Burl Barer From The Mid 1980s

In this picture from 1986, my cousin, Burl Barer is pictured with family friend, Bill Grant and then Washington Governor Booth Gardiner.  Burl is leaning against the wall, third from the left.

At the time, Grant was campaigning for the Washington State Legislature.  He would be successful and serve until his death in 2009.

This was taken in front of Walla Walla's old Liberty Theatre, which had closed years before and was used as a campaign headquarters. 

This was on the Bygone Walla Walla blog. 

Former Governor Booth Gardner Dies

Booth Gardner, a Washington State Democrat who defeated a sitting Republican governor in the year that President Ronald Reagan won his second term by a landslide has died.  Gardner, who's stepfather was a Weyerhauser executive defeated John Spellman in 1984 and began a streak of Democratic Governors in Washington that continues today.  Gardner had been suffering from Parkinson's Disease for many years and lead the effort for Washington to become the second state in the union to legalize assisted suicide for the terminally ill.