MYSTERIOUS BUILDER OF SEATTLE LANDMARKS: Searching for My Father is a memoir by local author Paula Pederson Palmer released in 2017. This historical memoir dispels the author's fear that she was a bastard child, but reveals her birth as the result of a scandalous liaison between terminally ill, recently widowed Hans Pederson and his nurse 42 years younger. Author Paula Pederson's mother was that young, Ukrainian nurse from Canada who inherited Pederson's estate when he died the year after they wed. Paula was one month old. The outraged family sued. Her journey begins in Seattle, Washington traveling to Singapore, Shanghai, Honolulu, New York, New Jersey, Maine and North Carolina. After decades of believing her mother's tale that Danish immigrant Hans Pederson left them penniless, Paula uncovers the truth about her father's wealth and incredible contributions to Seattle. As a leading contractor in the American Northwest, his far-reaching vision left a distinctive imprint defining the personality of what has become the 18thth largest city in the United States.
