Joel Connelly writes to tell me not to be too quick to speculate about who's going to wind up with the P-I globe, and as I said in my blog item last week, long may it turn above a real-life newspaper (dead-tree or electronic), hopefully one employing the above-mentioned Connelly.
But I do have a quick update. Leonard Garfield, executive director of the Museum of History and Industry, responded with similar sentiments about the P-I: He wants them to stay in business and have the world keep on turning. However, should the worst happen, he says MOHAI would be "thrilled to be the steward if needed" of the globe.
Garfield says there have been no formal discussions about any of this, but it should be noted that MOHAI is already home of the newspaper's extensive photo archives (1930-1970), which form a rich and sometimes quirky history of the city in pictures. Want to see Elvis and Gov. Al Rosellini with a smoked ham? Nuns dancing in the surf? Japanese internees being marched off? Check the galleries.
Garfield also points out that the museum already has what he says is the P-I's earlier, 1920s-era neon sign (see accompanying photo) with the memorable old P-I phone number: Main 2000. If Sam Spade visited Seattle, this is the sign he would have seen.
I'm not trying to rush the P-I into history. It's already an indelible part of that.
