Preserving Whidbey, one story at a time
Published 1:30 am Friday, July 10, 2026
By KATE POSS
Special to The Record
Judy Lynn — an author, entrepreneur and chronicler of Whidbey history — recently celebrated the addition of 70 new stories to the hundred originally published in 2015 in her book, “Front Street Coupeville: An Oral History.”
For the past 20 years, Lynn has been preserving Whidbey’s history through recorded interviews. With the latest edition, she has finished converting those conversations into a readable collection.
“It’s been an amazing journey,” she said, “and I am grateful to the folks who agreed to have their memories stored with our Island County Historical Society and to the awesome museum staff who keep our artifacts organized and safe.”
Morgan White, administrator of the Island County Museum in Coupeville, said making the book available through Amazon and Apple Books will help preserve and share those stories with a wider audience.
Among the interviews Lynn treasures most are those with Vin Sherman and Rick Castellano.
Sherman was born in 1943 to the historic Sherman family of Central Whidbey. In the interview, Sherman recalls his family home, where he now lives on Ebey Road — and to which he returned after being gone some 50 years. Before his birth, the home had no indoor plumbing. His mother insisted new water pipes be installed.
“They would carry the water from the cistern for cooking, bathing and washing,” Sherman recalled.
Later, Sherman ran for class president at Coupeville High School in his senior year.
“In my campaign speech I promised that if I was elected, I would bring in lots of graft and corruption,” he said. “Of course, I won. That was my political progression. I didn’t run for office until many years later when I ran for Cemetery Commissioner unopposed.”
Lynn said she has high regard for Castellano, a storyteller and executive director-emeritus of the Island County Historical Society Museum. Interviewed in November 2021, Lynn asked him to speak about Native Americans because of his deep interest in promoting their culture and all he and his wife Carol have done over the years to honor the first people to live on Whidbey. He helped with creating an homage to the history of the Pacific Northwest’s Native Americans in the museum’s basement, including restoration of eight canoes originally from Whidbey Island.
Castellano’s interest in Native Americans dates back to the days of TV and movie Westerns. His awareness expanded in high school where he played French horn and was invited to perform in an operetta, a “musical exchange” of students with the Makah Nation on the Olympic Peninsula. He was one of three students selected and sent to visit the Makah people on Neah Bay.
“I got to live with a family for about a week,” Castellano said. “We got to know the kids who were our age. They took us around and showed us around and it really opened my eyes. And, you know, this wasn’t cowboys and Indians. These are real people — they’re still here.”
The Salish Sea people have lived here “since time immemorial,” Castellano said, “because we haven’t figured it out yet. And I don’t know if we ever will. Their descendants are still here. We’re really lucky to have these contacts.”
Other favorite interviews Lynn mentioned include Ken Pickard, who was instrumental in creating Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve; Kristi O’Donnell, a musician/artist who once ran Meerkerk Gardens in Greenbank; Madelyn van der Hoogt, founder of the Weaver’s School in Coupeville; John Stone of the Captain Whidbey Inn; and Laura Blankenship, “who saved Greenbank Farm.”
Lynn reflected fondly on the past two decades spent recording people’s stories.
“I’ve been thinking about what this experience has been for me,” she said. “It’s a gift to me to have people open their minds with their stories. I learned a lot from each person. I learned how much pleasure it gave me to interview them, hear their stories, and get to know them, mostly as friends.”
The ebook sells for $9.99 and offers a look at the 170 people who told the stories that make Coupeville what it is today. It is available on Amazon, through Apple Books and as a downloadable ebook to borrow with the Sno-Isle Libraries.
