oregon city memoir

In seeking new ways to expand the audience for my writing and keep Nestucca Spit Press financially viable, I will publish my latest book in serial form on my blog and invite readers to purchase the book through Paypal or other means.

Pioneer Pride: An Oregon City Memoir, will roughly translate to a 20,000-word book published in 500-800-word installments two or three times a week over a two-month period. It chronicles my growing up in Oregon City in the 70s and early 80s and features stories about hackey sack, calligraphy, football, my improbable connection to Steve Jobs, tennis, the Promenade, the mill, journalism, teachers, salmon, crushes, coaches, my life as a preacher’s kid, text from my journals of in high school, and a personal account of observing and interacting with a unique Christian sect, the Oregon City Followers of Christ Church, or the Kissers.

Life was certainly looser back then, but I write not out of nostalgia, but to inspire others, particularly my acquaintances from Oregon City, to reflect upon what we’ve lost since that gauzy, feathered-hair era and if there is something worth reclaiming, if only a mindset. I’ve written hundreds of thousands of word about Oregon City in my articles, books and blog posts, and some of that material has been included in Pioneer Pride, although rewritten for a serial format. But most of this book is new material and some of it even groundbreaking.

I wrote this book over the course of the past few years as I went deep into my creative mind in a time of extreme personal crisis to discover who I was and where I had really come from. This exercise led me back to Oregon City to revisit the old places that brought me such joy in my youth, Many of them are gone.

I also wrote the book to honor the great and fascinating people I met in Oregon City during that era: Tom Priest, Tricia Schoenborn, Jodie Stahlnecker, Jill and Greg Winklesy, Big Jim Ritacco, my Rivercrest Park buddies, Doug Bancsh and Doug Winn, Nancy Icenogle, Marty Engel, Bret Ford, Jay Hopp, the staff of the Elevator, Don Harrison, Jeri Haskins, Martina Kolencz, Maria Gunis, Kari Stejer, Ted Anderson, Dan McMillan, Mike Olsen, Victor Toman, Lori Ramage, Lisa Wright, Robin Lamar, Kim Groshong, Julie Gesley, Joe Gardner, Lisa Winslow, Connie Kennedy, Lynn Lausche, Sarah Urquart, the Berman Family, Esther Daniels and so many more that I could mention. I hope these people and others from Oregon City and beyond read this book support it, share it, spread the word, and return to a special era in our lives.

Some of you may be asking why I am not publishing the memoir in printed paper form. I considered it, but this serialized version seem the best way to get the story out in a timely manner and to the largest audience. It also fits with a lot of people’s reading habits: short pieces that can be digested anywhere, but building to a larger story.

It is my wish that the reader will support the idea that Pioneer Pride is a “book,” written by a professional writer trying to make a living from his writing. It is my wish that the reader values that labor by “buying” the book. A purchase supports this labor but also future literary endeavors by Nestucca Spit Press.

Thanks Pioneers. Read on. Please contact me with any questions, comments or additions to the story. I am sure I missed a lot…but…because this is a serialized book, I can add and add and add as I move forward into the story.

To read and purchase Pioneer Pride, look at the icon to the right of the blog. Thanks.