The Northwest Passage was an underground newspaper published biweekly from March 17, 1969 â June 1986 in Bellingham, Washington (1969-1977), and then in Seattle, Washington (1977-1986). The paper was co-founded by Frank Kathman, Laurence Kee, and Michael Carlson (now Harman). The newspaper covered countercultural topics, chiefly environmentalism and left-wing politics.
Co-founder Frank Kathman took a class on underground press with Bernard Weiner at Western Washington State College. Kathman and Michael Carlson later wrote and designed a poster calling for the founding of Northwest Passage. They recruited Laurence Kee, who was a reporter for the Bellingham Herald. Kathman served as the publisher, Kee the editor, and Carlson the art director. Kee paid the Lynden Tribune on March 17, 1969 to get the first issue printed. Kee was later fired from the conservative Herald for his involvement with the Passage.
The paper was sustained by donations, sales, personal hawking campaigns in Bellingham and Seattle, and selling advertising space to Warner Bros. Records. Subscriptions were sold to individuals, university libraries, and community libraries nationwide. The Tribune later refused to print the Passage, bending to conservative political pressure in the county, and the Passage was moved to the Skagit Valley Herald for further printing. Published in a tabloid newspaper format and sold for 25 cents, it was a member of the Underground Press Syndicate and the Liberation News Service. Volunteers established the layout for a reported circulation of 6,000 copies in 1972.
Though initially focused on opposition to the Vietnam War, the paper's scope broadened to include investigative journalism on political and environmental issues in Bellingham and the Pacific Northwest. During the People's Park riots in Berkeley, California in the summer of 1969, the Passage was chosen as the pool print representative for the national media, and was allowed inside the park to be "embedded" with the armed National Guard unit that was holding the park against the siege conducted by demonstrators who were attempting to get the park restored to its former use as a public area. The article by Kee was reprinted or referenced in some other publications. While the newspaper occasionally covered issues beyond its local region, it remained based in Bellingham throughout much of its publication history.
Co-founding original editor Laurence Kee left the paper to found the Seattle rock band Child.
In 1977, Northwest Passage relocated to Seattle and was produced at 1017 E Pike Street. After 1981, the Passage switched to monthly publication.
Five articles from Northwest Passage were selected for the book Alternative Papers: Selections from the Alternative Press, 1979 â 1980.