Editor’s Note: Islander Phil Clapham’s “Desert Island Bookworm” series features interviews with notable islanders about the books they’d take to a desert island, named after the BBC program “Desert Island Discs.”
Well-known on Vashon is that local power couple of radio and stage, Jeff and Cindy Hoyt. They’ve been together for fifty years, with exactly half of that time spent living on our little island.
Cindy was born in Oklahoma, Jeff in Indiana. They met at Oklahoma State University, where they were both studying broadcast journalism. They married, and moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, where Jeff worked as a disc jockey for three years.
Realizing there was no job security — “I was just going to get fired, again and again” — Jeff took over a recording studio with a college friend, and his work evolved into production and voice acting. Meanwhile Cindy, after a stint with the ABC affiliate in Little Rock, became a certified travel agent.
After eleven years in Arkansas, they realized that Jeff’s business was essentially portable, so they gave some serious thought to where to move. Cindy came to Seattle through the travel business, and happened to be here during Seafair. She loved it, and they returned together on vacation.
Both were “floored” by the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest. As Cindy notes: “We both thought, Golly, Toto, we’re not south of Kansas anymore!”
They moved to Seattle in 1988, but after ten years were tired of the noise, traffic and “the summer sounds of remodeling”, as Cindy puts it. Jeff, who had been writing and producing thousands of often humorous and award-winning ads for radio broadcast, frequently came to Vashon just to hang out and write in the quiet space that the island provides.
In 1999, they moved here. By then, technology had evolved such that a producer could use a dedicated digital line to tap into any professional recording studio. Jeff asked CenturyTel if they had this service on Vashon, and was told “Yes, we just installed that line yesterday.” He became their first island customer.
For Cindy, the move had its downside. As a stay-at-home mom, she had made a number of close friends in Seattle, and moving to the island made it more difficult to connect with them (though as she notes, they all eventually moved away to other places). She worked at bookshops on Vashon, and gradually picked up a new circle of friends.
Along the way, Cindy published “Tansmania”, a funny self-help book about sunbathing.
The Hoyts are often featured on Voice of Vashon, and Cindy writes occasional humor columns for The Beachcomber. The couple are particularly appreciated for their production of a comedy show, the Church of Great Rain, which ran from 2009 to 2012. They wrote and performed six shows a year, with a comedy style that they describe as “Saturday Night Live meets Monty Python meets A Prairie Home Companion.”
It was immensely successful, and when it later moved to Open Space it attracted what was probably among the largest gatherings the island has ever seen.
The Hoyts both have an extensive history with books — reading, writing and audio book recording — so which books would they take to a desert island?
Jeff Hoyt’s first choice is Stephen King’s “The Stand.”
“It absolutely sucked me in,” he said. “I remember taking its heft with me on a European vacation and pretty much ignoring the Italian countryside passing by the windows in our train car while I absorbed King’s take on the ultimate battle between good and evil.”
“Also,” he added, “I figure a desert island may as well be its own kind of post-apocalyptic landscape, so the story would relate in a multitude of ways.”
Next up is what Jeff describes as “an inspirational story of pluck, ingenuity and survival … and in the case of ‘Lost in Shangri-La,’ it’s a true story to boot.”
He explained: “This tale of a plane crash on the slopes of an inaccessible valley in New Guinea should be relatable to anyone stranded on a desert island. … I would think this book’s spirit of ‘anything can happen if you apply yourself completely’ would resonate with me in my desert island solitude.”
His final choice is practical and potentially even life-saving.
“I’ve always been a weather nerd and I have been looking forward to re-reading ‘Pacific Northwest Weather’ by Dr. Cliff Mass ever since I first read it,” he said. “He makes the argument that even though many feel that our weather here is boring compared to other parts of the country (clouds, drizzle — rinse, repeat), we actually have some of the most diverse weather on the planet.”
He added: “This book is loaded with science that would further my understanding of how low and high pressure systems interact with one another, and it could be a life-saver in helping me prepare in advance for whatever system might be bearing down on my tiny desert island. Plus, it would be a reminder of home and keep me motivated to find a way back.”
Cindy Hoyt, who is herself a published writer, begins her selection with Neil Stephenson’s “Baroque Cycle” trilogy.
“Neil first grabbed me with ‘Diamond Age’, which I loved,” Cindy said. “How could I not, since one of the characters is an interactive audiobook narrator?”
“But you need a lot to read on a desert island,” she continued, “so I’m going with his historical fiction trilogy: ‘Quicksilver,’ ’The Confusion,’ and ’The System of the World.’ In three volumes, his two protagonists — one a pirate, one the co-creator of what we now call the stock market — interact with many of the most influential personalities who lived around the world between 1650 and 1720.”
Next on her list is “Foucault’s Pendulum.”
“Most people think of ‘The Name of the Rose’ when they think of Umberto Eco,” she said, “but I like this book’s wild international ride among secret societies ancient and modern. It’s centered around the actual giant pendulum designed by Léon Foucault to demonstrate the world’s rotation.”
She added a caution: “Warning: the first 50 pages feel like something of a test. Once you get out of the Musée des Arts et Metiers, though, buckle your seatbelt.”
She switches to non-fiction next, with Yuval Noah Harari’s “21 Lessons for the 21st Century,” a series of essays by the author of “Sapiens.”
“Scores of books have been written about the human psyche in an age of hit-and-run political, religious, and technological changes,” she said. “This book has given me ideas and guidance on how to navigate them all, either individually or collectively — which is saying a lot for an optimistic nihilist like me.”
I would add that Harari’s book includes the best takedown of organized religion I’ve ever read.
Cindy’s final choice is “Glass Books of the Dream Eaters.”
“I found this one through a full-page New Yorker ad, and since I’m interested in the fantasia of dreams, how could I refuse?”
Hoyt has recently finished a novel with a similar theme.
“It’s the page-turniest book on this list,” she continued. “Gordon Dahlquist’s adventure through a vaguely Victorian London features three main characters who are some of the best-drawn I’ve seen. As for the glass books: anyone’s experiences can be recorded, then relived by whoever is drawn into the pages.”
She adds, “Parental Advisory: many of these experiences are pretty spicy.”
What books would you take to a desert island? Email me at desertislandbookworm@gmail.com.
Phil Clapham is a retired whale biologist who lives on Maury Island. His comic romance novel “Jack” (under his nom-de-plume Phillip Boleyn) is available on Amazon.
