RALPH SEELEY, A COLUMNIST, LAWYER AND FIGHTER, DIES AT 49

One of Tacoma's toughest men has died.

Ralph Seeley, a Tacoma lawyer and a leading advocate of the medical use of
marijuana, died shortly before 11 p.m. Wednesday at Tacoma General
Hospital. He had collapsed at his North End home Saturday following a
potluck dinner party that featured his famous spaghetti and infamous
personality.

Seeley, 49, a former News Tribune columnist, died after suffering cardiac
arrest. His five-day coma at Tacoma General may have been the longest
silence of his life.

"Ralph had a million interests," said attorney Jeff Steinborn. "If there
was some subject Ralph couldn't speak about in an entertaining and
knowledgeable way, I never heard of it."

Seeley always spoke his mind and always had an opinion. His outspokenness
cost him jobs and earned him plenty of critics as well as friends. Even his
admirers acknowledged he could seem callous.

Underneath was compassion for people no one else would help and an
attraction to causes that seemed hopeless.

"He was one of the most unorthodox people you'll ever meet," said attorney
Michael Clark, who shared an office with Seeley.

Seeley enjoyed debate and didn't suffer fools. Principles were more
important than money. He favored an ancient Underwood typewriter over
modern electronic word processors. He loved fishing, flying airplanes,
horseback riding, reading, poker, storytelling and playing his cello. He
suffered setbacks that would have shattered many people, but he always
bounced back.

After leaving The News Tribune in 1988, Seeley made headlines as a civil
rights attorney and an advocate for medical use of marijuana. He won a
record $9 million verdict in his first court case, then saw the award
thrown out by the state Court of Appeals. In a case that brought national
attention, a judge gave Seeley the right to smoke marijuana to ease the
pain he suffered from cancer. But once again a higher court reversed his
victory.

Shortly after he left the newspaper, Seeley was diagnosed with chordoma, a
rare form of cancer. Doctors told him he had two years to live.

Seeley proved them wrong.

In the decade before his death, Seeley suffered more than a dozen surgeries
and lost a lung. He judged his quality of life by whether he needed a
walker or just a cane, or whether he could get out of bed at all.

"Probably Ralph's greatest attribute - and his greatest deficit - was his
ego," Clark said. "I have never seen anyone with a larger ego than Ralph.
When Ralph had cancer, he decided it wouldn't kill him."

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