MARK HESTER
From humble beginnings, John Danz (born Israel Danowsky) left Czarist Russia at the age 4 with his parents. Avoiding the Jewish Pogroms, the family arrived in the United States in 1882. After living in a sod hut in Kansas with his family, he and his father migrated to Portland, Oregon with their peddler’s wagon. John worked as a newsboy, a Western Union messenger in San Francisco, a cowhand in Nevada and clerk in haberdasheries in Nevada and Oregon. Before moving to Seattle, Washington, John and his father peddled merchandise along the Columbia River.
Arriving in Seattle in 1903, John started a successful haberdashery business. By 1913 John managed a nickelodeon next door, for the sole purpose of bringing customers into his men’s clothing store. Soon John found he was making more money from his nickelodeon theatre than the clothing stores. John Danz soon sold his men’s clothing stores and began focusing his attention building a chain of dedicated theatres, naming his company Sterling Theatre Company. Through two world wars, bankruptcies, the longest labor strike in Seattle history, and the Great Depression, John Danz survived with great success, leaving his theatre empire to his son Fredric at his death in 1961.
'At the age of fifty-five I began my journey of discovery. Much earlier in life, at fifteen years of age, my curiosity of those ancestors that lived before me precipitated a lifelong love of genealogy and research. By 2015 I had traced the majority of my ancestors to the 17th century. Although I knew who my ancestors were, I decided to take a DNA test, knowing that it would produce nothing new or surprising. My results returned showing I was 25% Jewish. Now what? I spent forty years researching my family history with no hint of any ancestor being Jewish. What happened next changed my life forever.' - Mark Hester | Author | A Sterling Life.
A STERLING LIFE
John Danz, Seattle Theatre Pioneer and a Grandson’s Journey of Discovery
MARK HESTER
Author Mark Hester was born in Seattle, Washington in 1960. He grew up in Bremerton, Washington and was the youngest of three children. He attended West High School and later spent two years at Olympic Junior College, where he became involved in student government. Mark then went on to attend Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, where he earned a bachelor's degree in History.
Mark relocated to New York City in 1987 for his managerial position at Pan American World Airways. He later returned to Seattle in 1990 to manage the Maintenance Planning office at Alaska Airlines. In 2002, he transitioned to The Boeing Company until his retirement in 2015. Following retirement, Mark and his spouse Joe settled in Walla Walla, Washington, where they worked in the wine industry. Currently, Mark and Joe reside in Green Valley, Arizona. They have two children, Adam and June, and Adam's wife, Verna.
From a young age, Mark had a deep interest in history. He joined the Boy Scouts and diligently worked towards earning merit badges. One of the badges offered by the Scouts was genealogy, which involved tracing one's ancestors. This particular badge captivated Mark's attention and he became completely engrossed in it. At the age of 15, he embarked on a lifelong quest to learn more about his ancestors. Mark started crafting stories about his most fascinating ancestors, which eventually led him to the remarkable discovery of John Danz and a long-held family secret.
A STERLING LIFE
On February 14th at the Georgetown Ballroom in Seattle, Washington, author Mark Hester launched A Sterling Life and along with having a successful and enjoyable launch, he was asked back by the venue for the 100th anniversary open house of the Mission Theatre. Check out the launch photos below.
A STERLING LIFE
John Danz, Seattle Theatre Pioneer and a Grandson’s Journey of Discovery
An in depth and informative book on Judaism and a man’s persistent search for his family. – Alison Danz
A very interesting addition to my knowledge of the Seattle area history over the past century. – Norm McKibben, Owner of Pepper Bridge Winery and Amavi Cellars in Walla Walla, Washington
While taking readers on a fascinating journey into the Seattle area’s theatrical past, including the life, hardship, and perseverance of theater owner John Danz, the author discovers gems of this own heritage.Place this book at the top if your required reading list – Kyle McElfresh
Motivated by an unwavering desire to uncover the identity of his maternal grandfather, Mark Hester’s storytelling is rich with historical, familial, ancestral, and genealogical insights, all substantiated by DNA evidence. Hester unveils numerous truths about a widely regarded icon in the theatre industry, his gifted grandfather—a man who left behind numerous archival documentations of his story for his grandson to tell. – Professor Joy Scott-Carrol Ph.D., author of Running the Long Race in Gifted Education: Narratives from Culturally Diverse Gifted Adults
This book draws you in quickly, by bringing the real-life people and their situations into sharp focus, humanizing their stories. The narrative leads seamlessly from one situation to the next, making the reader feel as though they are reading about John Danz and others in real time. Set against the backdrop of world and local events, thoroughly researched, this novel will grab you and hold your attention. – Craig Harzinski, Co-owner, Bisbee Books and Music
Many of us have used commercial DNA test companies to find out more about our family origins, but for very few of us has that action started a process of research and discovery as rich as that of Mark Hester. His book details that process and the grandfather, family, and personal identity he discovered, unfolding along the way much larger contexts of these discoveries. Part biography, part personal detective story, and part a vivid history of Seattle in the first half of the twentieth century, weaves together the lives of two men, John Danz and Hester, within a larger tapestry of immigration, entertainment, labor, Pacific Northwest, and even world history. The result is a fascinating account of discovery that reveals to the author and reader alike how in the process of finding out more about ourselves we can also encounter deeper, unexpected connections to the history all around us. – Dr. Karen Weathermon Ph.D., Director of First-Year Programs, Washington State University
Fascinating and insightful study of an amazing immigrant and film exhibitor – Professor Gary D. Rhodes, Ph.D., author of The Perils of Moviegoing in America (Bloomsbury, 2012)
A Sterling Life by Mark Hester is the biography of John Danz, a keen American entrepreneur born in Czarist Russia in 1877. John's birth name was Israel Danowsky. His Jewish parents, Leib and Jenni Danowsky, with their two sons, Israel and Chaim, left Russia, escaping the pogroms and oppression. They arrived in the United States in 1882 from Hamburg, Germany, through the Port of Swansea, Wales. The family members changed their names and took the surname Danz. They moved to Oregon after tending a farm in Kansas for a while. Young John worked as a newsboy and a messenger. He even helped on the farms and ranches. After working as a clerk and a porter at haberdasheries, John established
his own business in Seattle at the beginning of the twentieth century. Step by step, John rose to prominence. A Nickelodeon theater arranged at one of his stores brought unexpected changes to his business empire. Mark Hester took a DNA test and learned that he had Jewish ancestors. He started researching to find the
mysterious grandfather he knew nothing about.
A Sterling Life offers us a historically significant life account of an enterprising person who was always ready for new challenges. Mark Hester meticulously researched the facts of John Danz's life. The author also gives us an accurate historical setting, starting with John's childhood in Czarist Russia. I learned what the Pale of Settlement meant regarding the oppressed Jewish population of the Russian Empire, among other interesting and often shocking historical facts. Mark explains why John's family chose Seattle to settle in the US and how this city was connected to the gold mining in Canada and Alaska.
I was absorbed while reading about John's fight against the unions and their strikes, which took around thirteen years. Mark created a puzzling and sometimes controversial portrait of a man who never feared changes or innovations but could be strict with his children. At the same time, the author shares his personal story of exploring his Jewish heritage. I liked the touching scene on a Parisian street, where Mark met a rabbi. I highly recommend A Sterling Life to fans of historical non-fiction, biographies, and drama.
– Nino Lobiladze for Readers' Favorite
A STERLING LIFE
Genealogy Today: Uncovering the truth: Discovering his own history - Part One
Genealogy Today: Uncovering the truth: Discovering his own history - Part Two
