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Julie Bauer Pisto

Profile Updated: July 10, 2010
Julie Bauer
Residing In:
Tacoma, WA USA
Spouse/Partner:
Laird Pisto
Occupation:
Director, Marketing & Communications
Children:
Kirsten (b. 1983) -- an artist who has just returned to the Northwest after a year as an art tutor at More…Harvard.
Anthony (b. 1985) -- a boatbuilder who is currently back in college and headed for a maritime academy; into mountain biking
Yes! Attending Reunion
Comments:

Hold on. You are asking a writer to describe the last 40 years in just 8000 characters? You've got to be joking. That's not enough to list my best adjectives.

Remember Sartorian, Skyline's literary magazine? Essentially, I have worked as a writer and editor ever since, starting with a first job as a copywriter and early (very early) Sunday morning talk show host on KNAK Radio in SLC. Those DJs were wacky dudes.

I married the tall, dark, handsome and very funny Laird Pisto in 1973, about six months after we graduated U.of U. He was the class ahead of ours at Skyline, but I didn't know him then. (Actually, I went to his high school graduation party, but neither of us remembers meeting.) We "moved" to Europe until it became apparent that nobody was going to hire us, so we just had a fine time until the $$ got low.

Then we moved to Gallup, NM where I worked briefly as a butcher's apprentice and learned how to wrap skinned sheep's heads and speak a few random phrases of Navajo. Looked defintely fashionista in the white hardhat and giant started-as-white apron. From there, we moved to Tucson, two different farms in Montana, back to a cabin in Utah, and then to Washington (the state).

While in Utah, I worked as the ad copywriter for Grand Central -- remember those stores? Laird went to law school in Washington, and I kept us in peanut butter and crab (most of you won't know abut the "crab wars" but we actually ate lots of crab spaghetti) as a copywriter and, scarily, a graphic artist, at a seedy mall called the B & I Circus Store. Not true that B & I meant Big and Icky. The circus part consisted of a gorilla named Ivan, two sneaky chimps, three mean parrots and a posse of trained chickens that played tic tac toe and chicken baseball. There were lots of opportunities to acquire hands-on media relations and crisis communications skills.

After Laird finished law school, I went to U.W. in Seattle, planning on a PhD in English and eventual teaching job. Mister Yuck -- academia, department politics, grading pathetic papers, and no job prospects. So, I finished the master's degree, worked as an editor for a series of textbooks for Taiwanese students (yes, also scary)
and wound up in communications mnagement with a local Blue Shield Health Care Plan for 20 years.

These years also introduced two mostly adorable kids (friends kindly described them as "kinetic") and several pets, from laid-back Irish Wolfhounds to a ferocious hissing gecko. We've had many fine adventures, but not that can be explained in my remaining 5,411 characters. Now 5388.

Eight years ago, my job at what had become Regence Blue Shield (yes, the same 4-state company merger that included BCBS of Utah) had morphed into increasingly analytic responsibilities.
Big title, really big office, not much fun.

The Museum of Glass opened in 2002, six months after I started there. Live glassblowing all the time. Fantastic art. An architecturally fascinating building on a tranquil maritime waterway with a view of Mount Rainier. Out-of-the-box is normal; in fact, where is the box? 33 coworkers instead of 6,532. Lengthy title, teeny office, lots of fun!

The really wonderful fun, of course, involves family and friends. I love hiking, biking, skiing, kayaking, gardening, and traveling -- and I usually have 3-4 books going.

I'm also a pretty good cook. (Notice that I did not claim chef.) So, if you are in the Seattle area, give me a shout and we'll have dinner on the deck, looking out over Commencement Bay after you have visited the Museum of Glass. (After all, I am in marketing.)

School Story:

Hmmmm. From the veiled comments in my Skyline yearbook, there must have been some hilarious things that happened . . .

What I remember most vividly was the euphoria of graduating. I had attended an experimental high school in Boston my sophomore year, so Skyline seemed restrictive and culturally homogenous. (Can you even believe that girls had to wear skirts or dresses? What on earth was that about?)

BTW, ours must have been the longest graduation ceremony ever. Even my loving parents said so!

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