Gene Amondson - Activism

Activism

I'm going to fight booze until hell freezes over, and then I'm going to buy a pair of ice skates and fight it some more.

Amondson would often visit churches, prisons, schools and attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings to spread his anti-Alcohol message. As a protest, he often stood outside liquor establishments dressed as the Grim Reaper, and once stood outside a courtroom to protest Jim Beam after a couple sued the company claiming the drink caused their son to be mentally retarded. During a 1989 interview, Amondson explained that he did not protest the individuals that drank, but the large corporations that distributed liquor. Each time he passed a tavern in his car, he would honk his horn twice in protest.

In the early 1990s, Amondson traveled to New Zealand and discussed the temperance movement. The trip was financed by the Women's Christian Temperance Union. He also traveled to Africa on a similar trip. In 2005, he led a movement to stop the Washington legislature from allowing alcohol to be sold on Sundays. He remarked: "One more day a week in limited areas will mean a lot more alcohol will be sold, a few more children will suffer." Amondson also provided low rent housing for low income individuals on Vashon Island. He appeared in court a few times for zoning difficulties relating to the housing complexes and was aided by the Interfaith Council on Homelessness.