Nathan Vass
Nathan Vass is an artist, filmmaker, photographer, and author by day, and a Metro bus driver by night, where his community-building work has been showcased on TED, NPR, The Seattle Times, KING 5 and landed him a spot on Seattle Magazine’s 2018 list of the 35 Most Influential People in Seattle. He has shown in over forty photography shows is also the director of nine films, six of which have shown at festivals, and one of which premiered at Henry Art Gallery. His book, The Lines That Make Us, is a Seattle bestseller and 2019 WA State Book Awards finalist.
A year and half ago, the sight was a sorry one. A man and his son, the father ribbed in sweat, the coked-out shameless shudder of withdrawal, where all the world is invisible, but for the next fix. He was lighting up his crack pipe right there, big as...
"I been on your bus once before. You were hella cool for some reason," he mused, fingering in a few more coins at the farebox. The confusion in his second sentence made me laugh. He frowned, trying to figure it out: what on earth had made this driver so...
I have this tendency to turn up my nose at flu shots. We all think we're unstoppable when we're younger, and while I long ago lost my claim to invincibility, vestiges of it remain, little crumbs of brash confidence that don't make sense. For me, that includes not getting...
I've written before on how people can surprise you with the goodness of their quality. Sometimes it's major, thought-provoking stuff, and other times it's just a level of wit and observation you weren't expecting. Not profound, but just as pleasant.
Kevin rides a lot. He's homeless, but he's not a...
Pretty early on I realized, there's no way I'm going to remember all this. The most I can do is throw my hands in the air and just enjoy it.
I've written before about my great fascination with spoken language, and how I love capturing its nuances and specifics. The...
Traffic was crawling. Of course it was. From the moment the southbound express lanes close at 10:45 A.M. until the end of evening rush, I-5 south moves at a crawl. Michael Crichton once wrote that if aliens landed in Los Angeles, they'd think automobiles were the dominant life form;...
He was asking if I turn into the 7. I explained the details, and he listened with those crystal blue eyes of his. They shined through the grime and matted grease of his disheveled exterior like pearls; never mind the life-encrusted Raiders jacket or the jeans, starched and shredded,...
In case you missed the NPR interview through KNKX, here it is! Just under ten minutes total:
Finding Humanity On A Public Bus, by Jennifer Wing. Interview by Gabriel Spitzer. Once again, an enormous thank you to both those fine luminaries for making this happen. And thanks to you for...