Lake Forest Park names street after sci-fi author Octavia E. Butler

What do an asteroid, a crater on Mars, a school in Pasadena, California, and Lake Forest Park, Wash., have in common? They all have features named after sci-fi author Octavia E. Butler.

"Octavia Butler Avenue" will be located along Lake Forest Park's 37th Avenue, between NE 165th Street and NE 162nd Street. The city will dedicate the honorary street at the intersection of NE 165th Street and 37th Avenue NE, at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 29.

"The City of Lake Forest Park is fortunate to benefit from the wide array of notable and talented people, like Ms. Butler, who found a home in our city, and added to its rich history,” Mayor Jeff Johnson said in a statement.

The idea to honor Butler with a street began in 2020, but the pandemic stalled the effort. Lake Forest Park Councilmember Phillippa Kassover says that's when she was engaging in an online anti-racism group and discovered Butler once lived in the city. That led her to an article by Professor Sheila Liming, which detailed a time during her high school years, living across the street from Butler in Lake Forest Park. It got her thinking.