‘Deadliest’ memoir to be released

Geeky Swedes Ballard

Captain Sig Hansen, one of the captains on the popular Discovery show The Deadliest Catch has written his memoir, “North by Northwestern: A Seafaring Family on Deadly Alaskan Waters,” which is set to be released this week.

Photo courtesy: Discovery Channel
As a Ballard native, Hansen spoke candidly to our news partner the Seattle Times about changes to our neighborhood. “You won’t hear Norwegian spoken on the streets of Ballard anymore,” he tells the Times. “It’s become one of the trendiest neighborhoods in Seattle.” The Times writes that he thinks the Sunday Farmers Market is “frequented by sandal-wearing recyclers … storefronts that once sold hardware and ship supplies are now boutiques … It’s not clear to me what they sell.” Although fame isn’t always all that glamorous, he has welcomed the opportunity to bring international attention to the fishing industry. He’s also been able to take a young cancer patient out for a day of crab-fishing on the famous Northwestern through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. You can read more about his memoir in this piece by Jack Broom.

Geeky Swedes

The founders of My Ballard

45 thoughts to “‘Deadliest’ memoir to be released”

  2. the good ol' days were not always so good. ask anyone from Seattle that has lived here for more than 30 years what Ballard was like and they will give you a not so nice picture of a neighborhood. Yes there are more condos. yes there are more new homes. yes there are more new people and shops. but get a grip on reality. nothing remains the same and in this instance, Ballard has flourished in how it has seen an improvement in crime, housing values, amenities, diversity and on and on. There are problems in ballard just like any neighborhood in Seattle but to say this area was nirvana in the 60's or 70's or 80's is disingenuous. enough already.

  5. Ask any of my family from Seattle (Ballard) and they will tell YOU different! They all agree it was much better back in the day. My mother could tell you of all the old places that used to be here, golden gardens back in the day, our “mayor”, our stronger sense of community. Not a bad picture. Its your opinion that Ballard wasn't up to your standard back in the day, but MANY people disagree.

  7. way to qualify your answer with descriptions that are open to an individual's personal interpretation…'all the old places that used to be here' (now there are new places. some of which are crappy but some of which are pretty darn nice). 'our mayor' (your point)?'golden gardens back in the day' (they had vagrants down there then just as they do now. take your rose colored glasses off). 'our strong sense of community' (now we have MyBallard that in some ways connects a lot more people than 'back in the day').
    I didn't say Ballard was terrible in every possible way. I didn't say it wasn't up to my standard. I too was born in Ballard, grew up here and now live here. My point is that it was far-fetched to say Ballard had no blemishes in an earlier time.

  9. You also don't hear any of the native languages spoken here before the Euros drove THEM out, but no one b*tches about that.

  11. I lived on 20th from 1989-2000. There was always parking. Everyone knew all the cashiers at QFC and Bartells. Neighbors talked to each other and looked out for each other. You could walk to the bars and not worry about getting mugged. I don't remember ANY homeless people. I don't remember any human turds on the sidewalk. I'd leave my car unlocked. Ballard used to be quiet and full of old people. We liked it because rent was cheap and you felt safe.

  14. And no where did Sig say anything about Ballard being perfect. All he said was that it is WAY different, which it IS.

    I guess Ballard didn't need a internet community full of anonymous people, since you could practically walk down the street and know everyone. And our “mayor” Marvin was quite an interesting person and a part of Ballard history.

    As for the vagrants in GG, I can't say I've really seen any now (except in the camper vans and their not hurting anyone) and I don't remember any back in the day. GG used to be a lot more relaxed, but that's also due to a lot less people, which was nice.

  15. scuddlebutts, I leave ballard for 6 months and find nothing but banter to the defense of clique defining category that Ballard does not truly belong in.
    Your internet opinionated quarrels do neither justice as truly there is no everlasting substance to this guy's report, he who would otherwise be a dirty fisherman with a waterleg view of costal ballard's trendy overpriced market if not for the same technology that has brought myballard, and us more “together” to share “community” in this newage trendy commercialized world.

    go dribbly your underarm rubbish on some other forum.

  16. While I like Sig, I get defensive about Ballard. Of course you don't hear Norwegian, the original speakers have either passed on or (as in the case of the Hansen family) moved out of the neighborhood.
    Move back to Ballard, Sig, or don't put us down!
    As a native Ballardite (and Norwegain), I miss the Scandinavian shops, but if you're down here on a Friday night you can't miss the vitality of the area.

  17. The good old days will always be better. It's called nostalgia.

    I like the change in Ballard and Seattle. I look forward to more growth and development, more urban landscape and density and more new neighbors with money that want to improve the neighborhood. You can take the Clampetts that live next to me and shuffle them off to Shoreline.

    XXOO,
    Ballard resident since 1989

  19. “GG used to be a lot more relaxed, but that's also due to a lot less people, which was nice.”

    Some would interpret this as it was a lot more “white”. I can't really say as I didn't grow up as a black kid afraid to go north of the Ship Canal, but I've heard enough stories that I tend to believe that wether earned or not, Ballard had a reputation of being less than welcoming.
    When I was a kid I remember hearing a lot of wild stories that were taken as conventional wisdom and then were completely debunked after a few years. But the problem was that when we all believed them, it basically made them true in effect. It's kind of weird how that works.

  21. Without all the smoke and soot the air is cleaner now. These days, if your antifreeze leaks on the street one of those dang environmentalist types will stop and cuss at ya.

  23. With all due respect, Sig is not just a fisherman. He is a video game developer (a partner with Microsoft), an author, probably a producer or soon to be one, and a TV show star (like it or not DC is one of the most popular reality shows on TV, more viewers then that Kardashian show). That said, most people in Ballard, are likely more “Blue Collar” then he is. Just saying. The can of black spray paint calling the kettle black. No off to recycle my booze…

  24. +1 — Hollywood guy tells you about the hood not being blue collar enough? I'll bet my old 12 year old Saab is level beneath his ride(s).

  26. Lived in Ballard since before Sig was born; a proud native Ballardite!
    LOTS of changes, most for the worst and are a direct result of the population density.
    Single family lots turned first into apartments then the condo craze leading to transient dwellers and parking hassles and the bums.
    I do miss the Nordski's, they were always fun.
    Ballard was a great place to grow up!

    Now as for the injuns that were here first: when a Stone Age civilization meets the Industrial Age, the Stone Age will loose. As the ancestors of ALL of us came from Africa, it is not like we took land from strangers, we just kept it in the family and improved on it!

  29. The internet does not a community foster.
    Talking face to face does that.
    He, like I, miss the Ballard we grew up in.
    It is gone, and with the exception of the Gob Shop, not for the better.
    More Nordski's, less Libtards would be a good start.

  31. Funny, I felt that way about the Central District for the opposite reason. That's where the blacks settled after WWII and drove the Italians and the Jews out eventually; turning a neighborhood everyone loved into one nobody wanted to go to, especially at night.

    I heard the same stories, just in reverse.

  32. “Sandal-wearing recyclers.” Yeah, because real men wear shoes and they throw stuff away! This guy is a tool with a capital “T.”

  34. ” when a Stone Age civilization meets the Industrial Age, the Stone Age will loose”

    Setting aside your assumption that native Americans were living in the Stone Ages when the Euros arrived in Ballard, when the industrial age meets the post-industrial age, guess who loses now?

    Move along to Kent why don't you. Maybe in 200 years they'll let you open a casino.

  35. “drove the Italians and the Jews out eventually”

    I guess you enjoy proving Old Ballard was populated by morons and aquatic rednecks. The blacks didn't 'drive' anyone out of the CD, they were forced to live there by housing covenants. Do you remember those fondly too?

  36. Well it wasn't called “Garlic Gulch” for nothing.
    The Seward Park area was a little Italy.

    The point, moron, is that Ballard's less than welcoming reputation as noted by SPG was shared by other parts of the city for the same reasons.

    Seattle has always been an extremely segregated town.

  37. “More Nordski's, less Libtards would be a good start.”

    Love the irony in that statement. Norwegians are far more liberal than Americans. Norway has public transit, universal healthcare, high taxes, higher levels of education, higher gas prices and all sorts of other things that make the conservative hypocrites cringe in horror.

  38. Well when I see evidence that American Indians developed the wheel and mined and used metals then I'll move them up a notch. Until then they will stay in the Stone Age.

    I have no reason to leave Ballard, I own too much of it.

    Never been to an Indian casino, I like the ones on the Strip in Vegas.
    I believe there are casinos in Kent, or at least close by.
    Take a few weeks and sober up, so your BAL is below the legal limit, and drive out and look.

  39. Are you sure you have no reason to leave Ballard? I mean, in this post-industrial, technologically driven economy, you look and sound like a caveman.

  42. Nah, I'll just read the all the snarky comments on MyBallard. I don't live in Ballard anymore. Doesn't sound very friendly anymore, either.

  43. And the only reason I described the Utopia I remembered was because the second poster said, “the good ol' days were not always so good. ask anyone from Seattle that has lived here for more than 30 years what Ballard was like and they will give you a not so nice picture of a neighborhood.”

    I was actually sticking up for Ballard. Way to be neighborly.

  45. ur still a dork….such negativity…..no1 sees the beauty in life anymore…. jus gota get on some web site and talk krap….there's bad places everywhere and good times 4gotten…..u gota make ur life an thoses around u see tha beauty……u can't cuz ur a negative dork

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