The associations aren't by accident. Each prospective new member must be nominated by at least two existing members who have known him for a long time. The majesty of the Royal Esquire Club is its blend of professional and working-class members. The professionals sometimes opt to not renew their memberships. But the cause of attrition among members with working-class backgrounds is almost always death.
Most members are unassuming guys who have quietly lived interesting lives.
Grazzette, for example, boxed in the Olympic trials in 1948 and was the first black corrections officer hired in Washington state. Born in Tulsa, he was surrounded by race riots while an infant. He has been in Seattle since the Army discharged him at Fort Lawton in 1946. That's the penalty for living a long time. Williams was president in the early 1960s when the club took a stand against the state's repeated denials of its application for a liquor license.