David Clark Brewster (born September 26, 1939) is an American journalist and the founder, editor and publisher of the ''

Seattle Weekly The ''Seattle Weekly'' is an alternative biweekly distributed newspaper in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded by Darrell Oldham and David Brewster as ''The Weekly.'' Its first issue was published on March 31, 1976, and it becam ...

'' and the Northwest news website Crosscut.com. He is also the founder, creator and former executive director of the nonprofit cultural center

Town Hall Seattle Town Hall Seattle, or Town Hall locally, is a cultural center and performance hall located on Seattle, Washington, USA's First Hill at 1119 8th Ave. Built as Fourth Church of Christ, Scientist, Seattle, a Church of Christ, Scientist church, fro ...

Biography

Early life

He was born on September 26, 1939, in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

, the son of Gaylord Clark Brewster and Marjorie Jane Anderson.Jones, 86Jones, p. 625Jones, p. 626 His father was a 1930 graduate of the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

Education

He graduated in 1961,

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

, with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

, and he received his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

from Yale University in 1963.

Family

In 1964, he married Joyce Skaggs, a 1961 graduate of

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

. She was a writer for the Office of University Relations in the President's Office, at the University of Washington in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

. She retired from that position in 2008. She is the daughter of Charles Skaggs and Juanita ("Nita") Allen. David and Joyce are the parents of two daughters, Kate Eliza Brewster and Anne Olivia Brewster.

Career

After graduating from Yale, he moved to Seattle in 1965 to teach English at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

. He left teaching after a couple of years to write for the ''Seattle Times'', ''Argus'' magazine, and ''

Seattle Magazine Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the count ...

'', then an arm of King Broadcasting. He was also an assignment editor for

KING-TV KING-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Seattle, Washington, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Everett-licensed KONG (channel 16), an independent station. The two stations share studios at the Hom ...

. Brewster was founding editor of the ''Seattle Weekly'', which first published on March 31, 1976. Attorney Doug Raff and arts patron

Bagley Wright Bagley Wright (April 13, 1924 – July 18, 2011) was an American real estate developer and philanthropist. He was president of Bagley Wright Investments, was a developer of Seattle's landmark Space Needle and chair of Physio Control Corp. from 1 ...

were investors (investing $100,000) at start up (The Wright family eventually became the largest, though a minority holding, owners of the Weekly until it was sold in 1997). The free weekly paper focused on covering Seattle arts, culture and politics. He sold the paper 21 years later to

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...

Publications for an unannounced sum. He also originated the "Best Places" guidebook series covering Northwest (northern California to Alaska) dining, lodging and getaways. The series is published by

Sasquatch Books Sasquatch Books LLC is an American book publishing company based in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1986 by David Brewster of the '' Seattle Weekly'' and primarily publishes nonfiction books about the western United States and Canada a ...

. He also jumped into the local Seattle political scene in the 1977 mayor's race, promoting

Paul Schell Paul Schell (born Paul Ervin Schlachtenhaufen; October 8, 1937 – July 27, 2014) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 50th mayor of Seattle, Washington, from 1998 to 2002. Early life and education The oldest of six children ...

(he lost that year to

Charles Royer Charles Theodore Royer (August 22, 1939 – July 26, 2024) was an American news reporter and politician who served as the 48th mayor of Seattle, Washington from 1978 to 1990. After serving as mayor of Seattle, Royer became the director of the H ...

). Brewster was involved in the founding of Crosscut.com, which specializes in coverage of the Northwest. He announced in November 2008 that the commercial venture into the world of Web journalism was shifting to nonprofit status, due to slow growth in online advertising and the current low rates for such ads. Brewster participated in the repurposing and renovation of Fourth Church of Christ Scientist, once a

Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices which are associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes in ...

church in the First Hill neighborhood in Seattle, into a cultural venue. Now occupied by the nonprofit organization

, the site hosts events such as lectures and concerts. Brewster is a former board member of Folio: The Seattle Anthenaeum, a private independent library in downtown Seattle which was founded in 2014.

Notes

References

Sources

*Berlin, Leslie ''The man behind the microchip: Robert Noyce and the invention of Silicon Valley '' Publisher Oxford University Press US, 2005 *Burt, Daniel S. ''The chronology of American literature: America's literary achievements from the colonial era to modern times'' Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2004. *Jones, Emma C. Brewster. ''The Brewster Genealogy, 1566–1907: a Record of the Descendants of William Brewster of the "Mayflower," ruling elder of the Pilgrim church which founded Plymouth Colony in 1620.'' New York: Grafton Press, 1908.

External links

* ttp://crosscut.com/ Crosscut* ttp://www.seattleweekly.com/ Seattle Weeklybr>Town Hall Seattle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brewster, David Living people Yale University alumni 1939 births American male journalists