*4/12/11 Crosscut
Scientist is taking charge at People for Puget Sound
By Daniel Jack Chasan
It seemed a great omen for a first meeting with Tom Bancroft, who in June will succeed Kathy Fletcher as executive director of People for Puget Sound : The ferry on which I rode veered, slowed, lay almost dead in the water, as passengers rushed to the port side windows to see a whole pod of killer whales heading north through the Sound.
Their big dorsal fins jutted up through the choppy water. Their sleek bodies curved up into daylight and back down again. Some of them leapt clear of the water. The middle-aged watchers seemed just as excited as the kids.
I described the scene later in People for Puget Sound’s Western Avenue conference room, looking out at the Sound (and the Alaskan Way Viaduct), where a small group of journalists sat down with Bancroft, Fletcher, and the group’s long-time communications director, Mike Sato. Later, Bancroft said he hoped to see orcas like that soon.