Seattle historian Walter Crowley loses voice

Seattle historian Walter Crowley loses voice

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Story Published: Feb 9, 2007 at 5:45 PM PDT

Story Updated: Feb 9, 2007 at 5:45 PM PDT

By John Sharify

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Last night Walt Crowley did something for his friends that they will treasure, always remember and talk about years from now, you just know it.

The 59-year-old Seattle historian and journalist who co-founded HistoryLink.org, an on line encyclopedia, hosted a party in his north Seattle home so his friends could hear his voice for the last time. Today he loses his voice. It's an eight-hour surgery to remove his larynx, his voice box, after he was diagnosed with cancer.

He will lose the one thing that made Walt Crowley, well, Walt Crowley.

"A lot of people here are holding back tears because if nothing else, Walt Crowley is a conversationalist," said Michael Hood, a friend.

Crowley and his wife Marie don't want you to feel sorry for him. After all, he gets to live. When they take out his voice box, they'll give him something called an "electro larynx". His wife calls it a talking stick.

"It's the reverse of a microphone. It's like a big buzzer. You put it to your throat. It creates vibrations in your mouth and you articulate just normally, but you sound like a robot," Crowley said.

For years we've heard Crowley's voice, his commentaries on radio and television. Former Seattle Mayor Wes Uhlman was among his guests last night.

"How are you?" Uhlman asked Crowley.

"I'm okay. You know all things considered I'm okay. I'm going to be fine," he answered.

With his words, with the talking stick, Walt Crowley promises you'll still hear from him.

"I should be really afraid, but I'm not," he said.

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