509 E 4th Ave
Please join us for an evening with author and activist Bill Erxleben. Bill will be reading from and discussing his book A Lion Where There Were Lambs. There will be time for questions and book signings after the talk.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Philosopher George Santayana is attributed with saying that “those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it.” In A Lion Where There Were Lambs, author and activist Bill Erxleben recounts a time in history when he worked to preserve the common good and our democratic institutions. Part memoir, part captivating historical and legal narrative, A Lion Where There Were Lambs will take readers back to turning points in Pacific Northwest history when Erxleben, a former federal prosecutor, private lawyer, CEO, politician, and activist, was a model of how one unapologetically exercises moral responsibility. His first person narrative details turning points in the Pacific Northwest—including the conspiracy trial of the Seattle 7, the perjury trial of a Seattle assistant chief of police, a case involving the fraud of Philippine surgeons, and a miscarriage of justice involving the rip-off of Klamath Indians when the federal government sold their reservation. These events occurred in the Pacific Northwest during the tumultuous decade from 1969 to 1979: the height of anti-war protests against the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, the dawn of the national populist driven environmental and consumer protection movements, and the rise of political conservatism.
In A Lion Where There Were Lambs, readers will learn why it was necessary for Erxleben to speak out against injustice, and how today one can find a pathway through the nation’s current malaise to a better future. As his dismissal was called for three times by politicians and industry representatives, Erxleben’s perspective is relevant today as readers will understand how his actions affected the course of history, inspiring others to speak out against corruption.
Serving as a roadmap for those seeking inspiration in standing up for the greater good, or perhaps interested in the compelling history of a region that saw its fair share of corruption, A Lion Where There Were Lambs brings to light what it takes to navigate and purposefully combat societal corrosiveness and threats to our democracy.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Bill Erxleben is a former Washington State assistant attorney general, executive assistant United States attorney for the Western District of Washington, and Seattle regional director of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Bill is also an award winning teacher, who taught at the University of Washington’s Graduate School of Business. In private law practice he was a partner in two prominent Seattle law firms, Foster Pepper and Lane Powell. In business, he served as president and CEO of Data I/O Corporation and as chairman of the board of Advanced Digital Systems, a technology start-up. As a citizen activist, he served as cochair of a 1982 Washington State recycling initiative, Initiative 61 (the “bottle bill”) and as co-chair of PortWatch, a citizens oversight group covering the Port of Seattle. Twice elected to the Newcastle, Washington, city council, he was also the Democratic Party nominee for Washington State attorney general and the Washington State legislature. Currently, Erxleben serves as cofounder and co-chair of Newcastle Watchdog, a citizens group promoting good government. Bill is a graduate of Miami University (Ohio) and Stanford Law School and attended the Stanford Graduate School of Business as a Sloan Executive Fellow. Bill and his wife Gayle, an artist, have a son and a daughter, and live in Newcastle, Washington.
Learn more at billerxleben.com
