Ann Comb's 80th birthday

The folks at Eagle Harbor Book Company celebrated a very special birthday when bookseller Ann Combs (center front) turned 80 this week. Ann, whose CV includes author, newspaper columnist, grammarian and keeper of bawdy jokes, has worked at Eagle Harbor for 17 years. She not only knows a good story when she sees one (she is one of the store's best handsellers), but tells a good story, too, given the interesting trajectory of her life. The young daughter of an Episcopalian missionary during World War II, she was part of a group of civilians held captive by the Japanese in the Philippines for several years.  She attended Smith College, taking the train from Seattle to Massachusetts each year. And Ann rode a horse as Lady Godiva in the Scotch Broom Parade on Bainbridge Island as a young woman. In addition to a children's book, How Old Is Old?, Ann wrote three humorous memoirs about her life as a military wife and the mother of six boisterous offspring. Her most popular, Helter Shelter, was reissued in 2012 as Once Upon a Two by Four, and remains a brisk seller at Eagle Harbor. Happy Birthday, Ann!