

You can even find Zen inThe Godfather, which I quoted at the beginning of this chapter.

It’s not personal.

Zen Lawyer

To be a Zen lawyer, next time you take something personally, or you imagine you know what something means in this short and uncertain life, or you cannot let go of something, take a deep breath.

Then count to Zen.

Here we go again. New year, new beginnings, new mutations. 

Chelsea, Sloane and I have been fortunate to see most of you this year and we hope to see more of you in a glorious 2022. According to internet numerology, which you can always trust, “2022 stands for success and making your dreams come true.”

I’m good with that.

Life

Chelsea has been especially busy with Bates Technical College communications thanks to the never-ending pandemic. She also serves on the board of St. Vincent de Paul of Tacoma-Pierce County, which “isn’t just a thrift store.” Their long-standing mission includes homelessness prevention, a timely goal.  

Sloane enjoyed learning about the Egyptian pyramids at Saint Pat’s school this year. Chelsea and I introduced her to the Steve Martin King Tut video from SNL, which survives on YouTube. Sloane is back to playing tennis three to four times a week. Ah, to have the schedule of an eleven-year-old. 

After successfully resolving our Lion Air cases against Boeing, I have a new case against Boeing: the crash of Sriwijaya Air Flight 182. You can read more on my lawyer website or my author website blog. I also have several wrongful death cases, including two against the City of Seattle. You can read more in the New York Post, local media, or my lawyer website.  

As always, please let me know if I can help with anything. I feel grateful every day for my continuing and expanding ability to fight the good fight and serve.

Books

‘Twas a good year for books. My favorites included Live Like a Monk by Jay Shetty, The Lives of the Stoics by Ryan Holiday, and Let Me Tell You What I Mean by Joan Didion. Kazuo Ishiguro has a new novel out, but I confess I haven’t read it yet. 

I did read some novels this year, but mostly classics and pop fiction I reread, including – another confession – Jacqueline Susann. I recommend returning to books you’ve already read for the order and grounding they momentarily provide in topsy turvy times. 

I was jazzed to discover there is a graphic novel version of The Great Gatsby and this was my favorite Christmas gift to Sloane. When she was about two, I read her the entire book as she was going to sleep each night. She’ll get to it after she finishes Twilight, but right now she’s more into her new Apple watch.

Movies

Sloane’s pop culture education took a leap forward this year when she watched a trifecta of holiday movies: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Die Hard, which she declined to finish with me. Next year.   

I don’t see as many movies as I used to, but for 2021 I recommend Don’t Look Up, a smart satire for strange days. While writer-director Adam McKay misfires a few times, he keeps it entertaining. McKay, by the way, also directed Anchorman.

Podcasts

I’m late to the podcast world, but I’ve discovered three good ones for roadtrips to Seabrook: 

Brian Koppelman’s “The Moment.” Brian interviews icons like Elvis Costello and Quentin Tarantino and a variety of lesser-known cool people. Smart, curious, connected and pop culture savvy, Brian does amazing interviews.  

Lili Anolik’s “Once Upon a Time in Bennington.” Lili covers the careers of Bennington grads who became semi-famous writers, most specifically Bret Easton Ellis, author of Less Than Zero and American Pyscho. Lili artfully elevates gossip into literary history. 

“Bret Easton Ellis Podcast.” Bret interviews writers, actors, musicians, and anyone else he feels like talking with. It’s like having dinner with Bret, but without the cocktails, cigarettes and substances. 

Seabrook

As the legal profession and other occupations catch up to the modern remote world, we’re spending more time in the surreal town of Seabrook with a meditative view of the ocean.

When we are not there, Urban Ocean is in the rental pool. Contact me about the friends and family discount.

New year’s resolutions

I believe in the power of goals, but I’m still working on mine for 2022. Meanwhile, here are some smart suggestions for a “happy and productive life” from Ryan Holiday:

Keep texting for friends only.

Walk during phone calls.

Fire crazies from your life.

Don’t set up voicemail.

Avoid conference calls.

Don’t watch the news.

Keep a journal.

Avoid stimulants.

Exercise daily.

Say no. 

I practice seven out of ten. 

People who died

The eighties were spectacular years for music. One of the better tunes was “People Who Died” by poet Jim Carroll. I listened to it a lot this year as people who had significance of some sort in my life kept dying. 

To name only a few of many, there was Joan Didion, Anne Rice, Norm Macdonald, John Madden, Hank Aaron, Charlie Watts, old-fashioned public servants like Walter Mondale and Bob Dole, former Washington Supreme Court Justice Mary Fairhurst, who served with grace and empathy, as well as two good friends of mine, Kris Brannon, aka “Sonics Guy,” and Willie Garson from “Sex and the City” and a slew of other shows and movies.

I wrote a homage to Kris on my lawyer website and an homage to Willie in a previous blog post on this site.

Onward and thanks

2021 reminded us life is short and uncertain. My counsel is to reconnect with friends and family, be present while we’re here, live with gratitude.

I wish you success in 2022.

On September 21 my iPhone started buzzing with text messages from friends, some of whom I hadn’t heard from in years or even decades. Willie Garson’s death was tweeted by The New York Times as “Breaking News” and it echoed across the country.

“Amazing how much love he’s getting nationally,” one friend texted. “He would be very proud.”

Willie died of pancreatic cancer at 57. Steve Jobs died of the same cancer at about the same age and Willie’s death put me in mind of something Jobs said in a commencement speech.

“Remembering you are going to die is the best way to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

Willie was born and raised in New Jersey. While in high school, he decided to become an actor. He graduated from Wesleyan College with a degree in theatre. From there he went on to act in over 70 movies and appear in hundreds of TV shows. He followed his heart and, despite his penchant for snarky complaints, his pleasure with his chosen path was palpable.

Working Actor

A working actor, according to The New York Times, “is an actor who while never achieving stardom, has a long and productive career and earns a better than decent living and has the admiration of his peers.” Working actor is how the Times described Willie in his obit. I agree.

Willie was also, according to the Times, “a world-class poker player.” I disagree. Willie and I played in the same poker group every Monday night for several years. He was pretty good. He was bold, and fortune favors the bold, but his bluffs could be easy to read and his calls often crazy. He loved the game though and religiously showed up.

On Nov 13, I attended Willie’s memorial service in Los Angeles. Willie basically directed the production from his deathbed so it was more like a variety show than a service. There were numerous speakers and performers and over 500 guests, more than the rows of white chairs could handle. Willie was smart enough to set his service in a space that was slightly too small and therefore it overflowed.

Also, it was outdoors so the celebrities, semi-celebrities, and other familiar faces could buzz about without masks.

Willie’s Friends

In his parade through life, Willie charmed a large variety of people. “We’re all Willie’s friends,” as one speaker said, trying to tie together the diverse demographics.

Many surreal moments arose as friends of Willie reunited. Harry Dunn couldn’t make it, but his daughter Flannery did. Flannery’s poker-playing father was the namesake inspiration for the character Harry Dunne in Dumb and Dumber, which was written and directed by Peter Farrelly, another poker group regular. Also present from our group was John Philbin, former actor and USC classmate of mine, now a surf instructor for, among others, Jay McInerney, the author of Bright Lights, Big City, our nightlife bible of the 80s.

All of us experienced plot twists through the years, but here we were now in the same place. Willie’s friends.

At poker and when we were out clubbing, Willie would find a way to remind us Marisa Tomei was a close personal friend. “She’s very cool,” he would say. He also claimed Elvis Costello was a very good friend, which was one of his most ridiculous declarations. We often doubted Willie’s alleged celebrity connections. When Marisa spoke at his service, however, I gave silent kudos to Willie. She obviously adored him.

Speakers lauded Willie’s joie de vivre and affectionately made sport of his foibles. For example, there was his constant complaining, his world-class name-dropping, his comical allegiance to whatever friend was most hot in the industry.

Swingers was one of Willie’s favorite movies, or at least one of his favorites to quote. In a way, he was the Trent of our group, both insulting and inspiring his friends. “You’re so money and you don’t even know it.”

Last time I saw WIllie in person was on my King of Methlehem book tour and he was still quoting Swingers, though that may have been strictly for my amusement. He knew his audience. Time has come for me to confess I stole lines from Willie for Carnival Desires.

Ajay Sahgal, who hosted our poker game, spoke at the service. He told a not-family-friendly story about how he met Willie through me, which illustrated both Willie’s friendliness and brashness. “To Willie, what was the point of your life if you didn’t at least try to stand out,” Ajay said. “Willie stood out.”

In this, I was once again put in mind of something Steve Jobs said. “We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?”

Mr. Entertainment

Willie was ambitious and tireless, always hustling as several speakers observed. Sammy Davis Jr., “Mr. Entertainment,” was a role model of sorts. About 12 years ago, however, Willie paused. He adopted a son.

“As a narcissist actor, and I was the definition, I immediately became responsible for taking care of someone else,” Willie said in an interview. “It is such an important job and makes you grow in so many different ways.” He became an advocate for the adoption organization, You Gotta Believe.

Toward the end of the memorial, which ran longer than a Quentin Tarantino movie, Elvis Costello stepped up on stage. Willie’s very good friend Elvis spoke a bit and then sang the Sammy Davis Jr. classic “What Kind of Fool Am I,” a song about missing out on love, a favorite of Willie’s.

Willie made a point of not missing out on anything. He stood out, he dented the universe, he loved and, perhaps more than anyone else I’ve ever known, he made friends.

Indonesia continues to intrigue. On this trip, our band went up river all the way to Borneo. We represent 17 victim families from the crash of Sriwijaya Air Flight SJ 182 outside of Jakarta.

There are both similarities and differences with our successful lawsuit against Boeing in the crash of Lion Air JT 610 where we represented 46 victim families.  You can read more on my lawyer website.

Our clients are spread around the islands of Indonesia. In one of the cool highlights of my career, clients ceremoniously welcomed us into their families.

Once again I was reminded of how blessed I am to be able to assist people in need of justice. 

Urban Ocean Seabrook

Summer is coming. Urban Ocean is booking up fast.  We put our Market Street Loft at Seabrook into the rental pool this month. You can read about it and book it at “A Loft With a View.” 

Loft living, ocean views, easy downtown access, Urban Ocean is a vacation trifecta. Biased though I am, trust me on this.

And Seabrook is strangely enchanting, a cross between Martha’s Vineyard and “The Truman Show.”  You can see more at our Urban Ocean Instagram or my personal Instagram.

“We are tied to the ocean. When we go back to the sea – whether it is to sail or to watch it – we are going back whence we came.” J.F.K.

Movies and Books

On one of my long, long flights to Indonesia, I watched “Richard Jewell.” Directed by Clint Eastwood, it’s the true story of a hyper-vigilant security guard who saved lives when he noticed an abandoned backpack in a park. Inside the backpack was a bomb.  

Jewell is hailed as a hero for about 72 hours. Then the FBI and the media accuse him of being the bomber. He was not, of course. Still, he is subjected to three months of lies, gossip, speculation, and misleading headlines. Keep this cautionary tale in mind whenever you’re watching or reading “news” about a criminal case, or civil case, or just about anything else. 

Also on the flights, I finished James Michener’s memoir. While I’m not a big fan of his prose style, I am a big fan of his life philosophy. “I tried to always engage in tasks that had some significance and to associate with people who were trying to accomplish worthy ends.” 

He lived large, wrote it down, and succeeded in his goal. I admire him and recommend this memoir even more than his novels. 

Finally, one of his travel observations is consistent with what I often felt in the community as an elected prosecutor and feel again now in different worlds as an aviation attorney. “We are all brothers. We all face the same problems and find the same satisfactions. We are united in one great band.”

Thanks for reading. 

Today, January 31, is the last day I greet people with “Happy New Year!”

I am always enthused about starting a new year. I’m extra enthused this year. We sent out our New Year e-card with a Lindquist family update on New Year’s Day.

If you’re not already on our email list please join. Thank you.

Sad Movies

Meanwhile, in Spain, it’s the 30th Anniversary of the publication of my first novel, Sad Movies. Published in the U.S. by Atlantic Monthly Press, the book caught on and was published in seven languages. At the time, I thought this was pretty cool. I still do.

Outside of the U.S., it did best in Japan, Italy, Germany, and Spain.

Due to the anniversary, I was asked to do an interview for Vox Neuva. I think I said I look forward to visiting Spain again.

More Movies

As part of her ongoing pop culture education, my daughter Sloane and I watched Planet of the Apes. We started with the 2001 version. Next, we are turning to the 1968 original. The concept has aged well in our rancorous, divisive times.

Thanks to the pandemic, Sloane and I watched the entire Star Wars saga. We screened the movies in chronological rather than release order, which I recommend.

At some point, Sloane decided she needed a light saber. I bought her one. My wife Chelsea thinks I’m a sucker that way.

When the battery-powered light saber arrived, Sloane tested it out with joy. Still, after a while she wanted to know if she could have “a real one.” I asked Sloane’s friend and Congressman and fellow Star Wars fan Derek Kilmer if there were any real ones for sale. Apparently not.

New Books

I recommend Ryan Holiday‘s latest to begin your new year. The author of The Obstacle is the Way and Stillness is the Key explores stoicism further in Lives of the Stoics: The Art of Living from Zeno to Marcus Aurelius.

Organized into mini-biographies of various stoics, Holiday shares a highlight reel of life lessons.

“All things end. Philosophy is there to remind us of that fact and to prepare us for the blows of life.”

You can study in a few hours what it took some extraordinarily smart men decades of successes and failures to learn.

“Is it possible to be free from error? Not by any means, but it is possible to be a person stretching to avoid error. That’s what Stoicism is. It’s stretching. Training. To be better.”

For fiction, I recommend Jonathan Lethem’s new novel, The Arrest. It’s a dystopian, post-apocalyptic, Hollywood novel. The title refers to a day when technology stops working. Your iPhone, your car, your gun, your toaster, all of it stops.

This is difficult to imagine, but Lethem has a lively imagination.

As always, Lethem’s writing is smart, strange, sentence-driven and visual. “It was a season of burning leaves, burning light. Heaps of things burning.”

Personally, I’m a fan of his brief, cryptic chapters, though some might find a chapter consisting of a single sentence to be a tad too short.

This is Lethem’s 12th published book. About 15 years ago, I reviewed a collection of his essays, The Disappointment Artist. I’ve remained a fan.

Sriwijaya Air

Meanwhile, we’ve successfully resolved our cases against Boeing in the crash of Lion Air Flight 610. We were honored to represent 46 victim families. Assisting the families and getting to know the culture and country of Indonesia was a highlight of my legal career.

Sadly, another Boeing plane crashed in Indonesia recently, Sriwijaya Air Flight 182. While it’s too soon to say what exactly caused the crash, some theories and prime suspects have emerged. You can read more about it at my lawyer website.

Please let me know if I can help with anything.

Thank You

During this pandemic, I am especially grateful to everyone who has stayed in contact through this blog and my email list.

Thanks for reading.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. At least that’s how I feel today.

This is the day to do what we should do every day: give thanks, acknowledge our blessings, live with gratitude.

Marcus Aurelius begins Book One of Meditations with a gratitude list. Specifically, he thanks people who taught him virtue and helped shape his character.

For example, from Diognetus he learned “not to busy myself about trifling things.” Or, as David Lee Roth of Van Halen put it more than eighteen hundred years later, “Don’t sweat the little shit. And it’s all little shit.”

Aurelius views gratitude as medicine for all that inevitably challenges and chips away at us in life.

In the final quarter of the book, he advises, “All you need are these: certainty of judgment in the present moment; action for the common good in the present moment; and an attitude of gratitude in the present moment for anything that comes your way.”

Books

Consistent with the theme of gratitude, I recommend Ikigai: the Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles.

Ikigai, roughly translated, means “a reason for being,” or something akin to that. One reviewer said it means, “A reason to jump out of bed each morning.” I found it to be primarily about finding one’s mission in life. Whatever it means, the book is simple, short, and wise.

Many of the ideas and practices you will likely already know. Some may be new. Almost everything is useful.

Two other books I recommend are cited and discussed by the authors, Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl and Flow: the Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

I think I spelled the Mihaly’s surname name right? Flow is dense and brilliant and I may revisit it in a future blog post.

On the fiction front, I’m starting City of the Sun by David Levien, co-writer of Rounders with Brian Koppleman. Many years ago I reviewed David’s first novel, which turned out to be the harbinger of a remarkable career.

David and Brian currently have an awesome show on Showtime, Billions. I don’t watch TV but I’m watching this series. It’s smart and cool and completely absorbing.

Movies

Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin killed somewhere between three and ten million people in a man-made Ukrainian famine. Released in 2019 and available on Amazon, Mr. Jones tells the story of free lance journalist Gareth Jones who tried to expose the slaughter and, to a lesser extent, the story of New York Times journalist Walter Duranty who tried to cover it up.

Jones and Duranty square off in a competition between truth and fake news before the term entered our lexicon. George Orwell, the author of Animal Farm, appears as a minor character and perfect framing device.

Polish director Agnieszka Holland does a remarkable job of capturing the look and feel of the time and place with a low budget. She has won awards for her previous films about the Nazi holocaust.

I won’t tell you what happens to Jones. You can watch the movie.

On a more upbeat note, my ten-year-old daughter Sloane and I are psyched this holiday season to watch Elf with Will Ferrell for the eleventh time.

Ikigai

I’m pleased to report I’m rolling on a new project, albeit slowly. I’m feeling the same buzz I had writing Never Mind Nirvana. I’ll keep you posted.

Meanwhile, life and law are also keeping me busy as I work at home during the pandemic. For more frequent updates, join my Lawyer Mark Lindquist Facebook Group and follow my Author & Attorney Facebook page if you haven’t already. I’ve also been posting on Instagram, my preferred social media. I appreciate the comments and messages, thank you.

Finally, I’ve been advocating for justice and helping good people in a series of compelling cases. You can read more at my lawyer website.

I wish you all a happy Thanksgiving, your own Ikigai, and a season of gratitude all year long.

Thanks for reading.

What’s “the best live rock album ever” according to music critic Nik Cohn at The New York Times?

Hint: it features a 15-minute version of “My Generation.”

Yes, “Live at Leeds.” The Who. There are only six tracks on the original LP, while the CD has 14 songs. Both versions include the Eddie Cochran classic, “Summertime Blues.”

“Sometimes I wonder what I’m gonna do. But there ain’t no cure for the Summertime Blues….”

Ah, summer of 2020. I can hardly wait for the songs, movies, and books of this period in history.

Personal Injury Lawyer

Much of my time has been spent representing 50 victim families in the two crashes of Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft in Indonesia and Ethiopia. We’ve settled some of our cases. We are still working on others. Whether by settlement or trial, our goal is justice for the victims, accountability for Boeing, and safer skies for everyone. You can read more at my lawyer website or a Tacoma Weekly front page story.

For half of 2019 and early 2020 I was in Jakarta and on Bangka Island getting to know our clients and the culture. Also, truth be told, I took a few days off to visit Bali. For pictures see my Instagram.

Book Recommendations

This blog began more than ten years ago as a vehicle for spreading the word about books, movies, and music. I’m short on recommendations this month, but Sloane has a couple.

At 14 Maria Sharapova became a professional tennis player. At 17 she won Wimbledon. And at 18 she was the number one female tennis player in the world.

Her biography is titled, Unstoppable, My Life So Far. I’ve been reading it with Sloane. Five stars, Sloane says. Recommended for all ages.

Sharapova herself says, “This is a story about sacrifice, what you have to give up. But it’s also just the story of a girl and her father and their crazy adventure.”

It’s also a story about the importance of a positive attitude, hard work, resilience, and luck. Therefore, it’s an outstanding book to give to the children in your life. And to the adults.

Over the Christmas break, Sloane read Sisters and Champions, the True Story of Venus and Serena Williams, a children’s book. The Williams sisters are tennis stars who competed with Sharapova and share the same commitment and work ethic.

You can see more of my book recommendations in my updated Links page, which includes dozens of book reviews for The New York Times Book Review, The Los Angeles Times Book Review, The Oregonian, and The Seattle Times, among other publications.

Thanks for reading.

Welcome to this special coronavirus quarantine edition of my blog.

While this post lacks my usual book and movie recommendations, there are some life lessons with levity.

Decades ago, Kurt Vonnegut said, “How should we behave during this Apocalypse? We should be unusually kind to one another, certainly. But we should also stop being so serious. Jokes help a lot.”

Top Ten Tips for Working at Home

Many of us are working at home now. I got a head start.

In February, I returned from visiting clients in Jakarta, via Tokyo, and went into a 14-day quarantine. People were becoming concerned about this coronavirus thing. 

Just as I was ready to return to the office and reconnect with colleagues, everything went online so we could work remotely. 

Shortly thereafter, Governor Inslee began issuing public health directives. “Non-essential” people were quarantined. Lawyers, apparently, are non-essential. 

Suddenly toilet paper was hoarded. Memes flooded Facebook. The end times seemed near.

Here is some good news though. Working remotely works. At our firm, we’re serving clients, accepting clients, and doing our jobs. Along isolation road, however, we learned some lessons. 

There are challenges to working at home. For example, there is no IT department at my house. There is a distracting nine-and-a-half-year-old. Nonetheless, I’ve found ways to carry on.

Here are my top ten tips: 

10) Create a home workspace. 

This should not be your bed. 

9) Start your day with a checklist.

Checklists have a double benefit. One, lists help you focus. Two, every time you check something off your list you earn a surge of dopamine. You can get the same rush from exercising, but checklists don’t make you sweat. 

8) Maintain contact with people. 

According to research, loneliness is one of the top challenges of working at home. Still, now is not the time to organize a rockin’ block party. Instead, try group chats, make phone calls, use FaceTime, discover Zoom. Please wear pants during any sort of video conferencing. 

7) Communicate with colleagues. 

Organizations have a collective knowledge that naturally spreads like, well, a virus. Whether it’s a hallway dialogue, a lunch break, or simply hanging out and sharing war stories, we are constantly exchanging information. When everyone is working remotely, we lose this. Call your colleagues. Ask about the weirdest thing that happened that day. Be grateful for the stories. I’m adding a chapter to my memoir. 

6) Stick to a schedule.

Psychologists consistently recommend a regular schedule as crucial for productivity and mental health. Schedules make us more efficient, reduce stress, and instill good habits. Further, schedules give us the illusion of control, which is particularly comforting during apocalyptic times. Your schedule should include time for things like helping your children with homework, lunch, and exercise. Ironically, many of us find ourselves working longer hours at home because there is no end time. Your schedule should also include happy hour. 

5) Cut down on news.  

You save time. You avoid toxicity. You tune out annoyances. You’re happier. Studies show news triggers your limbic system in noxious ways, stressing your body and dimming your mind. You will hear enough about disease, death, and doom without clicking coronavirus links eleven times a day.

4) Listen to music.

Lawyers should tell their clients this more often. Music, as Kurt Vonnegut noted, is the greatest of the arts. Science confirms what we already know. Music reduces stress, inspires creativity, lifts our spirits, and even supports our immune system. Music is a miracle drug. If you play an instrument, break it out. I did. I’m practicing the three chords I know and may even learn a fourth. 

3) Hydrate and meditate.

This is one of my mantras. Among other essential functions, water flushes out toxins and strengthens your immune system. You function better. Your skin looks better. You feel better. What water does for your body, meditation does for your mind. We need calm heads for The End of the World as We Know It. 

2) Read. 

I do not mean Facebook memes like the one of Hannibal Lector with the caption, “If we run out of food, we still have each other.” I mean books. Personally, I’m re-reading Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. “At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself, ‘I have to go to work as a human being. What do I have to complain of if I’m going to do what I was born for?’”

1)  Don’t wear pajamas.

Laurence Olivier said you can play any part with the right costume. Clothes affect how others perceive you and, more importantly, how you perceive yourself. So my number one tip is this: do not wear pajamas during work hours. Don’t do it. Thank you. 

Oh, and more thing that was pointed out to me by Peter Farrelly: muumuus are the same as pajamas.

I’m an optimist and I’m confident the Republic will survive. Remember, the Renaissance followed the Bubonic Plague.  

Stay safe. Stay sane. 

Tip Eleven

As we know from the rockumentary movie Spinal Tap, eleven is somewhere beyond ten. “This one goes to eleven.”

So here is my eleventh tip: crisis equals opportunity.

President John F. Kennedy, and politicians who followed his lead and borrowed his tropes, have been criticized for saying, “When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.” Apparently, this is not technically correct.

While Kennedy may have been off on his linguistics, he was spot on about life.

Thanks for reading.

News reports allege 38% of Americans blame Corona beer for the coronavirus. Maybe it’s fake news, maybe it’s true. Either way, I’m back in the U.S. after working in Jakarta and visiting Tokyo and it’s weird here. 

As a comedian on Twitter observed, this is a time for us to all come together by being as far away from each other as possible.

How about some good news? Something to be grateful for?

Well, R.E.M.’s 1987 classic “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)” is back on the charts. With a bullet.

Work World

In Jakarta, I met with our clients from the Lion Air crash. We are making extraordinary progress for the 46 victim families we represent. This has been the most tragic and satisfying case of my career.

On my way home, I stopped In Tokyo. I visited shrines and Zen gardens. My hotel had a view that reminded me of Lost in Translation. 

Apocalyptic Fiction

My movie recommendations this month are from the post-apocalyptic genre. I suggest a Charlton Heston film festival. Specifically, The Omega Man, Planet of the Apes, and Soylent Green. This is a trifecta of semi-romanticized alienation. 

If you’re still keen for end-of-the-world stories, I like Michael Crichton’s Andromeda Strain, the first Mad Max movie with Mel Gibson, and, a classic, On the Beach with Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner. I loved the Nevil Shute novel as a teenager.

If you’re willing to risk madness with your cabin fever, check out Brad Pitt and Bruce Willis in 12 Monkeys and Akira, a Japanese movie that was arguably the predecessor to The Matrix. 

No plague is complete without a reading list that includes The Plague by Albert Camus. Next I’m turning to Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. I’m a longtime Vonnegut aficinado. In my youth, after my first novel was published, I wrote him a letter. He wrote back.

I’ve never read The Hunger Games or The Road or The Stand, but maybe now is the time. Post-apocalyptic fiction is in fashion again. To everything there is a season. 

Public Service

Meanwhile, real life continues to be stranger than fiction. Lt. Gov. Cyrus Habib announced he was not running for re-election. Instead, he is joining the Jesuits.

“I have felt a calling to dedicate my life in a more direct and personal way to serving the marginalized, empowering the vulnerable, and healing those who suffer from spiritual wounds,” he wrote in his announcement. 

At the same time, King County Executive Dow Constantine, a good guy with great musical taste, has been using his social media to ask citizens not to hoard toilet paper. Seriously. He’s rumored to be interested in the job of Lt. Gov. 

With Governor Jay Inslee a likely cabinet appointee if Joe Biden is elected President, Lt. Gov. becomes an interesting position. If Jay vacates, the Lt. Gov. fills the big chair until the next general election.

I know Cyrus. He is one of the smartest and most intriguing elected officials I’ve hung out with. As I wrote on my lawyer website, politics has become an increasingly hostile and unproductive environment for those of us who believe in public service. I agree with Cyrus when he says, “In this time of consumerism, distrust and polarization, many Americans are longing for an encounter with the transcendent, the joyful, the loving.”

I wish Cyrus all of that as he continues his service.

Stay safe. Thanks for reading.

Chelsea and I went fully digital with our New Year card this year. If you missed it, lament not, it’s still online.

We appreciate all of you who stay in contact with us through the email list, thank you.

In case you don’t recognize the giant Adirondack chair in the picture, it’s a Seabrook landmark. One of the things you’ll find in our new year update is a link to the Instagram for our new Seabrook beach place.

The setting is almost too perfect, like The Truman Show, and yet it works.

Steve Jobs on Trust and Destiny

You will also find a Steve Jobs quote, which I’ll repeat here. As my friends know, I love starting a new year. I always try to find the right quote to kick the year into gear. in 2019, I went with Brad Paisley. For 2020, Steve Jobs.

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life and karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

Lion Air Update from Chicago

I’m writing this on an airplane on my way back to Seattle from Chicago where the temperature was in the teens. I was hoping for snow, but only saw a few minor flurries. We have been mediating our Lion Air crash cases with Boeing in a series of sessions at the offices of Perkins Coie.

Boeing moved their headquarters from Seattle to Chicago in 2001 and many say this was when the cultural problems began at Boeing. Seattleites in particular say this. One of my hopes in this case is that safety and solid engineering return to their proper place as guiding values for the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer.

The flight from Seattle to Chicago is about four hours, or about 20 less hours than Seattle to Jakarta. Chicago is also a different world than the Northwest, but less different, of course, than Jakarta and other places I’ve visited in Indonesia. I’m looking forward to meeting more people and visiting more places in 2020.

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page,” said Saint Augustine.

I am soon traveling again to Jakarta to see our clients. We represent 46 victim families in the Lion Air crash. I have grown to love the people, city, and culture.

People often ask me if working on these cases has made me wary of flying? No. But I do check what sort of aircraft I’m boarding. Tonight it’s a Boeing 737-800. This is part of a fleet of aircraft generally referred to as 737NG, or Next Generation. They have a good safety record.

The main culprit in the two crashes of the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft was a computer system unique to the Max. If you want to see a flock of grounded 737 Max planes, check my Facebook page.

The Art of Not Giving a Fu*k

Meanwhile, somewhere over the midwest, I’m reading Mark Manson‘s book, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, which is actually about giving a fu*k about things that matter and only things that matter. In this, Manson is reminiscent of Marcus Aurelius who said, “You’re better off not giving the small things more time than they deserve. Forget everything else. Keep hold of this alone and remember it. Each of us lives only now, this brief instant.”

Manson is also reminiscent of Stoic scholar and marketing maven Ryan Holiday, though Manson is a less sober version of Holiday. I mean sober in the figurative sense, but it might be true in the literal sense as well, judging from Manson’s personal stories.

Saddled with an unfortunate last name, Manson tells his readers things we may not want to hear, such as, “you are not special,” “happiness is a problem,” the most meaningful moments in our lives involve pain and struggle,” and, the capper, “it’s all right to die.”

I find his book as entertaining as it is edifying. If you like profanity with your philosophy and humor with your self-help, Manson is your guy.

Speaking of things to not give a fu*k about, I’ve been too busy of late for politics, but I did pen a brief blog entry about statecraft, the lost art of politics, on my lawyer website.

The Trick is Not Minding

And speaking of Charles Manson, Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood , which loosely re-imagines the Manson murders, picked up 10 Oscar nominations, including, of course, Best Director. Though Academy Awards are not what they used to be — nine films are nominated for Best Picture — the world still watches. The question is will Tarantino finally win Best Director?

Lawrence of Arabia is available on my flight. I love the movie. In one of my favorite scenes, Peter O’Toole lights a match and lets it burns to his fingertips. A colleague, thinking it’s a parlor trick, does the same, but it’s painful and he quickly drops the match.

“That damn well hurts,” he says.

“Certainly it hurts,” Peter O’Toole replies.

“Well, what’s the trick then?”

“The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts.”

I need to add that scene to one of my Zen Lawyer stories.

Much as I love the movie, Lawrence of Arabia is not fit for viewing on a small screen. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, on the other hand, is better on a big screen, but still enjoyable on an Apple laptop.

Airport Books

An interviewer called Never Mind Nirvana, my third published novel, “an airport book.” I took this as a high compliment. To me, an airport book is one you can read in a single sitting.

I would say the same about Manson’s book. It’s an awesome airport book.

Thanks for reading.

Happy Thanksgiving. Christmas is coming. ‘Tis the season for gratitude and books.

Books are, of course, the best gifts. While a bottle of single malt Islay Scotch is nothing to scoff at, liquor is still second to literature. I’m defining literature broadly to include “the entire body of writings of a specific language, period, people.”

Along with miscellaneous updates and life lessons, the main mission of this blog is to recommend good books and movies. This is especially true in the shopping season.

Stillness is the Key

My first recommendation of the season is non-fiction by the author of The Obstacle is the Way, Ryan Holiday. His latest, Stillness is the Key, is the perfect antidote to the toxic noise of our modern world.

“Stillness is what aims the archer’s arrow. It inspires new ideas. It sharpens perspective and illuminates connections…. Stillness is the key to, well, just about everything.”

Blending stories from Marcus Aurelius to Buddha, from Winston Churchill to Confucius, from artists to athletes, there is no better book about self-mastery, discipline, and focus.

If you are a friend of mine, you may be receiving a signed copy for Christmas. Don’t bank on this though. Buy it for yourself. Buy it for friends.

On the subject of toxic noise antidotes, you should also read Ryan’s first book, a smart study of media, Trust Me, I’m Lying. The epigraph by novelist, screenwriter, and film critic James Agee sums it up. “The very blood and semen of journalism, on the contrary, is a broad and successful form of lying. Remove that form of lying and you no longer have journalism.” Agee, a posthumous Pulitzer Prize winner, penned this decades before Twitter and Facebook.

Sex and Murder

My second recommendation is also non-fiction, but reads like a top drawer novel. Star Spangled Scandal: Sex, Murder, and the Trial that Changed America by Chris DeRose proves once again history can be entertaining and edifying.

With a title like that, you do not need a synopsis or quote. The book is as good as it sounds.

Chris is a fellow author/lawyer. I’m a booster. As Robert Pirsig, the author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, said, “Quality tends to fan out like waves.” I do my part to help.

Trial Lawyer Literature

My third recommendation has a more limited audience. On Becoming a Trial Lawyer is about exactly that. The author, Rick Friedman, a Seattle trial lawyer, sees trial work as “an inward journey” of “applied spirituality.” I concur.

I am halfway into Friedman’s book as I blog this. Later I will likely follow-up with more. Meanwhile, I am far enough along to recommend it to any lawyer who is a learner. It’s a cross between memoir and handbook for elevating personal and professional performance.

As someone who has read everything on trial tactics I can find, I feel qualified to recommend Friedman’s short book as one of the best. Power-to-weight ratio is perfect.

Fans of Ryan Holiday may notice some philosophical and practical similarities with Friedman. For example, both appreciate the power of observation and the advantage of detaching from opponents .

If you’re a lawyer, buy it for yourself or a colleague. If you’re not a lawyer, buy it for a lawyer you like. Amazon is your best bet.

#BooksAreBestGifts

Next blog post I will recommend novels to those who still read these artifacts of literacy. God bless you.

Reading novels increases empathy. The Brazilian government figured this out. NPR did a cool story about how Brazilian prisoners reduce their sentences by reading fiction and how this actually makes sense.

In prison or not, books are the best gifts.

Lion Air Update

Finally, stay tuned for developments on our lawsuit against Boeing for the 737 Max disasters. As I discussed with CNN, we recently settled four of our cases. That leaves 42 more.

Lewis Kamb of The Seattle Times wrote a good story about the human cost of the Lion Air crash. The story features a client I get to know quite well.

Whether we get there by settlement or trial, our goal is justice for our clients, accountability for Boeing, and safer skies for all. The fight goes well. I’ll keep you posted.

Public Speaking

I recently spoke to the Gig Harbor Republican Club about our cases against Boeing, personal injury law, and Indonesia. As a Democrat, I appreciate there are still patches of bipartisanship and common sense in our divisive times.

After cutting back in 2019, I am going to be available to talk to service groups more often in 2020.

Live with Gratitude

In this season of gratitude, I feel blessed by my work, family, and friends. Thank you all.

And thank you for reading.

 

Matt Nagle at the Tacoma Weekly wrote a smart cover story about the transition. It’s a good read, though I might have titled it, “Planes Trains and Automobiles.”

Life Quotes

One of my rules is to not read about myself. I broke the rule for this article. People suggested I post it and another one of my rules is to not post anything I have not read. So rules were in conflict. This happens. I improvise.

Pablo Picasso said, “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” You can justify a lot of liberties with that line.

Among the things I like in the article are the quotes, including one from playwright Tom Stoppard. “Every exit is an entrance someplace else.” Other favorite quotes include advice and observations from Marcus Aurelius and Steve Jobs.

The story is another example of why weekly papers are surviving as dailies are dying. There’s a market for stories without contrived drama, hysterical headlines, and fictionalized “news,” aka tabloid journalism. That said, we might as well accept the tabloid tone of our times and keep in mind it’s all just entertainment.

Lion Air Update

The article covers our lawsuits against Boeing in the crash of Lion Air Flight JT 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302. Both crashes were due to defects in the new Boeing 737 Max 8 plane.

You can read more about it in the blog of my lawyer website, including a previous post, “Global Safety.“

I also discussed the Lion Air crash with 60 Minutes Australia, Q13 Fox News, Yahoo Finance, and other sources. There is international interest. The safety of everyone who flies on Boeing airplanes is at stake.

Jakarta to Chicago to Denver

As I told Matt, I’m blessed. In my career as a lawyer, I’ve had numerous opportunities to vigorusly advocate for people on cases of concern to the community. It’s cool to simultaneously help individuals and make everyone safer.

So far this year, I’ve spent more than three months in Indonesia. I’ve grown fond of the country and the people.

I have also been in Chicago for federal court hearings and to mediate with Boeing. I like Chicago, lots of energy. Also, my new gig took me to Denver. They preserved and restored some beautiful old brick buildings. Charles Herrmann and I played a rollicking game of shuffleboard in Union Station.

Book and Movie Recommendations

Back in the Northwest, two of my good friends had movie premieres in a one week period. Garth Stein’s bestselling novel, The Art of Racing in the Rain, is in theaters now. So is Where’d You Go Bernadette, a movie starring Cate Blanchett, based on the bestselling novel by Maria Semple.

Some of you were smart and supportive enough to snag copies signed by Maria and Garth at my campaign fundraisers, thank you. The movies are not as good as the books, but see them anyway. Support local artists. This is a good policy even when they have already sold boatloads of books.

Sloane made her red carpet movie premiere debut wearing a gray and pink dress, purple eyeglasses, and black Beatle boots. She was also featured in Matt’s Tacoma Weekly article. She turned nine in August. You can see birthday pictures on my Instagram, which is my main social media these days.

One final movie recommendation for this month: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Quentin Tarantino, the world’s most accomplished cinema geek, nails period details, bends and blends genres, and entertains you every second of the two-hour-and-forty-five-minute film.

I found the buddy story between Brat Pitt and Leonardo DeCaprio to be particularly engaging. Australian actress Margot Robbie makes the most of her supporting role as Sharon Tate. And, like other Tarantino movies, the script is chock-full of quotable lines.

“You know, you’re kind of pretty for a stuntman.”

Thanks for reading.

I hope you enjoyed Independence Day. For the first time in a decade, I skipped the bands and the salmon bakes and the parades and escaped to our family beach place. It was awesome. Sloane loved hanging out with her cousins, taking boat rides, and playing on the beach.

Seaside Reading

There is something meditative about the sea. As John F. Kennedy said, “We are tied to the ocean. When we return to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch, we are returning whence we came.”

The meditative aspect, however, was lessened slightly by the incessant fireworks, but no matter. It was cool.

The Lindquists ate fresh crab, drank cold beer, and generally relaxed. I caught up on my reading. Of late I’ve been focused on books about lawyers, trials, and our justice system.

Personal Injury Attorney

I’ve always loved being a trial lawyer, whether prosecuting a criminal case or a civil case. Justice, accountability, helping clients. The trifecta remains the same.

Please contact me if I can help with anything. Tell your friends, too, thanks.

Lion Air Update

Meanwhile, I’m continuing to work on the case of Lion Air JT 610, the first of the two Boeing 737 MAX crashes. I’ve spent much of 2019 in Indonesia. Recently I returned from Chicago where our federal lawsuit against Boeing is proceeding. You can read more about it in previous blog entries and on my attorney website. You can also learn more about it in a 60 Minutes Australia interview I did.

Life keeps growing more interesting. My memoir material keeps stacking up. Follow my Instagram for visual updates, including Independence Day photos and videos.

Book and Movie Recommendations

If you are looking for some smart summer reading, pick up Star Spangled Scandal: Sex, Murder, and the Trial that Changed America by Chris DeRose. I also recommend White by Bret Easton Ellis and, especially for Seattleites, Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple, which is just as funny on a second and third reading. Finally, Garth Stein‘s novel, The Art of Racing in the Rain, is out as a movie this summer.

Zen Lawyer, the book version, is coming together whenever I have time. Chapter One from my Bar News column is posted on my Medium page.

Enjoy summer. Appreciate your independence. Thanks for reading.

Some news is fake, but it’s still cool to wake up in Jakarta and see your case on the front page of The New York Times next to a teaser about an old friend and fine writer, Bret Ellis.

After reading the interview, which was more profile than dialogue, I am not sure how Bret has calmed down. I suggest you buy his new book to find out. I did.

Lion Air Update

The New York Times got it right in their story about Boeing, “Days of Silence and Mistrust.” Their investigative reporting has been top drawer.

Local papers usually do not have the resources or talent for true investigative reporting, but Dominic Gates and colleagues at The Seattle Times have written a series of first-rate, fact-based stories. Gates covered the initial filing of our lawsuit against Boeing.

Meanwhile, the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft is grounded worldwide. First, Lion Air Flight JT 610 crashed after takeoff in Jakarta on October 29, 2018. Second, Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 crashed after takeoff in Addis Ababa on March 10, 2019.

The circumstances surrounding the crashes are highly similar. I did an interview with 60 Minutes Australia discussing Boeing’s reaction to the unprecedented back-to-back crashes of a nearly new passenger aircraft.

The computer software that overpowered the pilots and drove both planes into fatal high-speed dives is called MCAS. At a press conference in Jakarta, I likened MCAS to HAL, the villainous computer in 2001: a Space Odyssey. Fortunately, there were some pop culture aficionados in the audience that understood and nodded.

““Liability will not truly be in dispute here. Boeing is at fault. Their equipment failed. Their planes crashed twice,” Mark Lindquist, an attorney who is representing the families of 26 victims of the Lion Air crash, told Yahoo Finance.

Public Safety and Personal Injury Law

I am honored to be representing victim families from both crashes. This has been a natural transition after a 23-year career as a prosecutor, from local safety to global safety.

In addition to aviation disasters, I represent victims and victim families in small plane crashes, wrongful shootings, government negligence, sexual assault, and other incidents causing death or serious injury. My focus is on cases against large corporations and the government.

For updates on these lawsuits, you can go to on my personal lawyer website, Facebook, Instagram, or my previous posts on this blog. Many of my cases impact public policy and corporate conduct.

Please contact me if I can help with anything. Tell your friends, too, thanks.

And thanks for reading.

Thanks to German novelist Alice Winter for this cool spring shot of the German edition of Carnival Desires. The English version is available on Kindle. Vanity Fair called it a “witty, minimalist epic.” Details magazine said it was “great postmodern literature.”

Published in 1990, it chronicles the adventures of a group of twentysomething friends in eighties Hollywood. I thought my life was pretty adventurous back then. And it was. It is more so now.

I’ve been in Indonesia and Chicago working on a case against Boeing. “Liability will not truly be in dispute here. Boeing is at fault. Their equipment failed. Their planes crashed twice,” I told Yahoo Finance.

Thanks for reading.

I recently returned from another trip to Indonesia. We now represent 26 of the victim families in the Lion Air crash. Our case continues to gain strength.

On the other side of the globe, an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX crashed on a flight from Addis Ababa to Nairobi. There were numerous similarities with the Lion Air Crash: same Boeing plane, same problems with the new MCAS computer system, same fatal dive. You can read more about the cases at my lawyer website.

I am pleased to connect with these grieving families who need legal support. I am grateful to be doing this work.

In my travels, I’ve been reading. I downloaded the new Bret Easton Ellis book “White.” I’ll post a short review soon. P.S. Photo is from my Instagram.

Thanks for reading.

On behalf of the families of 17 victims of the Lion Air crash in Indonesia, we filed a lawsuit against Boeing. You can read about it on my lawyer website or watch Q13 coverage. These families are heartbroken and need vigorous representation.

In short, our lawsuit alleges two main points. One, Boeing equipment failed. Two, Boeing neglected to properly inform and train pilots about a new, automated system installed on the plane. Pilots were not even aware of the existence of the new system.

Pilots are fired up. Captain Chesley Sullenberger, the airline pilot who was played by Tom Hanks in the movie “Sully,” said to the LA Times, “Pilots are not being told or taught everything they need to know about their airplanes.”

Thanks for reading.

“This is a brief life, but in its brevity it offers us some splendid moments, memorable adventures,” Rudyard Kipling observed.

I’ve written a few words about our lawsuit against Lion Air on my Medium page. And I’m continuing to add photos to my Instagram, which is now my primary social media.

Anticipating a return to Indonesia, I’ve  been reading James Michener’s memoir, The World Is My Home. I think I’m going to break out Melville’s Typee next.

I have to add how much I appreciate all the plaintiff attorneys who have welcomed me into private practice, thank you.

In fact, thanks to everyone who has welcomed me everywhere.

And thanks for reading.

Back in the U.S. after more than a month working in Indonesia. I documented the adventure on my Instagram.

In January I joined a personal injury firm where I’ve been representing a large number of family members who lost loved ones in the crash of Lion Air 610 out of Jakarta. My commitment to justice, accountability, and the public good continues.

Happy new year!  “And now let us believe in a long year that is given to us, new, untouched, full of things that have never been, full of work that has never been done.”

Here is my 2018 year-end list of books and movies. These are not necessarily the best. These are not necessarily even from 2018. Instead, these are just books and movies I got around to recently and recommend.

Christopher Robin, a wonderful movie about the creative process and the Zen of Winnie the Pooh. “Sometimes doing nothing leads to the very best something.”

Ego is the Enemy, by Ryan Holiday, a smart book about doing your best work. “Impressing people is utterly different from being truly impressive.”

Mastery, by Robert Greene, a mentor to Holiday. “You must value learning above everything else.”

Reading is not the only way to learn, but it is one way.

Thanks for reading.

Wherever I go I feel at home when I see my books or my friends’ books on the shelves.

Books are the best gifts and that’s what I’m buying this holiday season. My recommendations include anything by Ryan Holiday, particularly The Obstacle is the Way and Trust Me, I’m Lying, a timely “cult classic that predicted the rise of fake news – revised for the post-Trump, post-Gawker age.”  Also, former Seahawk running back Curt Warner has a book out, which he co-wrote with his wife and local novelist Dave Boling, The Warner Boys: Our Family’s Story of Autism and Hope.

As for novels, Today Will be Different by Maria Semple is a good one to read at the end of the year or the beginning of next year. Whatever you read, thanks for reading.

Happy Thanksgiving and Mahalo!

As Maya Angelou said, “Be present in all things and grateful for all things.”

Back from a holiday in Hawaii, the Lindquists are feeling the Mahalo spirit. You can see more pictures on my Instagram.

I’ve updated my Medium page and included a review of Carnival Desires, my second novel. It’s structured around holidays and other rituals. While reading, like gratitude, should be practiced year round, holidays in particular are a time for stories. I wish you all many blessings and books.

Thanks for reading.

I’m grateful for the support, assistance, and friendship through three elections.

I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. I’ve kept my faith that public service and politics are a noble endeavor. I’m proud of the campaign we ran and the contributions our supporters made, bringing much needed graciousness and good will to the civic dialogue.

You can read my entire gratitude note on my Facebook page, Instagram account, Medium page or other website.

As U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Hubert H. Humphrey said, “The greatest gift of life is friendship and I have received it.”

Thanks for reading.

Trees are bending, leaves are flying, election season is ending. I appreciate everyone who stepped up to help our campaign.

We focused on public safety and public service and had a good time. At our last event of the ’18 season at the Swiss in Tacoma, I played “Wild Thing” and “Twist and Shout” with our unofficial campaign band, The Beatniks. I proved, once again, I’m a better writer and prosecutor than I am guitar player.

John F. Kennedy said, “If more politicians knew poetry, and more poets knew politics, I am convinced the world would be a little better place to live.”

Whether you’re an artist or not, we need more humanity in our politics. Time to step up. #Vote.

And thanks for reading.

This week I spoke at the City Club of Tacoma.   My closing was atypical in that I focused less on public safety and more on public affairs. In my opening, I discussed our innovative initiatives to make the community safer and reform the justice system, but in closing I told three quick stories relating to my themes of safety and civility.

Some say I stay too far above the fray, that I should get my hands dirty. I say you can rebut misinformation without slipping into the mud. That’s the semi-lofty goal, though it can be a high-wire act. In this, writers and public officials are similar: we live, as Karl Wallenda put it, on the wire. And, as the Posies sang in 1990, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

This picture from the 1960 presidential campaign is my favorite shot of JFK & RFK.

Thanks for reading.

Here’s a new literary website for you: transgressivefiction. It’s pretty cool. And God knows the world needs more readers now.

People sometimes ask if I read a piece about myself or my work and the answer is always, “No.”  When I was a young novelist, my editor advised me against reading my reviews or profiles, good or bad. Eventually I understood the wisdom of this.

I read emails from readers and constituents. I read blogs by readers and writers. I might read a tweet, but I do not read reviews or any other kind of press if I’m the subject. This is a good rule for artists and public officials. Never read about yourself. If you slip, which happens, you won’t learn anything about yourself or your work. You’ll only learn about the person writing about you.

As Anais Nin noted, “We don’t see things as they are, but as we are.”

The events are endless, from street fairs to community celebrations, but for Sloane it is always about face painting. Chelsea and I appreciate all of you who greet us, share stories, and encourage us to keep up the good fight. We are grateful for the volunteers who continue to step up. Let us know if you want to join us, thank you. www.marklindquist.org

I do not have much time for reading these days, but I did finish The Obstacle is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by Ryan Holiday and it’s still on my nightstand next to Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. Ryan was kind enough to send me his other books, too. I’ll report on those later. “Wherever we are, whatever we’re doing and wherever we are going, we owe it to ourselves, to our art, to the world to do it well.”

It’s summertime, and the livin’ is busy.

Chelsea, Sloane, and I have been all over the county, from the Gig Harbor Maritime Parade to Meeker Days in Puyallup to the Buckley Log Show. We appreciate seeing friends everywhere we go. Pierce County is big, diverse, and friendly. I appreciate every opportunity to communicate with the community we serve in the Prosecutor’s Office.

You can learn more at www.marklindquist.org or follow on Facebook. We can always use more volunteers, yard sign locations, and, of course, donations. Thank you!

#KeepOurProsecutor #KeepOurCommunitySafe

Keep our community safe, keep our prosecutor.

That’s what good people in Pierce County are saying this year. I’m a career Prosecutor going into my tenth year. Time does fly. I’ve been appointed, elected, and re-elected. Now I’m running again to keep serving.

Our public safety successes have been remarkable — protecting elders, reducing gang violence and other crime, diversion programs for those with mental health issues or drug addiction, and our new lawsuit I filed against Big Pharma to hold them accountable for their role in the opioid epidemic. 

You can join our team of people committed to a safe and strong community by visiting www.marklindquist.org.

Thanks for reading. 

The Keep Our Prosecutor Kickoff Concert with The Beatniks is Saturday, April 14, at 6 pm. Join us, thanks!

Tacoma Mayor Woodards will welcome the crowd, Detective Ed Troyer will serve as Emcee, and The Beatniks will rock the Landmark Temple Theatre in Tacoma! We expect musical guest stars as well.

You can learn more at our Facebook event page. #KeepOurProsecutor #KeepOurCommunitySafe

Thanks, see you Saturday night!

And thanks for reading.

Happy new year!

I’ve updated my “Have a Pleasant New Year” article, a precursor to my “Zen Lawyer” column. I hope you experience plenty of pleasantness this year.

Chelsea, Sloane and I are always enthusiastic about the spirit of adventure and growth inherent in a new year. Possibilities.

If you are the sort who believes in New Year’s resolutions, here is a thought from Marcus Aurelius: “When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive — to breath, to think, to enjoy, to love.”

Happy Thanksgiving!

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of all the virtues, but the parent of all others.” Marcus Cicero

Ladenburg, Strickland, Lindquist. Sounds like a law firm, but it’s actually the co-authors of an editorial on Tacoma, the city we are grateful for. We compare Tacoma’s past reputation with today’s reality. The future is bright.

I recently opened a medium.com account. This will serve as a one-stop shop for my beliefs on “literature, leadership, and life.” In other words, random dispatches from this endless contest of lightness versus darkness, truth versus lies, good versus bad. I’ll try to make sense of the rancorous chaos out there.

Thanks for reading.

I was happy to honor the 2017 graduates of Clover Park Technical College as their commencement speaker. There was a contagious spirit of initiative, adventure, and accomplishment in the Tacoma Dome. Here is the text of my speech, which was titled #fivehashtags. In an early draft, I included one of my favorite Zen stories, but it didn’t make the final cut. Here it is from my first Zen Lawyer column.

In other news, we recently won two awards in the Prosecutor’s Office: Outstanding Community Service and Boss of the Year. You can read the article from the Tacoma Weekly and other public safety news at www.marklindquist.org. #KeepOurCommunitySafe

Enjoy your summer. #LiveWithGratitude

Thanks for reading.

In June of 1992, Atlantic Monthly Press published my second novel, Carnival Desires. Details magazine called it, “Great postmodern literature. Romantic and cynical, true and original, full of modern ideas and seductive moments … ” Vanity Fair called it, “a witty minimalist epic.” Now I’m older and it’s available on kindle.

In the future book category, here is the finale of “Zen Lawyer,” Chapter 18. For more updates, follow me on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram, thanks.

And thanks for reading.

Happy new year! “Tomorrow is the first page of a 365 page book. Write a good one.” Brad Paisley, a country music star, wrote this. My musical taste generally runs a different direction, but I like this line.

I wrapped up my “Zen Lawyer” column for Pierce County Lawyer this year. After a long career of published novels, articles, essays, and book reviews, I received the most face-to-face feedback from this column, which I appreciated. I’ve sent the stories to my agent for a possible book. Meanwhile, here is a seasonal riff on friendship, Chapter 12.

You can connect with me on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Facebook and Facebook. I hope to connect with you somewhere this year, maybe even in person.

Please join us November 17, 2016, at Kings Books in Tacoma, 7pm, for our 8th Annual Signed Books and Spirits Auction. #KeepOurProsecutor

Guest star auctioneers will be auctioning off signed books from Governor Jay Inslee, U.S. Representative Denny Heck, and, of course, me. New York Times bestselling authors Maria Semple and Garth Stein have also donated books as have Tacoma authors Jack Cameron and William Turbyfill. For more information, check our Facebook event page, our Facebook group page, or www.marklindquist.org.

I’m nearly done with my Zen Lawyer columns, which will be eventually collected into a book. Meanwhile, Chapter 8, a riff on opinions, facts, and the truth.

Highlight of 2016 — so far — was playing guitar with Peter Buck of R.E.M. and the Beatniks at our summer celebration.  A great time was had by hundreds. You can find pics and vids at www.marklindquist.org or my Facebook page.

Our next event will be the 8th Annual Signed Book and Spirits Auction at Kings Books in Tacoma, Nov. 17, 7 pm. Chelsea and I are particularly looking forward to this evening as Nov. 17 is our wedding anniversary!  RSVP at the Facebook event page, thanks.

Meanwhile, I’m on LinkedIn now as well as Instagram and Twitter. Please join me there, thanks.

And thanks for reading.

Happy mid-year! If you’re in the NW, please join The Beatniks and surprise guests at our family-friendly summer celebration at Ruston Plaza, Saturday, July 30, 2 pm. For more details, go to our Facebook Event page, thank you.

Zen Lawyer, Chapter 13, features one of my favorite riffs about integrity and quality from Steve Jobs. I’ve been reading my daughter “Racing in the Rain,” the YA version of “The Art of Racing in the Rain” by Garth Stein.

Meanwhile, you can find me on my personal FB page, my public FB page, Twitter, Instagram, or working on community safety as your Prosecutor.

My Instagram account just went public.

Zen Lawyer, chapter 10, features a crash course on one-minute meditation. Try it.

I continue to write book reviews for the Seattle Times, including, most recently, “Breem Gives Me Hiccups & Other Stories” by Jesse Eisenberg, star of “The Social Network.”

In the never ending endeavor of making our community safer, I finished a murder trial this month, convicting a defendant who had a wife, a finance, and a girlfriend. He divorced the wife and shot the fiancee so he could be with his girlfriend. You can read about it on my Facebook page.

Closing out a good 2014, looking forward to a good 2015.

In addition to various community and family activities, I was re-elected with more than 96% of the vote against a write-in candidate, I successfully tried another murder case, made progress on a new novel, wrote book reviews for The Seattle Times, and continued my Zen Lawyer column for the Tacoma Pierce County Bar News.

The first chapter of Zen Lawyer, published in March/April 2014, was an introduction with a Zen story about life and luck, “Maybe.”  The sixth chapter, which will be published in January/February 2015, features a Zen story about anger and gratitude, “Heaven and Hell.“

I’m running for reelection. We have everything you would want in a campaign, except an opponent. Robert F. Kennedy said, “About twenty percent of the people are opposed to everything all of the time,” but I still picked up more than 96% of the vote in the primary.

The kick-off party featured musical guest stars Molly Ringwald, Peter Buck of R.E.M., and local greats The Beatniks. You can see pictures at www.marklindquist.org. I also posted some on my semi-new Facebook page.

Meanwhile, I’ve updated this site with more book reviews, including one of my favorite non-fiction books of the year, Walter Kirn’s Blood Will Out, and James Ellroy’s new crime fiction, Perfidia.

Thanks for reading.

John McGrath wrote a good story about an unusually entertaining Continuing Legal Education class featuring sports, law, and life lessons. In summary, be cool.

Mary Ann Gwinn, the blessed Books Editor for The Seattle Times, put together an honorable tribute for the 40th Anniversary of Elliott Bay Books in Seattle.  I weighed in along with my friend Garth Stein and others.

I’m working on a new novel, slowly. I never mind being asked about it as it reminds me I have work to do.

Thanks for reading.

“When it Happens to You,” Molly Ringwald’s “novel in stories,” is out in paperback.

I interviewed Molly for The Oregonian.  We talked music, books, and the Bad Old Days.

Speaking of the Bad Old Days, in 2001 I interviewed Peter Buck for the Hartford Courant. We talked music, books, and the narrative of growing older.

In the picture on the left, I believe I was almost 30. I thought I was getting old.

Thanks for reading.

Welcome to my updated author website.  Thanks for visiting.

I also have a Facebook, an attorney website, and a Goodreads page.

I will mostly used this blog to recommend books, movies, life lessons and so on. I will also posts links to articles I’ve written or read.

“The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.”  Albert Camus

Thanks for reading.