Northwest Books

"The Pig War" was written as part of the "I Can Read" series of books for beginning readers. It tells about an event in 1859, when San Juan Island, in what is now Washington State, was claimed by both British trappers and American owners. Tensions were rising, when a British pig was shot in an American garden. The real potential for war existed following this incident. Eventually this was peacefully resolved, resulting in the establishment of the border between what is now America and Canada in that region.

Betty Baker does an excellent job of making this ultimately humorous event readable for young readers. This little book experienced a revival of interest during the Washington State Centennial in 1989. In my opinion, it's still a must-read for students in Washington.

The one drawback to this book is that the illustrations depict the local natives as Plains Indians, and not as Coast Salish. This is a minor distraction, since the story centers on the struggles between the white settlers.

History is rarely an engrossing subject for young readers, but Baker has managed to engage them with a humorous and simple text. This story of the Pig War on the San Juan islands is a must-read for any children from Washington State.

I fell in love with wild plants at the tender age of 11 when I went to camp with my 5th grade class. We did plant identification and I became intrigued by all the wonderful plants in the NW. WHen I got home I poured through my mom's copy of this book. I had been seeing it on our coffee table since I was like a tot! I fell in love with plants. This book has beautiful color pics of all kinds of wonderful plants and animals. It's awesome!

This is the best PNW plant and animal identification book on the market (and I have lot of such i.d. books). Lots of really good color pictures and detailed b/w's. Informative text on life history/cycles. Good index and well-organized. Great for helping children get going on school projects (the Latin names are there, but the text is plain English, flows well, and provides information that interests ordinary persons of all ages who enjoy the out-of-doors). Would make a nice gift for someone new to the area or otherwise interested in the topic.

It's a wonderful book and it's so well organized I can't believe it... delighted that my May Day toast is part of it. Gary Snyder

Portland's lively left-of-center history is brought back to life in 'Red Guide'
The Oregonian
June 17, 2007

By John Terry




Interesting, the things found in the closets of Portland's radical past:

The founder of the exclusive Catlin Gabel School was accused of being a communist.

Two Tuskegee Airmen of World War II fame were from Portland; 12 in all were from Oregon.

The principal of Kenton Elementary School allied herself with social reformer Jane Addams, played host to muckraker Upton Sinclair and hobnobbed with Eleanor Roosevelt at the White House.

All this and much more thanks to the closet-cleaning work of intrepid Portland radical Michael Munk, whose new book, "The Portland Red Guide, Sites and Stories of our Radical Past," is new from Portland State University's Ooligan Press.

Munk is a native of Prague, Czechoslovakia, whose family fled the Nazis and came to Portland in 1939. He's a graduate of Lincoln High School and Reed College, has a master's degree from the University of Oregon and doctorate from New York University. For 25 years Munk taught political science at the State University of New York, Stony Brook, Chicago's Roosevelt University and Rutgers before retiring in Portland.

Munk -- Internet moniker "lastmarx" -- freely admits he's about as far to the political left as one can get without straying into the lunatic fringe. He's also an engaging personality with a delicious sense of irony evident throughout "Red Guide."

The book is divided into six political eras from the 19th century to the present, each entry in each section numbered and cross-referenced to maps and photographs.

Here is where radical writer John Reed grew up unfettered by Portland's upper-upper crust. There is where the Marine Workers Industrial Union headquartered during the 1934 Maritime Strike. Here is where Dr. Marie Equi in 1918 railed against war and was rewarded with three years in San Quentin.

Much of Munk's material understandably deals with the social, labor and political conflicts that roiled local waters throughout the city's history, events old-guard conservatives would just as soon see black-lined from its history. It also memorializes many who added richly to the city's fabric and heritage -- racial minorities, social reformers, religious leaders.

Ruth Catlin opened Miss Catlin's School for Girls in 1911 on Northwest Irving Street. She dedicated it to the "independence and freedom of action for women" and drew students "largely from Portland's wealthy elite," Munk says. She turned the school over to a board of directors in 1928 to become Catlin Gabel School.

The late 1930s found her on the infamous Portland Police Red Squad's list of communist sympathizers because she was active in a group "devoted to defending the elected Spanish government against a fascist invasion," says Munk.

Brothers Robert (Ruby) and Carl Deiz, graduates of Franklin High School, were Portland's contribution to the Tuskegee Airmen. Robert flew 93 missions with the segregated 332nd Fighter Group in Europe and was featured on a 1943 War Bond poster, "one of few depicting a black person," Munk says. Another Tuskegee airman, Charles Duke, was the first African American member of the Portland Police Department.

Grace De Graff, Kenton Elementary principal, was among the founders of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, organized to urge women worldwide to "refuse to do the work men cannot do because they are busy murdering other men."

Munk quotes a De Graff niece as recalling her thinking "what the Russians were doing was a desirable state of affairs," but also "Aaron Frank (of the department store Meier & Frank) was the nicest man" for helping out needy Kenton families.

You can reach John Terry, a retired copy editor for The Oregonian and member of the Oregon Geographic Names Board, at terryjohnf@cs.com

I've lived in Alaska for 27 years and have entertained many visitors. So, I decided to pick up a copy of Portrait of the Alaska Railroad for a relative who has enjoyed riding the train. Then I decided to get a copy for myself. The book describes in excellent detail the history and current workings of our railroad, and the photos are terrific! Author Kaylene Johnson's outstanding research makes this a book packed with information. Yet it reads like a fascinating story, not some dry history book. I've read a lot about the Alaska Railroad, but in this book, I found tidbits of information I'd never heard.
A must for railroad buffs and anybody planning to make a trip north.

Portrait of the Alaska Railroad takes readers on an adventurous journey through the diverse terraine and communities that span the 470+ miles of tracks from Seward to Fairbanks, Alaska. Kaylene Johnson's prose is both captivating and informative, enabling the reader to imagine her or himself rocking to the gentle rhythm of the train while gazing out the railcar windows to see moose, fox, caribou, and bear. Johnson writes: "The fragrance of fireweed and rain-washed raspberries wafts up along the tracks in the Kenai Mountains. Later in the year, cranberry bushes turn crimson and the scent of autumn signals the season's change. In winter, the air smells like crisp, fresh bedsheets hung outside to dry."

Readers insterested in information about the history of the Alaska railroad, wilderness access along the rail line, wildlife, native peoples, commerce, communities, and working trains will find this book an invaluable resource. Websites are noted that will supply additional information of interest to the reader.

Full-page photographs complement Johnson's prose making it possible to feel as if one has captured the experience of riding the rails and seeing the Alaskan wilderness and towns along its route firsthand. Roy Corral's photography is truly stunning, from pictures of the city lights of Anchorage framed against the Chugach Mountains to Caribou grazing in a meadow in Denali National park. Photographs chronicle the life of a working train, communities along the track, and interesting people whose lives are supported by rail service. Corral's photographs coupled with Johnson's prose makes Portrait of the Alaska Railroad a great coffee table book. Inserts supply interesting information that can be read in a couple of minutes.

Kaylene Johnson, a resident of Eagle River, Alaska, has a keen sense of the importance of the railroad to the Alaskan economy. She notes, for example, that "it would take sixteen hundred trucks to haul all the gravel that the railroad moves from Palmer southwest to Anchorage in a single day. Each day, from May through mid-October, as many as four trains made up of eighty cars each haul eight hundred tons of gravel forty-two miles. . ." Imagine the highway congestion if gravel were transported by truck instead of rail. Johnson captures the immense value of the railroad in this, and other examples. For some people who live along the tracks, the railroad serves as the only means of transportation and obtaining needed supplies. Fifty-eight miles of track span a wilderness accessible only by rail. "The flag-stop train is the only one of its kind still running in North America," Johnson notes. Passengers merely wave a white flag over their heads to signal the engineer that they desire to board.

Portrait of the Alaska Railroad appeals to a broad audience of train enthusiasts and Alaska lovers. Whether you have visited Alaska previously, plan to visit, or will visit only from the comfort of your living room couch, the Alaska Railroad beckons, "Welcome Aboard."

I am also fortunate to own a copy.

It may seem tedious to reach all the way back to England's roots of democracy but these fundamental issues were discussed in the South for years previous to the war as they percieved the Union to be moving away from the ideals of the Founding Fathers.

Even When discussing banking and regulation of commerce Graham begins with the colonial era, but this is critical for understanding how American banking practices and money supply influenced the South's decision to secede.

Graham also spent several pages on Worcester v. Georgia, the famous case involving the Cherokee nation. He could have spent more effort on the connection between the South and other governments resisting the Union- namely, the Indian tribes. This has probably been done by other authors, though.

There is a dramatic story in the South's attempt to rid itself of slavery. But in the onward march to re-imagine the War Between the States as a civil rights struggle, it gets ever more difficult to find complete research on this.

That's why I was delighted to see the chapter entitled "The Southern Abolitionists." Even as a civil war buff, I had no idea slavery came so close to being outlawed in the South *thirty years* before the war, emphasizing how- in the South- one's opposition to slavery was a separate issue from one's loyalty to their ancestral home. Thanks to Graham for publishing information that we would otherwise never be exposed to.

I feel sorry for our immigrants and our youth who will never see this part of history in the classroom. As long as we are pressured to equate the South with slavery and Confederate symbols with racism, our children are consigned to a muddled and amateurish understanding of U.S. history. It is the job of our schools to correct this problem, not exacerbate it.

I am thankful for Graham's straightforward and balanced presentation of political and legal philosophy and how they informed Southern thought.

This book should still be in print. Consider yourselves lucky if you own a copy. Keep it for posterity! My wife picked up a copy for $1.50 at a thrift shop - she had no idea of its worth, neither did I until I read it! One man's trash is another's treasure. I treasure it.

Graham states in the preface "...I have attempted to portray something else which does not depend on the latest decisions of the United States Supreme Court ...the endeavors of the Framers, a set of timeless principles ..." Graham meets his objective, and more.

To meet his objective he goes as far back in history as the Magna Carta, he includes real cases that resulted in the formulation of English common law and Blackstone's commentary on it, he includes much of Virginia's pre-Convention Constitution and brings us to the period of the Constitutional Convention. Then he explains, in detail, every issue faced by the Framers. How those issues were resolved by background understanding, rhetoric, compromise and, often, consensus. He explains the struggles faced over "the awful question" - including (speculating over?) what "might have been" had certain people, places, and things not intervened. He explains the post formulation period in terms of events up to and through the awful Civil War and finally the Reconstruction.

Concerning the title of the book, Graham has the founders understanding of "confederacy" - he states it well. It is sans the emotional connotation some place on that term today.

Graham, as he admits, "stands a defender of the South in the American Civil War, doing so as a son of Minnesota, because, after a careful study of this whole problem, I must concede that John Calhoun and Alexander Stephens better understood the design of the Philadelphia Convention than Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln". As he claims Graham made a careful study. As a defender he is not in anyway defending slavery, he adamantly opposes it, then and now. He merely defends the South based on their right to secede. Whether he intended to or not he also wards off attacks of the righteous (my term not his and I am a son of Iowa, the North) as he points out how slavery would soon have ended without the calamity, including 600,000 lives, of the Civil War.

The book's only drawback, as far as I was concerned, was due to my own lack of a classical education - I have no understanding of the Latin. So Latin judicial terms used frequently throughout were both an annoyance and a reminder of my lack of that education.

I am fortunate to have a copy of this great book. Graham instilled in me a further understanding, and a concomitant increase in my admiration, of those who participated in the formation of our Constitution - both pro and con - and some members of Congress, both North and South, in the periods up to the Civil War and subsequent Reconstruction. He also convinced me of, what I can only call, the evil intentions of others, most notably Stanton. And he neither worships nor despises Abraham Lincoln - he merely points out "the good and the bad" as those terms relate to the Constitution. Graham is not a "debunker"!

Graham lived up to the promises conveyed in the title "Principles of Confederacy", the sub-title "The Vision and the Dream & The Fall of the South", and the preface.

After reading so many coffee books, this is the one that I had been looking for. One can learn what you need for making a espresso after reading this book. If Illy's espresso has too much unnecessary information, this handbook is just of the right dose. With this book you will save years, hundreds pound of bean, learning the skill of making a true espresso.

This book contains everything you need to know about how to prepare a proper espresso, cappucino, latte, tea. The book is very comprehensive, contains a ton of smart hints and tips and is THE bible for every coffee geek.

PS I was positively suprised about the prompt action of Watergliders, where I've purchased this book.

After Grandma dies, Katie is flooded with memories whenever she uses one of her quilts. Each one holds a special story, but the mystery happens when Katie finds a quilt just for her - which is uncompleted. A gentle story of love.

Mindy Dwyer's Quilt of Dreams is a wonderful story which introduces the concept of tradition through an artistic presentation of historic quilt patterns. The story is beautifully written and fun to read, and it is enhanced by Dwyer's beautiful artwork. Children will be enthralled with the creative presentation of quilt patterns, and anyone with an interest in quilts will find the book enjoyable. Quilt of Dreams would be an enriching read aloud for classes of elementary students during a study of colonial times.

This is poetry that is easy to read, fun, deep, cosmic, ordinary and inspired, i.e. it's zen poetry. We're trying to connect with each other and Jim Dodge reaches my heart like no other poet i've read. It's like he dances to a wild outlaw beat, crazy tales of living the edge life but always swings it round to those timeless conclusions of truth: Living in the moment, and this too, and it's all as it should be. There's no better way to start the day than a cup of coffee and a couple of jim dodge poems

Too much is made of obscure, humorless poets with grad school vocabularies and a tenth grade idea of what passes for truth. Dodge isn't one of those academic pretenders. He's the real deal: a living, breathing poet reporting back from the edge where body and mind give way to the world. My only complaint is that his poems aren't as outright funny as his wonderful novels. Fans of the poetry of Gary Snyder, Jim Harrison and the Beats should find much of value in this fine collection. Everyone else should, too.

Joann Roe has written a wonderful biography and book on some great History. Ranald MacDonald comes to life and the history his actions affected is explained in great detail. Joann Roe has done her homework. She not only uses original sources but she visited the places she describes. Where material from Ranald's life doesn't exist she fills in the blanks with others views and explains the surrounding history. She starts with Ranald being born in the now present day Astoria, Oregon. His father is a rising star and eventual Chief Factor in the Hudson's Bay Company and Mother is Princess Raven, a daughter of the local Chief Conconlly of the Chinook tribe. He is given a gentleman's education and his first job as a bank clerk. He is bored with this and runs away to sea. From there he joins a whaler and starts his trek around the world. He becomes one of the first Americans to set foot on Japan and teach English while held in captivity and run down the whole country before being released. Then he ends up in Australia for a while looking for gold. Then from there more ships and a couple of ship wrecks while globetrotting. Eventually he ends up back in western Canada and is greatly involved in the Gold rush around the Fraser River and exploration of Vancouver Island. His last days are spent in Eastern Washington near the site of the old Hudson's Bay Company Fort Colville on a ranch near some cousins and a niece. He led an amazing life and has an amazing story that more should know.

Jo Ann Roe has written a magnificent book, adding considerable information and insight on Ranald MacDonald. In addition to the biographical content, she added valuable scope by describing and explaining the context, for instance the Japanese forces at play at the time of MacDonald's arrival, the gold rush in Australia and British Columbia, etc. Thanks to her lively style, Ranald MacDonald becomes very present to the reader. It is a remarkable historical research.

I've been a Ray Troll fan for a long time. I've owned t-shirts, coffee mugs and this book. Also saw his 'show' on evolution at the San Francisco Aquarium sometime back. His art is funny, surreal, beautiful and, sometimes, pointedly instructional (how to treat the planet). I recommend this book and go to his site and buy a t-shirt.

At times poetic, at times informative, and at times just entertaining, this book is a must for anyone who likes fish, fishing or just great art. The two guys who collaborated on this book found a fun way of sharing their fish passion with the reader. Ray Troll's artwork has a charming folk quality with a bit of twisted humor reminiscent of Gary Larsen. This book is a quick read and something you can pick up and enjoy again and again. Loved it!