A4 • Friday, August 27, 2021 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com
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Seaside lifeguard Spence’s remarkable journey
RIGHT: Seaside lifeguards, 1964.
BELOW: John Spence rides on the beach
in Pacifi c City.
SEEN FROM SEASIDE
R.J. MARX
S
wimming, rodeo, rugby — and a life-
long commitment to Native Americans
and Indian heritage. All this from John
Spence, a former Seaside lifeguard in the
1960s who shares the story of his remarkable
life. “Crazy Wolf: A Half-Breed Story,” chron-
icles his impoverished childhood, road to edu-
cation, fi tness and recovery from alcoholism.
“I was just an average half-breed Indian
kid on welfare, until I was 18 and com-
pletely on my own, having to make a living
and go to school at the same time,” he writes
in his newly released memoir.
Spence paid a visit to Seaside one year
ago to research portions of the memoir. As a
lifeguard on the Seaside beach, Spence was
dubbed “Moon Doggie,” after James Dar-
ren, an actor in the beach movie “Gidget.”
From Seaside, Spence moved east and
continued schooling at Rutgers University
in New Jersey. He turned his focus on rugby
with the same enthusiasm he had for aquat-
ics. He later became president of the Port-
land Rugby Club and played in two national
tournament games.
While his fi rst marriage only lasted two
years, after graduating with a degree in
social work, Spence remarried. They raised
a son and daughter in Beaverton, renting
houses along the coast and maintaining their
local connections.
Spence’s memoir, available online from
SmashWords, shares his lifetime commit-
ment to Indian welfare, social work and
activism, working for many years with a
low-income substance abuse program. The
counselors “were the most tireless advocates
for their clients that I’ve ever seen,” Spence
writes.
In 1972, he went to work at Portland
State University for their Indian Education
Project.
Spence shares his battles with alcohol,
what he describes as “a symptom of our
indigenous sadness and loss, and the gener-
ational soul wound that is inescapable in our
DNA. I was no exception from this destruc-
tive way of coping. Alcohol would even-
tually become my medicine to help allevi-
ate the shame, fears and social anxiety that I
lived with.”
Attending an Alcoholics Anonymous
R.J .Marx
John Spence recounted his days as a lifeguard
in Seaside in the 1960s.
meeting in 1982, he was able to take the
fi rst step to recovery. He hasn’t had a drink
since, he writes, “moving full-tilt boogie
into sobriety.”
As the tribal health planner at Fort Belk-
nap, Spence worked his way to serving on
the tribal council, selected to represent the
Gros Ventre Tribe for more than a decade. He
earned his doctoral degree from the Univer-
sity of Washington, researching learning vari-
ables among Indian undergraduate and grad-
uate students to determine perceived success.
Sports remained a constant for Spence.
As an All-Indian rodeo rider, he became
accomplished enough to compete in the wild
horse race event. When he aged out at 46,
he adopted the sport of triathlon — running,
bicycling and swimming.
His political activism remained high. In
2016, Spence was among 17,000 to pro-
test the Dakota Access Pipeline at Stand-
ing Rock. The next year he helped start the
Pacifi c Northwest Council of Water Pro-
tectors, organizing against threats to clean
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Trust the science
to eliminate
COVID-19
Humans are at the top
of the food chain. We
have no natural preda-
tors. Except microscopic
ones, like the coronavirus
COVID-19.
Viruses are the ultimate
parasite. They are smaller
than a human cell. Their
simplicity allows them to
easily mutate and change
to continue their existence,
as evidenced by the delta
variant. But they rely on a
host (humans) to live and
replicate. Viruses cannot
live independent of their
hosts.
We have found a way
to conquer this predator, it
is called a vaccine. A vac-
cine builds up the host’s
defense so the virus cannot
eff ectively live and mul-
tiply within a vaccinated
host. This results in the
virus eventually dying off
when it has no hosts left.
That is what is referred
to as herd immunity. If
everyone works together
and gets vaccinated, we
can eliminate COVID-19.
Trust the science.
Diane Wells
Seaside
For safety’s
sake, Providence
should rethink
this year’s
Hood to Coast
In most years, residents
welcome Hood to Coast
participants with open
arms and our famous Sea-
side hospitality. For front-
line health care providers
at Providence Seaside and
Columbia Memorial hos-
AQUARIUM NEWS
pitals though, this year is
frighteningly diff erent.
With COVID-19 infec-
tions on the rise and our
hospital under enormous
pressure from an ongoing
staffi ng crisis, the Hood
to Coast event fi lls many
nurses and other staff with
dread.
Each year, we see an
increase in visits to the
emergency room from car
accidents, heat exhaustion,
and injuries. This year,
those visits could push us
past the breaking point.
Not only will we see
more visits to an already
strained emergency room,
but the event is also
likely to increase infec-
tions among the partici-
pants! Yes, organizers of
the event are implement-
ing some “COVID proto-
cols,” but the simple truth
is this: it is beyond irre-
sponsible for Providence
to sponsor this event when
it will have a devastating
impact on the nurses and
other health care staff who
have been working tire-
lessly at Providence Sea-
side Hospital to protect
our community.
Perhaps Providence
should have used those
sponsorship dollars to
invest in nurse retention,
hire more hospital sup-
port staff , or fund a pub-
lic campaign to encour-
age people to wear masks
and get vaccinated. As it
stands, the Hood to Coast
event isn’t something
Providence Seaside nurses
are looking forward to this
year. This year, we are
scared. Providence, you
should know better.
Mary Romanaggi, RN
Autumn Doss, RN
Providence Seaside
Hospital
CIRCULATION
MANAGER
Shannon Arlint
ADVERTISING
SALES MANAGER
Sarah Silver-
Tecza
PUBLISHER
EDITOR
Kari Borgen
R.J. Marx
water and tribal sovereignty.
“Before the late 1960s it usually just
wasn’t cool to be an Indian,” Spence writes.
“However, I’ve witnessed a great rise in
Indian self-pride during the past 60 years.
This has contributed to a contemporary
growth in tribal community self gover-
nance and increasing economic and politi-
cal power.
“We have been healing as indigenous
people in cultural renewal has been hap-
pening, this healing development, this heal-
ing movement is also evidenced by increas-
ing resistance to harmful natural resource
extraction, on our homelands. Standing
Rock was the most recent dramatic incident
to illustrate our growing empowerment.”
Spence lives in Beaverton, where he
works part time with a horse therapy pro-
gram for Indian children in treatment for
substance abuse.
Meet the delightfully dangerous nudibranch
SEASIDE
AQUARIUM
WENDI
AGALZOFF
M
ysterious, poisonous and
beautiful nudibranchs are
sliding around our coastal
tide zones just waiting to be discov-
ered. Two-hundred diff erent species of
nudibranchs call the Pacifi c Northwest
ocean home while there are over 3,000
species worldwide.
Roughly translated, the name nudi-
branch means “naked gills.” After
evolving from sea snails over millions
of years, these sea slugs have gills on
the outside of their body. A member of
the mollusk family, nudibranchs come
in a wide array of shapes, sizes and
colors.
Some species use cryptic color-
ation to camoufl age into our ecosystem
of neutral color tones of gray, brown
and sand. Many other species present
the bold colors of the rainbow to warn
predators of their toxicity.
The delightfully dangerous nudi-
branch has evolved using toxins as
self-defense to protect their shell-
less bodies. Some species are able to
actively secrete chemicals such as sul-
furic acid while other species of sea
slugs are capable of absorbing the tox-
Tiff any Boothe/Seaside Aquarium
Be wary of the beautiful opalescent nudibranch. They can produce a painful sting.
ins of other creatures and using them to
become poisonous.
An example of this cleptodefence
system would be the nudibranchs abil-
ity to eat stinging cells from their prey
(like corals, hydrozoids, anemones or
jellyfi sh) transport them through their
body and then become capable of sting-
ing predators by storing the stinging
cells on the exterior of the body.
Other slug species use this system to
ingest toxic sponges and become toxic
themselves.
So while the nudibranchs may look
enticing with their glorious shapes and
varying unique colorations, experts
agree that people should not attempt
to touch or collect them. Toxic excre-
tions can feel like a hornet sting and
can result in allergic reactions or welt-
like rashes. The animals are also fragile
and easily harmed by even well-inten-
tioned humans.
To view nudibranchs carefully and
safely, the knowledgeable staff at the
Haystack Rock Awareness Program can
help navigate the sprawling tidepools at
Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach.
Friendly folks at the Seaside Aquar-
ium also may have endemic native spe-
cies of nudibranchs to showcase for the
public and answer additional questions
about local sea life; 200 North Prom;
503-738-6211.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Contact local agencies for
latest meeting information
and attendance guidelines.
TUESDAY, AUG. 31
Gearhart City Council and
Planning Commission, work
session, 6:30 p.m., cityofgear-
hart.com.
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 1
Gearhart City Council, 7 p.m.,
cityofgearhart.com.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 2
Seaside Parks Advisory Com-
mittee, 6 p.m., 989 Broadway.
PRODUCTION
MANAGER
CONTRIBUTING
WRITERS
John D. Bruijn
Skyler Archibald
Joshua Heineman
Katherine Lacaze
Esther Moberg
SYSTEMS
MANAGER
Carl Earl
TUESDAY, SEPT. 7
Seaside Community Center
Commission, 10 a.m., 1225
Avenue A.
Seaside Library Board of
Directors, 4:30 p.m., 1131
Broadway St.
Seaside Planning Commis-
sion, 6 p.m., 989 Broadway,
cityofseaside.us.
Gearhart Parks and Recre-
ation Master Plan, public
hearing , 6 p.m., www.cityof-
gearhart.com.
MONDAY, SEPT. 13
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m.,
989 Broadway, cityofseaside.us.
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 15
THURSDAY, SEPT. 9
Seaside Tourism Advisory
Committee, 3 p.m., 989 Broad-
way.
Seaside Civic and Convention
Center Commission, 5 p.m.,
415 First Ave.
Seaside Planning Commis-
sion, 6 p.m., work session, 989
TUESDAY, SEPT. 21
Broadway, cityofseaside.us.
Seaside School District,
6 p.m., seaside.k12.or.us/meet-
ings.
MONDAY, SEPT. 27
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m.,
989 Broadway, cityofseaside.us.
TUESDAY, SEPT. 28
Sunset Empire Park and Rec-
reation District, 5:15 p.m., Bob
Chisholm Community Center.
Seaside Airport Advisory
Committee, 6 p.m., 989 Broad-
way.
Seaside Signal
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