What Others Are Saying

  • “Coming of Age is a rare view of the world of young women and the people who loved them, living in the fast-changing, booming, progressive post-WW II Pacific Northwest.”

    — Barbara Stenson, award winning Seattle journalist

  • “Amazing. I have two new friends named Pen and Gail.  I met them through your delightful saga of their growing together as besties and as women.  It's my kind of book - a hefty 400 pages filled with landmarks of my city during a period of time that I can remember.”

    — Michele Hasson—Development Director, Arts and Healthcare

  • "This is, to be sure, a story of strong and capable women really in advance of the larger feminist movement. The principals, Pen and Gail, are not the only strong women in the story.”

    — Tony Robinson—Former Senior Minister, Plymouth Congregational Church (UCC), Seattle. Former Columnist, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

  • “I was struck by how Pen's personal exposure to black and Chinese classmates at Garfield High primed her for leadership in the civil rights movement during college and early adulthood. She saw Henrietta and Si-Ling as people, not causes.”

    — Margaret Pageler—JD, former Seattle City Councilmember

  • “Thank you for introducing me to Pen and Gail, two compelling women who used their privilege to improve the lives of many Washington state residents during their lives. Sperry’s done a good job of weaving together the times they lived through, Washington state’s history, and the challenges of being women in business.”

    — Lynne Pearson, author and editor, Kirkland, WA.

  • “Sam Sperry really knows Seattle from the inside, and he gets how much aspiration drives its citizens. He tells a very touching story of friendship of two women from opposite economic  backgrounds, and produces an economic parable for the city.”

    — David Brewster, Seattle, Editor Post Alley, Founder Town Hall, The Seattle Weekly

  • “This book isn’t just about Pen and Gail, but all of the single women in their lives- Katherine, Mrs. Nelson, etc.”

    — Ellen Wambach, Seattle, Member, Board of Directors, Heritage University

  • “Rich in characters, incident and atmosphere, Sam’s book is set in Seattle but tells a universal story of people deciding to live consequential lives.”

    — Dr. Paul Hill, Seattle, Professor of Political Science, Director Emeritus, Center on Reinventing Public Education.