Memories of John Nyberg:

Dear John…(Somehow I know he’d think it was funny that I was writing him a “Dear John” letter). 

This is long overdue.  Here are some of my memories and musings of John Nyberg throughout the years: 

We started out knowing each other through Kimberly.  We met at a fancy little bar in Pike Place Market for drinks, and I knocked your drink over gesturing with my hands - whoops.  Not the best impression.  I was looking for a job and Kimberly asked you if you needed a ‘hot shot’ secretary.  Turns out you did!  I came in and interviewed.  I did a typing test.  I waited.  I thought I did pretty good, but still, I waited.  Finally, my old employer asked me to come back, and I let you know that I was going to do that if you didn’t decide on me.  You finally offered me a job at Far West Entertainment as the receptionist/secretary, and I started my musical journey on April 1, 1980 at 21 years old.  The rest, as they say, is history. 

I was known as “Linda from Far West” forEVER.  The April Fools joke was on me as I ended up staying 13 yrs.  I grew up there.  I learned there.  I met people there.  Over the years, I went from answering the phone and typing contracts (oh so many contracts), to bookkeeper to Office Manager, and finally added Agent (in addition to my other duties) to the list. 

So.Many.People passed through the doors or called in looking for work.  Agents, bands, well-known musicians, and managers.  Several times, as receptionist, I had to let down a musician who was looking for work, and later would become a successful ‘name talent’ act, but they just weren’t right for the rock/Top 40 bars, lounges and taverns we were booking.  Little did we know at the time (hello Kenny G, Robert Cray and several others).  I enjoyed talking to people on the phone.  I recognized voices and had a little chat with many of them before forwarding on the call, or, sometimes, claiming that said Agent wasn’t in the office at the time (sorry folks).  John liked to say he was in Toronto.  I asked him why there, and he said he just liked the name. 

After my first year, I was promoted to bookkeeper (no, not trained, but I was the only one there who could do it) and from that point on, John and I shared an office.  I did the books, but John knew, almost to the penny, how much was in the checking account at any one time.  A few times we had to go out and collect commissions directly from a band leader (that wasn’t so much fun).  Later, when there were so many Agents working at FWE, I was promoted to Office Manager and we hired an actual bookkeeper and receptionist.  I still stayed in John’s office, because, well, it was finally MY office as well.

John and I were working in very close quarters for years.  There weren’t many secrets.  I heard all his phone conversations – both business and personal.  We had our inside jokes that no one else knew or understood.  Fairly recently when he was still out seeing bands with Craig Cooke (with me in tow), we would still recall them for each other.  They were always good for a laugh and it was finally fun to reminisce.  Most of my dry sense of humor came directly from John’s influence.

When things were good at the Agency, we had FUN.  We had co-ed softball games.  We celebrated birthdays with Borracchini’s special cake.  We threw several Holiday Parties that were legendary.  IF you weren’t invited, you weren’t ‘cool’.  John and I planned them all and he took it all very seriously, particularly the guest list.  Things needed to be just right, and they were! 

We were quite at home on Capitol Hill, just off Broadway, for many years.  It was “the” place to be in the City; a little funky, a little upscale.  We moved from a small underground office that was once a garage to a lovely ‘real’ office directly across the street.  Later we moved to Northgate and shared offices with Craig Cooke/Pacific Rim Talent and Pat Wilson/Comedy West for a time.  Like I said earlier, So.Many.People passed through the doors.  Many Agents came and went over the years, but the core group never changed.  It wasn’t always easy, but there were definitely some good times.

It was at that time, in the early 90’s, that I took a different route in my booking career and decided that I was more at home in the Corporate World where the money was.  In addition to booking many Name Talent acts through the years, the Bite of Seattle and Taste of Tacoma became a part of my legacy.  I left Far West Entertainment and went out on my own to create a successful business.  Thankfully my phone rang!  After many years of walking different paths, a few years ago John and I came back together with Craig Cooke’s help and forged a new kind of friendship, one of respect and understanding.  John liked to say that he taught me everything I knew, and in a way, while not ‘everything’, I guess he wasn’t entirely wrong.  I can still hear him saying to me, when I REALLY didn’t want to do something, “well, just for fun, let’s…….”  

Rest in Peace, John Nyberg.  You were one legendary Agent.