Brom Wikstrom Autobiography

I was born in Seattle on October 13, 1953 to *Robert* and Dorothy Wikstrom. My homelife would be normal for any young catholic boy in the mid fifties.
My first journey from home came in 1964 when I spent the summer with relatives in Ketchikan, Alaska.

By the time I entered Queen Anne High School I was an apprentice to my father in his commercial art business. During my junior and senior years I produced the artwork for the school yearbooks.

I was active in the antiwar movement and participated in underground cultural events of many kinds. My first music festival was a rousing affair known as the Seattle Pop Festival in 1969.

Later that summer I took a freight train journey to Los Angeles with a friend without telling anyone.
I began to move away from home. First by retreating to a wooded area near my home that provided solitude and a chance to discover myself.

After high school, I enrolled in commercial art courses at Seattle Central Community College. Two years later my studies were complete. Portfolio in hand I began looking for work and was hired as a sign painter for a local drug store chain. I was able to supplement this with work in my father's art business and felt I was on my way to becoming a success. During summer and spring breaks from my junior year in high school on, I would take progressively longer trips away from home, mainly for adventure but occasionally in search of financial reward.