Mike Bullard: A crafter of words

Mike Bullard is a retired Presbyterian minister, 2010 Democratic candidate for the Idaho Legislature and recent author of the book, "Lioness of Idaho: Louise Shadduck and the Power of Polite."

The following interview was conducted at his home in Coeur d'Alene.

As a man of several professions, do you consider writing your next career?

I've always been a crafter of words, whether it's public speaking, radio or church. I'm just doing it with print media now.

It's not that all-consuming for me. I write PR for Opera Coeur d'Alene and there are also some articles I'm trying to sell. The Louise Shadduck book is actually my second book. My first one was "Imperative to Embrace," an analysis of Romans XVI.

Why did you decide to self-publish the Louise Shadduck book?

Basically the book is of Idaho interest. It's not something that's going to be interesting to someone in New York. I'm expecting maybe a two to three thousand copy sale and even that's kind of liberal. Given that, it's better to self-publish.

How did you decide on Louise Shadduck as your subject?

When I started writing, I thought I was doing a book on friendly remembrances and wise sayings of Louise and that the book would be mainly for her friends and relatives. I was thinking we would do 300 books and print on demand.

But when I started going through her papers and realized what she had accomplished, I was blown away.

Why is that?

For starters, there were pictures of her with Presidents and letters from Richard Nixon and his family. I knew she had friends in high places, but I didn't expect to see a picture of Ronald Reagan kissing her.

How did you do your research?

I started talking to people who knew her and found a lot of VIPs who were anxious to talk with me. After that, I saw what she had accomplished and it went a lot farther than I'd expected.

Give me an example.

Well, there was one really amazing thing that even her friends forgot. She was the first woman in the state - maybe even in the nation - to hold a cabinet level position in state government. Between 1958 and 1968 she was Director of Commerce and Development for the state of Idaho and those were the best growing years in Idaho's modern history.

What shape were her papers in?

Most of her papers are in cartons in the basement of the University of Idaho library in Moscow. Her family may also have some.

There are definitely some jewels in there, but it was a lot of work to find them. I went through them one paper at a time - 30 cartons covering 1930-2008. They were all mixed in. You might find a letter from her mother next to several letters from strangers. If she found something, she saved it and stuck it in her piles.

What I wrote is what's publicly available - everything I wrote is publicly available.

How well did you know Louise Shadduck?

I knew her for 15 years and she never talked about herself.

She was used to being with some very powerful people and listening to them and not talking about herself, so it was pretty hard to pull things out of her. She wanted to know about you and your family. When she was talking to you, you were the only one that mattered. She was not a self-promoter.

She certainly had nothing to hide, but the distances she kept allowed people to be themselves.

She was nurtured by her friendships. She had a rich life and she drew from them.

How did you decide which approach to take when writing the book?

When I decided to do some writing, two things occurred to me. In the ministry I'd always gotten a lot of positive feedback about the funerals I did because I told people's stories and I enjoyed learning about people. Because of this, it occurred to me that a biography would be a good way to learn this writing profession.

Second of all, I knew Louise was somebody interesting and that she had friends in high places. Partly it was what I saw at her funeral that said there was something more there. At her funeral, they chartered a plane from Boise to carry the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor and everyone else down there who wanted to come.

What was it about Louise Shadduck that drew you to her?

Above alI, I liked her. I liked her wisdom. She'd say, "Don't worry what people think of you because they don't do it very often." Or: "We would all have a better perspective on life if we realized the number of people at our funeral will ultimately depend on the weather."

It wasn't that she was the first person to say these. It was just that she'd save them up for the perfect time and perfect place.

She was always wanting to be examining herself and make herself a better person.

Did she have a sense of humor?

She had an incredible sense of humor. She was a very dry teller of stories with a quick comeback line and a gentle delivery. But let me tell you, you never get the better of a woman who grows up with six brothers.

Would her philosophy be relevant in today's politics?

Some of what she said is incredibly pertinent to government today.

From Louise Shadduck, I got a new understanding of what Democrats and Republicans used to be like and could be in the future. I learned from her what a Republican is at heart and that helped me understand what a Democrat is.

We need to remember the past and how much one does for the individual and how much we do as a group for each other.

She knew what her values were - listening to people and compromising. She believed in listening to both sides. Many people think of a moderate as being wishy-washy and Louise Shadduck was definitely not wishy-washy.

What did you learn from writing this book?

Sadly, I learned about the loss of knowledge of women's contributions in our state's history. It was a big awakening.

And I learned that just that one woman could become so powerful by being nice.

You left the ministry after 35 years. What drew you into it in the first place?

I think I was initially drawn to the ministry more or less kicking and screaming. But my first work was in inner city Cleveland. I believed the church had a message of hope and I felt I could bring that hope to people. My doctoral thesis was on clergy stereotypes against victims of sexual violence.

I left the ministry when I was 62 because I felt I still had time to do something different.

And that "something different" was running as a Democrat for state election.

I ran for the Legislature because I always believed - and it's a belief Betsy and I share - that one does what one can to improve the community. And to tell you the truth, it (the campaign) was not an unpleasant event.

I think I have a contribution to make and in the future I'll make my contribution some way. One of the reasons I ran, I think both sides of the discussion are important. If I were in a place that was all Democrats, I might well run as a Republican. Both sides are important.

Basically Democrats in Idaho are not that different from moderate Republicans in other places.

What do you think Louise Shadduck would have to say about your book?

It would be fun to talk with her about the book. I think she would have liked it.

She would have understood that no writer can tell the whole story. She would have seen that you can't be perfect.

What do you miss about her?

I miss her hope - her positive attitude. She saw the Great Depression come and go; she saw World War II come and go; she saw the beginning of technology; she was alive when they brought lights to her farm and she went through the nuclear age, the cold war, Watergate, Vietnam - she saw bad things come and go and somehow understood that life goes on.

She believed in a positive future and that was why she was not an extremist and she was not afraid.

Bullard will be giving a talk on Louise Shadduck at the Coeur d'Alene library, Sept. 12 at 6 p.m. His book will be available for purchase at that time.