Editor,

When I first became an apprentice plumber in 1978, Coupeville artist/builder Mikal Park was already something of a legend. He was building the most interesting homes, he was one of the primary inspirations for the fledgling Whidbey PlayHouse, he was artist at large, a force of nature, a whirlwind of creative energy and the Johnny Appleseed of our island cultural landscape. And then there was his mother, Dorothy Park, proprietor of the Wind and Tide Bookstore.

In those days the tradesmen on practically any building site were nearly all renaissance men in their own right: sculptors, painters, poets and philosophers. But Mikal was in a class all his own. I am proud to say I worked on several Mikal Park homes, knew him as a creative and intellectual giant, and friend with a hammer in one hand and a skill saw in the other.

What a tragic loss to our island community that the sculpture he created and dedicated to Whidbey General Hospital was thoughtlessly destroyed in the rush to build the new hospital wing. What a terrible irony that his legacy epitomizing soul and art in community and building would be so disrespected.

BILL SKUBI

Coupeville