HISTORY: Remembering Bob Royer by revisiting his West Seattle Bridge stories

Last week, former Seattle deputy mayor and longtime civic advocate Bob Royer died at 75. He wasn’t a West Seattleite so we didn’t make note of it – many regional publications did a great job of that – and then we heard from West Seattle historian, writer, and journalist Clay Eals. He reminded us of the event shown in the video above – a panel discussion in The Junction in 2014, commemorating the 30th anniversary of the opening of the high-level West Seattle Bridge, part of a monthlong series of events presented by the Southwest Seattle Historical Society, which Eals led at the time. Read more about it – and see some historic bridge video! – here. You can see/hear Bob Royer in the video starting about six minutes in (running for about 12 minutes) and then again for about seven minutes starting at one hour, 14 minutes in. Eals recalls, “It was fascinating local history, yes, but history that came alive in a lively manner. And anyone who knew Bob is mourning the loss of his energy and wit.”

Joe April 22, 2019 (8:34 pm)

Very cool, thanks for posting

Millie April 22, 2019 (9:34 pm)

Can it really be 30 years? Thank you posting “Bridging the Gap”. In addition to all those sitting at the table we should also thank the citizens of West Seattle for their patience before and during construction. Lastly, we should thank Captain Rolf Neslund (pilot) of the Chavez for without his help we could still be waiting for the bridge.