Editor at Large

James Ross Gardner is the former editor in chief of Seattle Met. During his time as top editor the magazine won numerous awards, including the national City and Regional Magazine Association's award for general excellence, twice (in 2015 and 2018). While at Seattle Met, James's writing has garnered 14 first place awards from the regional chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and has been a finalist for seven national CRMA awards. His work has also appeared in Esquire, GQ, and The New York Times, among others. He lives in Seattle’s Central District neighborhood.

Editor’s Note

Careless When Wet

08/01/2015 By James Ross Gardner

Editor’s Note

What’s So Funny at Amazon?

The laugh heard around the world.

07/01/2015 By James Ross Gardner

Editor’s Note

The Goats Who Stare at Men

On Klahhane Ridge in the Olympics, October 16, 2010, the forces of nature head butted human incursion to the ground.

06/08/2015 By James Ross Gardner

The Explainer

Mount St. Helens, 35 Years Later

Mount Saint Helens erupted on May 18, 1980. This month, as we mark the 35th anniversary of the blast, let’s revisit what happened and remember those lost.

04/28/2015 By James Ross Gardner

Feature

Tony Wheat Has Been Sorry for So Long

Can we forgive Washington’s longest incarcerated inmate?

04/27/2015 By James Ross Gardner

Editor’s Note

The House Guest

Seattle is experiencing spasmodic changes, a culture clash of haves and have-barely-enough-to-get-by.

04/27/2015 By James Ross Gardner

Editor's Note

You Can Stop Pretending to Hate Lager Now

Lager is about to have its craft beer moment.

04/01/2015 By James Ross Gardner

Editor's Note

Friends and Benefits

Finding your tribe in the workplace

03/16/2015 By James Ross Gardner

Editor's Note

The Portmanteau That Ate Itself

02/09/2015 By James Ross Gardner

Editor's Note

Home Improvement

01/05/2015 By James Ross Gardner

Editor's Note

Thirst and the City

Can you learn something about a city, about what makes a place tick, by merely sipping and studying and sitting with its trademark cocktails?

12/01/2014 By James Ross Gardner

Editor's Note

The Seattle Moment

Seattle is undergoing something like a renaissance.

11/03/2014 By James Ross Gardner

Editor's Note

Serve and Protect

10/01/2014 By James Ross Gardner

Editor's Note

Sound and Fury

The Seahawks, the 12th Man, and the Noise They Make

09/01/2014 By James Ross Gardner

Editor's Note

Can't We All Just Not Get Along?

The passage of the $15 minimum wage law and its lessons.

08/01/2014 By James Ross Gardner

Marijuana

You Put Your Weed in It

Meet three people pushing the limits of Seattle’s new, tasty, and legally dubious frontier of marijuana edibles.

07/01/2014 By James Ross Gardner

International Affairs

Crimea in Seattle: The War at Home

How events a world away are making things tense between Washington state’s estimated 35,000 Ukrainians and their fellow former Soviet Union citizens.

06/02/2014 By James Ross Gardner

Garden City

The Botany of Urban Desire

Sarah Bergmann's Pollinator Pathway combines art, ecology, and urban planning. Just don't call it a bee thing.

05/01/2014 By James Ross Gardner

Sporting Life

Autism’s New Challengers

Seahawks GM John Schneider made Seattle a thing of sports legend. Now he and his wife are a defensive line for families burdened with the costs of treating autism.

05/01/2014 By James Ross Gardner

What Lies Beneath

What Stopped the World’s Largest Tunnel-Boring Machine Just 1,000 Feet Into Its Journey?

And how does a city growing as fast as Seattle avoid erasing its past?

05/01/2014 By James Ross Gardner