PAT NEAL COLUMN: Why Forks is ‘Twilight’ town: fishing

THERE’S A DISTURBING trend in modern journalism for writers to use fleeting celebrity references as an excuse for responsible reporting.

It was never that way with Stephenie Meyer and me.

Meyer is the fabulously successful author of the “Twilight” series of vampire books set in Forks.

Her books have sold millions of copies worldwide.

I have also written some stuff about Forks. My books have sold fewer than a million copies.

Luckily, the economic vagaries of the publishing industry are irrelevant in the pursuit of an art form.

As writers, Meyer and I share a kinship that is beyond words. We both have a warm spot in our hearts for Forks, a town that until recently was getting a lot of bad press.

In 2007, the book “Absolutely Worst Places to Live in America” gave Forks an honorable mention as a “festering wound of a town.”

Then there was a Sunday New York Times column where a Seattle writer called Forks a “big-eating, hard-drinking town” that Seattleites found “forlorn,” “godforsaken” and “ugly.”

These meandering screeds all had one thing in common — they hated loggers.

They blamed the loggers for cutting down trees, endangering salmon and even changing the climate.

Meanwhile, it is the dinosaur print media that kills the trees and salmon.

Books and newspapers are still manufactured with a process that requires massive amounts of water and electricity from dammed salmon streams and pulp that comes from wood cut by the loggers.

Forks was once the self-proclaimed logging capital of the world.

Then the loggers were blamed for endangering the spotted owl.

So the tree-huggers shut down the loggers.

Unfortunately, the spotted owl population continued to decline.

Then the loggers became a threatened and endangered species.

As if that wasn’t enough, Forks then had a problem with illegal immigrants. We were told that the Guatemalans only took the jobs the Mexicans no longer wanted.

It was hard to know who to blame.

Then something odd and wonderful happened. Groups of tourists began taking each other’s pictures at the “Welcome to Forks” sign.

The “Twilight” phenomena had begun.

Forks became a worldwide tourist destination for vampire groupies and those who study them.

I recently had an opportunity to meet with a professor of photojournalism from back East (anywhere east of Lilliwaup is back East to me).

He had traveled to the North Olympic Peninsula to study the economic impact of the “Twilight” books on Forks.

I considered it my duty as an ambassador of all things “Twilight” to grant the professor an interview and set the record straight — off the record, of course.

I told him in strictest confidence that the real reason Stephenie Meyer chose Forks for the location of her “Twilight” novels wasn’t because it was the rainiest town in America.

No, it was because of the fishing.

Forks is named after The Forks Hole at the confluence of the Calawah and Bogachiel rivers.

I told the professor that rumor had it that The Forks Hole was Stephenie Meyer’s favorite fishing hole.

I offered to float the professor down to The Forks Hole in my guide boat as long as he never used this knowledge for evil.

There was a chance, I told him, that he could get an interview with Stephenie Meyer.

You never know. I sell dreams.

Unfortunately, Meyer wasn’t fishing The Forks Hole that day.

All we got was a salmon for our trouble.

I told the professor all we could do was try again the next day.

With my help, the professor was able to gain a clearer understanding of the economic impacts of the “Twilight” phenomenon on Forks.

________

Pat Neal is a North Olympic Peninsula fishing guide and humorist. His column appears every Wednesday.

Pat can be reached at 360-683-9867 or patnealwildlife@yahoo.com, or see his blog at patnealwildlife.blogspot.com.

He tells tales on radio KSQM 91.5 FM at 9 a.m. Saturdays, repeated at 6 p.m. Tuesdays.

The “Pat Neal Wildlife Show” can be heard on the Internet outside the Dungeness Valley at www.scbradio.com.

More in News

Peninsula Behavioral Health head discusses the fallout from federal bill

Anticipated cuts to Medicaid could devastate rural communities like Clallam County, leading… Continue reading

Matthew P. Deines, Outgoing President/CEO, First Fed
First Fed CEO resigns

Bank begins search for replacement

PAHS class of 1975 reunion planned

The Port Angeles High School Class of 1975 is… Continue reading

Lower Elwha Klallm Tribal Chairwoman Frances Charles, left, speaks about the Paddle to Elwha 2025 canoe journey as Carmen Watson-Charles, the tribe’s cultural manager, holds an informational pamphlet during a presentation to the Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Thousands expected for canoe journey this month

Tribe anticipates speeches, songs and traditional dance

Glass recycling returns to Jeffco

Port Townsend, Quilcene locations available

Port of Port Townsend OKs update to its strategic plan

Commissioners discuss economic development

Reservoir project to start this weekend

Lower water pressure expected through Aug. 1

Forks institutes voluntary water conservation measures

The city of Forks is requesting residents to follow voluntary… Continue reading

Resurfacing project begins on Priest Road

Work crews contracted by the city of Sequim have begun… Continue reading

Mandy Miller of Port Angeles and other members of her family spent some time over the Fourth of July weekend picking eight pounds of strawberries at the Graysmarsh Farms north of Sequim. Raspberries will soon though reach their peak picking season, and both are available at Graysmarsh. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)
Berry picking

Mandy Miller of Port Angeles and other members of her family spent… Continue reading

Peninsula counties awarded $5M in grants

Funding to cover easements, equipment

Port of Port Angeles to forge ahead with terminal upgrade plans

Design phase would help envision future opportunities