Letters to the Editor

Defending Huggy Jesus

Sean Pinkerton, the creator of the Huggy Jesus doll, wrote to defend his product in response to my recent column. Here's what he had to say:

Dave,

My name is Sean Pinkerton. I am the person responsible for the creation of the doll that is pictured on the Ballard billboard that almost caused your car accident. I apologize for the disruption in your ability to drive your vehicle.

Dave, I would like to share with you a little about myself, my motivation and also how the billboards, the website, and the whole Huggy Jesus thing are operating. Three years ago I was a successful manufacturers lead at Skills Incorporated working with deaf and otherwise handicapped machinists in Ballard. I set up and supported up to sixty people as well as made aircraft parts for Skills which makes parts for Boeing. I lived comfortably in a nice home in Lake Forest Park. In the last two and a half years I was laid off from four different machining jobs with major gaps between employment as Boeing lost business. My skills were less in demand and my lack of seniority at the new jobs required being let go as the lack of business demanded cutbacks. So much for how I lost all my savings and a place to live.

The story of how I found Jesus is on my website.

So....lets cut to the part where you assume that my motivation isn't genuine.

The website has been donated by Site Difference. Joe Hallock has been very generous. He also set up the account with Amazon.

The billboards were paid for by my friend and partner Jay Craig.

My telephone and the office space and the 877 number and this computer and everything else it takes to launch this project have been funded by Jay.

The car I drive to deliver the dolls locally has been given to me by one of Jay's customers at his boat shop.

I live at the New Hope Marine Yard in my boat which has been in a state of repair for over a year. The space for the boat and some operating capitol have been supplied by Steve Bailey, the manager of the boat yard.

Calling Huggy Jesus "crude" is a poor choice of words. He is simple. The word "crude" implies that there wasn't thought or care in the design or manufacture. Huggy is for young children. It is my hope that he will bring kids closer to Jesus... again... a simple but serious goal.

This e-mail will hopefully better inform you of my motivation as you didn't ask me any questions before you wrote your article. Apparently I am not the only one in Ballard that works purely off of inspiration.

Thanks again for your interest.

Sean Pinkerton

Thanks for sharing your side of the story, Sean. Feedback about this website is always welcome at dave@davethefox.com.