| A book deal was also announced.
Parrish, who among his other work was a founder of Seattle's alternative newspaper "Eat The State!", was in an ebullient mood as he explained the thought process behind his decision:
"After spending so many years fighting for affordable, high-quality health care for all Americans-all to no avail-I've decided to focus my efforts on getting myself high-quality health care, no matter what the cost...and considering, on the one hand, that my projected income next year from just the US Chamber of Commerce and Seattle Times operations are going to be somewhere in the range of $2.5 million dollars, and, on the other hand, that when my company pays for my new gold-plated executive health insurance plan it's fully tax-deductible, I'm thinking the cost of health care is probably not going to be a problem for me going forward.
And then I thought: what better day to make the announcement...than Friday the 13th?"
Apparently channeling Dave Chappell, Parrish then offered the crowd a certain single-fingered gesture before shouting:
"I'm rich, bitchaaas!"
In an exclusive interview, Frank Blethen explained to me the rationale behind the surprising new relationship:
"There was a time when we could afford to ignore publications like "Eat the State!", but as conditions for traditional publishers continued to deteriorate we found ourselves having to face the uncomfortable reality that last year Parrish's paper was actually more profitable than "The Seattle Times", and it was at that point that the Board and I decided to approach Parrish with an offer of employment."
Parrish declined the offer, citing his unwillingness to be anyone's employee. Blethen, however, would not be dissuaded:
"...we were determined to have him, in whatever capacity we could, and finally we hit upon the idea of hiring him as a consultant. We still couldn't come up with enough of an annual retainer for Parrish to be fully persuaded, so I made a quick call to Tom Donohue at the Chamber, which is how we came up with the proposal to have him advise not just The Seattle Times Company on media outreach and branding strategies, but, through the auspices of the Chamber, to provide those same services to other companies that could use 'the Parrish Touch'."
As the Obama Administration's plans for a new energy policy begin to become more certain Parrish's I Am The State! is also expected to provide services to companies outside the media community.
I was able to confirm this with a quick call to Exxon/Mobil spokesman Harry Paratestes, who told me that:
"...we are one of several companies that are seeking to reinvigorate our corporate image ahead of any new energy legislation that might be forthcoming from this and future Administrations.
Parrish's ability to successfully position his own media property while simultaneously destroying three competing papers-first, the "Seattle Weekly", then, Hearst's "Seattle Post-Intelligencer", and finally, the "Seattle Times"-gives us the confidence we need to invest in his ideas and every expectation of a profitable and mutually satisfying outcome."
Based on a recommendation from Tom Donohue, Center Street Publishers is rumored to have offered a $3.5 million advance for the rights to Parrish's new book documenting his change of circumstances, "The State Can Eat Me!"; it is anticipated that distribution will be not only through traditional retail channels, but also through Conservative websites such as Human Events, which is currently offering books by Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin at deep discounts to entice new website subscribers.
A number of times during the evening I attempted to obtain a comment directly from Mr. Parrish regarding these developments, but due to my inability to penetrate either the cordon of sunglass-wearing security personnel or the ever-present entourage that now surrounds him that effort proved to be impossible.
In a written statement, Parrish's people informed us that his next move will be to visit the Columbia Tower, Carillon Point, and the South Lake Union area to identify a suite of offices that can be redesigned to meet his specific requirements (which, I'm told, include an indoor shooting range, a cafeteria operated by the local "Popeye's" chicken franchisee, and the largest organ in the State of Washington); during the period of construction, we were informed, he will be in residence in either the other Washington, at the Hay-Adams Hotel, or Atlanta, Georgia, at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center, where, despite the fact that he was initially recruited by the "Times'" Blethen, he will be doing his first consulting work for other members of the Chamber. |
