The character Leslie talks about losing her husband Roy to sarcoma cancer. Naturally, that part of Roy mirrors me, except that I didn’t die when the cancer moved into my lungs. Early in the book, when George is interviewing the people who became the core of the MM Group, the story of Roy bringing in some pastry from Sluys’ Poulsbo Bakery came up. Roy had brought a batch of “maple men” donuts to a MM Group meeting on time, and when he pulled his treat out of the box, it was missing its left leg. Later in the book, character Farid talked Sluys into making a large batch of one-legged maple men for an upcoming Election Night party to honor Roy.
Downtown Poulsbo is a Norwegian-themed, tourist-oriented part of the city on the shores of Liberty Bay. It is a popular destination for boaters from Seattle and elsewhere in the Puget Sound area, and there is a large marina along with numerous shops and restaurants. Sluys’ Poulsbo Bakery has to be one of the most popular attractions in this part of town, and they have some wonderful bakery items in addition to the maple men.
One day back in late 2020, we drove to Poulsbo to run some errands, and we got two of their maple men (I think the bakery refers to them as “doughboys”) to go with our coffee. Amy wanted to take a photo of them propped up on the dash of our car so she could create a Facebook post, but before she snapped the picture, I took mine off the dash and ate the left leg and then put it back. Anything for a laugh – that’s me!
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