Funny man Chris Austin sits at a desk in the front office of The Beachcomber. As circulation manager, he oversees the drivers who deliver the paper, solves an occasional mystery of the missing paper and generally provides comic relief for the editorial staff. Austin is also an award-winning columnist, author of four books, and if he had his druthers, he just might be a historian.
Instead, Austin has created a niche for himself, combining his entertaining insights with historical facts. He will read from his latest book, “The Mostly True History of Vashon and Maury Islands: Criminal Element,” at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21, at the Vashon Bookshop.
On his website, mostlytruehistory.com, Austin calls himself the “Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup of literature,” as his writing is a blend of history and humor that tells stories about a particular place, topic or person. In a recent interview, Austin said he’s a “history buff who buffs history, a gag writer who likes history.”
“Criminal Element” and its predecessor “Vashon’s First Boy Band” are companion books with the shared title, “The Mostly True History of Vashon and Maury Islands.” The covers boast several disclaimers like being “gluten-free” with “words generally in the right order.”
“I wanted people to see the covers and know it is tongue-in-cheek,” Austin said.
The books essentially began as a series of articles last January when islander Gary Sipple made inquiries at The Beachcomber about occasionally publishing bits of trivia about the island. Austin heard the request and offered to write a column about Vashon’s days of yore, soon launching the series, “It’s Your History.”
To find a subject worthy of retelling, Austin culls through binders housed in the museum’s research room. He skips over dull topics like King County historical documentation forms in favor of a subject he thinks will generate some laughs.
Two weeks ago Austin wrote about a Vashon deputy sheriff who was shot while brushing his teeth. One bullet grazed his side, and the other bounced off his stomach. Austin writes, “You read that right, bounced off his stomach, so either the officer had been doing A LOT of sit ups, or it was a defective bullet.”
Austin said most people tend to look back in time with rose colored glasses, but he added, “you can’t make this stuff up.” He also believes that history, written with an eye toward the amusing, makes information more accessible, minimizing the “dry tome effect.” Plus, he sees real value in remembering the past.
“Everything has a history,” Austin said, “and it explains a lot of what is happening today — how we got to where we are now.”
Austin’s personal history, that which got him to Vashon in 2011, includes living and working as a dentist in Southern California for 20 years, volunteering for the San Bernadino museum to help paleontologists map dinosaur fossils, working for a defense contractor in Washington D.C., a year-long bike ride across the country, a call from his cousin to house-sit his angry cat on an island in Puget Sound, working as The Beachcomber circulation manager and writing about Vashon.
“I was a blank sheet when I got here,” Austin said. “I only knew it was an island. I’ve been learning the history and struggles the people went through to live here like rowing to Tacoma for groceries.”
As for the “mostly true” part, Austin said it is his “out.”
“There’s nothing false in the articles that I know of,” Austin said with a laugh, “but sometimes I find out something different after the fact from (historian) Bruce Haulman — we meet once a week. The last article of the year will be a retraction.”
