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‘Do You Know Bruce?’ Opens at the Wing Luke Museum

The Wing Luke Museum illuminates Bruce Lee’s formative years

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This article originally appeared in the October 2014 issue of Seattle magazine.

The name Bruce Lee instantly conjures images of the shirtless martial artist performing speed-of-light kicks, unstoppable blows and nunchaku tricks. But instead, picture the young Lee attending classes at Seattle Central College (then called Edison Technical School) in pursuit of his high school diploma. Imagine him working nights as a waiter at Ruby Chow’s Restaurant on First Hill. And visualize the October day in 1963, when, on the University of Washington campus, near the Sylvan Theater columns, Lee asked fellow Husky (and future wife) Linda Emery on their first date: dinner at the futuristic new Space Needle restaurant. In an expansive new exhibit, the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience asks, Do You Know Bruce? The presumed answer is not really. But with historic photos, multimedia displays, memorabilia and personal belongings, The Wing aims to enlighten audiences as to the man behind the big-screen legend—particularly his formative years spent in Seattle, where Lee founded his first kung fu studio in the University District, at 4750 University Way. After viewing the exhibit, you can visit Lee’s grave in Lake View Cemetery with a deeper understanding of all that was lost when he died so young. Opens 10/4 and runs three years, with new items added each year. Times and prices vary. 719 S King St.; 206.623.5124; wingluke.org 

 

Rearview Mirror: Spinasse at Home, a New Spa Experience, and Seattle Mag’s Reader’s Choice Awards 

Rearview Mirror: Spinasse at Home, a New Spa Experience, and Seattle Mag’s Reader’s Choice Awards 

Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).

YOUR VOTE MATTERS Everyone has a favorite restaurant, coffee shop, or local boutique. Call me old-school, but I will die on the hill that Caffe Vita has the best coffee in town. Disagree with me? Now’s your moment to speak up. Each year, we survey Seattle magazine readers, asking them to weigh in on everything…

Studio Sessions: Ling Chun

Studio Sessions: Ling Chun

The Seattle-based artist brings playful color to ceramics and neon while exploring memory, transformation, and life between cultures.

For Ling Chun, creating begins with something sensed before it can be named. Working with clay, glass, light, and sometimes synthetic hair, the Hong Kong-born artist gives physical form to things that words cannot always hold. “For me, the magnitude of making goes far beyond the object that is eventually produced,” Chun says. “The object…

The Magic of PAX Is Stronger Than Ever

The Magic of PAX Is Stronger Than Ever

PAX West draws more than 100,000 people to Seattle each year. Co-founder Jerry Holkins reflects on what the gaming convention set out to change, how its community has grown and why gathering face to face still matters.

Access to game news as it was happening was difficult back in the day. Even with the advent of the internet, communication between game publishers and journalists was still a very elite affair.  I used to fake credentials—via fax machine!—to attend the Electronic Entertainment Expo, mostly just known as E3. It was simultaneously as loud…

Your Guide to Bumbershoot 2026

Your Guide to Bumbershoot 2026

Navigate Seattle’s wildest end-of-summer weekend with 20 picks spanning Death Cab for Cutie, Blood Orange, wrestling, skateboarding and—obviously—movies made in 48 hours.

Four years after Bumbershoot returned with its quirkiness revivified, Seattleites broadly acknowledge the two-day multimedia extravaganza as a welcome finale to the summer festival season. Fests like Bumbershoot are designed around a choose-your-own-adventure model, but if you’re the kind of person who looked at this year’s sprawling lineup—featuring multiple bands, artists, and exhibits happening at…