Oregon Books

McLagan's book is out of print now. And no wonder, it addresses a small audience. In spite of that, "A Peculiar Paradise" is a book that every Oregonian should read and should be included in every school library.

As an immigrant to Oregon in 1982 from an integrated neighborhood in Michigan, the first thing I noticed on arriving was what seemed to be the "whitest" state I'd ever seen. In the city of Medford where we lived for 5 years before coming to Portland, I'm sure there were no more than 5 black people in 40,000 during those first years.

If you want to understand why, start by reading this book. Then go to the Library and dig into the Oregon Historical Quarterlies from the turn of the century. It will confirm what McLagan shows: that Oregon almost entered statehood as a Confederate member. Perhaps all that saved it from that was the fear of it's original southern pioneer settlers that a move to slave-holding would jeapordize their ability to compete economically (they had left the South for that reason). Additionally, in the 1920's there were as many as 250 thousand Klan members in the state and at one point even a Klan governor was elected. Well into the century, laws excluded blacks from owning land or even technically living in the state.

McLagan presents a view of Oregon history seldom seen. If you cannot find a used copy, be sure to check this one out at the public library.

This book is fantastic. The depth of detail and fantastic photos are excellent. Highly recommend for anyone with an interest in this area.

It is now fall of 1848 when Joshua starts his second journal. Now Joshua and his family which consists of his Pa,Ma,Grandpa, sister, aunt, uncle, and cousin, Charlie, have all arrived in the Willamette Valley safely. As new challenges arise in this new, unchartered wilderness, Joshua must face many new challenges and experience numerous adventures. As the numerous days of rain brings massive flooding, the one family dream, that they would have a home by Christmas, seems diminished to bits, just like their old tents were diminished by the floods. Can Joshua work up some Christmas magic so that his whole family, including his expecting mother, can have a Christmas home? The continuation of Joshua's story was another good edition to My America. I think I liked it even better than the first one. Joshua's spirit truly shines through.

This diary removes the dust from the personalities of giants of Oregon history. Deady was founder of the U of Oregon, a federal district court judge for almost forty years, and a regent of Stanford University. He should have been a stuffed shirt; but this diary mnakes it clear that in his prosperous years he retained the affable social skills he had acquired as a blacksmith, newspaper salesman and small town lawyer and politician. He comments on the personalities and foibles of all around him, and he was surrounded by the people who shaped Oregon. This is a very enjoyable read, and Malcolm Clark's footnotes and chapter notes do an excellent job of providing context. Reading this has prompted me to seek out more information about Deady and his companions.

The Lorings have succeeded in writing the most complete Oregon rock art book currently available. If you are interested in rock art, especially of Oregon and southern Washington, this is definitely the book for you. The introduction by the Lorings explains how and why the book came to be written. One can't help but admire their determination to see this extensive project to completion.

Great map. Everything is there. Astoria is the best place in the world ! Goonie forever.

The ironic thing about this book is that it was underwritten by Mary and Peter Mark "in honor of the 50th anniversary of Melvin Mark Companies." And I never even heard of these companies, but they must produce a tidy revenue indeed if the two Marks (husband and wife? Brother and sister? Mother and son) could afford to produce such a lavish volume to commemorate themselves and their business acumen. I wonder if I lived in Portland maybe the Melvin Mark Companies would be household words the way the Gap and Levi Strauss are for us here in San Francisco. It's a good lesson in appreciating how no matter how much things seem homogenized here in the US, there will always be pockets of culture that escape notice nearly everywhere else. In any case, the SELECTED WORKS of the Portland Art Museum was compiled ten years ago, long before the current eye on Portland, when Portland was in the doldrums sort of, and way before the opening of the recent extension which in effect doubled the size of the building.

In fact, the extension is called THE MARK BUILDING and until now I never knew why! It was the old Masonic Temple and some say it is still haunted by the moans and whispers of former Masons who resent being stuffed and packed with so much contemporary art and that huge study center. But even in 1996, before the recent heap of gifts that accompanied the new extension opening, PAM had a fine collection, especially of Asian Art and Native American art, maybe too fine! One can't really look, today, at the Kola Nut Container from the Cameroons Grasslands and wonder, maybe they should have left it in the Cameroons, even though it was being "heavily damaged by insects." It's sort of like a native sculpture of a man carrying a pot in his powerful lap and could be a birdbath, except it's a bit more ceremonial. In the old Portland Art Museum, this piece dominated one hall all through the 1970s.

From the same period date the Secret Society masks of the Kwakiutl (from British Columbia), bird masks the purpose of which was to worship the Great Cannibal at the North End of the World. The cannibal is a bird, isn't that odd, maybe not too when one considers the buzzards of the area. Its servant has a thinner, more piercing mask, a bird like a heron, with a long beak to split open a human skull and eat out the brain matter from the open skull (like the end of Hannibal by Thomas Harris).

Diane Arbus photos, and Roy de Carava photos, show us more recent looks at image and the eye. The Arbus is one of those groups of little people she called Midgets, immigrants from Russia who settled in and let her walk into their cozy little midtown living room and preserve them for eternity. The De Carava is one of his "blurs," jazz musicians Ben Webster and John Coltrane frozen as if in the process of melting into each other, a fusion of inspired compassion.

Every page of this wonderful book has something to live for. Whether you like Cindy Sherman or Bronzino, SELECTED WORKS has it all. Thank you, Mark people.

I am a professor of City and Regional Planning and I found this book a much-needed addition to the urban-planning literature. The book is written at a level appropriate for a wide range of audiences including planning students, policy makers, politicians, urban planners, and community activists. The comprehensiveness of the work provides a much-needed explanation for students yearning for a broader understanding of how an ensemble of urban elements can help American cities accommodate growth while sustaining a sense of community for their dwellers.

What is unique about Portland's current land-use system? If planning is so popular, how does one explain the recent backlash? Where would be the balance between regulatory rules and other possibilities? These are examples of questions asked by The Portland Edge (edited by Connie Ozawa), written by a team of academics at Portland State University's School of Urban Studies and Planning. The thirteen chapters of the edited book are organized in four sections. The first section presents the demographic, economic, and civic character of the Portland region by presenting data on key dimensions of economy, equity, and environment. The second section traces Portland's growth-management policies and details the institutional structures by describing a range of the roles of regional and city bodies, such as Metro (the elected regional planning authority), the Portland Development Commission, citizen-involvement mechanisms, and neighborhood associations. The third section unveils Portland's social structures that allow people to create collective visions of community and offers examples of how the underrepresented groups and the citizen advocates work to voice themselves. The last section lays out several issues of the most interest, such as the liveliness of downtown and neighborhoods, housing affordability, implementation of state transportation and environment policies at the local jurisdiction level, and Portland's responses to the homeless.

Those interested in examining the ways in which urban policy and planning have made a difference in the Portland region will find that the book offers a valuable overview of the region, a helpful background of the stressors on the current urban political and social system, and an effective explanation of current conditions in the context of the people and social institutions that have been influential in shaping today's Portland. The book offers the reader a comprehensive range of matters: each chapter picks a different angle of the inquiry--for example, the struggle between the well represented and the underrepresented, the competition between the central city and the suburbs, the rivalry between highways and transit, and the balance between Portland's natural landscapes and the interests of today's property owners. The bulk of the book presents a balanced view of Portland today through operationalizing the concept of quality of life. The book contributes in integrating environmental, social, and economic issues in a systematic evaluation framework that allows other communities to carry out critical and empirical inquiry to examine civic identity and urban environment in their communities. The book does a good job of what it intends to accomplish: to detail successes and challenges in Portland communities.

Here is a booklet that captures the history and very interesting growth of a busy American Fire Department in the upper NorthWest of our country. Real treasures await the reader regarding the unique apparatus, and brave men and powerful horses from the early days of firefighting. Get a copy for your bookshelf!

I gave this to my Grandson who lives in Portland OR and is interested in architecture. He loved the book.