General Meeting. Pat Neal, Guest Speaker (Monthly Meetings)
Pat Neal is a fishing guide on the Hoh River in the west end of the Olympic Peninsula. He began writing a weekly wilderness gossip column in 1998 and is currently featured on the commentary page of the Peninsula Daily News. These stories combine his research as a historian with humorous observations of our natural world and the wild and wooly life of a guide on the rivers of the rainforest.
Neal’s contribution to identifying and evaluating the historical importance of historic places and the people who lived the history of the Olympic Peninsula has earned recognition with an award for Special Achievement in Historic Preservation by the governor of the state of Washington.
Dr. Allyson Brooks, state historic preservation officer with the Washington state Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, said:
“While many persons can say that they live in or are from a certain place, there are fewer persons who can say they truly inhabit a place. Pat Neal is one of those rare individuals who can claim that he inhabits the Olympic Peninsula.”
He will present a slide show and lecture on the "Natural History of the Olympic Peninsula" and will include stories about the people of the Peninsula as well.
