Oregon State University Books

Sarah Philips undertook this research in Portland, during the mid-1990s. She puts in print words of art models themselves, which surprisingly hadn't happened much before. In the book we can read four more or less extended interviews with models, but dozens of conversations took place. Philips relates the models' words with interesting theoretical issues. It's a very enlightening book, since we come to know a very ignored and undervalued occupation. The book raises questions such as:

Why are there more female than male art models?
Is the myth that a model is an artist's mistress true?
Is a model the same as a stripper?
Does modeling objectify or degrade the person (usually the woman), as some feminists say?
Why would nudity be empowering and boost the model's self-confidence?
Why would someone do this job, normally part-time, since they could earn more money elsewhere? (In Portland, in the 1990s, they earned from $8.50 to $10 an hour.)
Is modeling always passive?
Why do most models underrate photography as "less artistic" than drawing, for instance?
What's the role of pornography, especially on the internet, when handling photos of artistic nudity?
What specific boundaries exist in personal space, verbal contact or eye contact when posing?
What's the difference between a "sublimely" sensual pose and a blunt sex pose?
How do models handle cold, and physical stressful or painful poses?
How do models deal with erections and menstruation?

There are no definite answers, but the discussion is really fascinating. Not all models agree upon all issues, and age and gender usually influence the answers.

I think the core of the whole question is the fact that in art modeling there are new rules, for our everyday regulations are upside down: a person doesn't hide his/her nakedness, and the others ARE supposed to observe it. The boundary is the motto "nothing unusual is happening". Don't behave as if this situation is abnormal, surprising, sexually arousing or deserving lewd peeking. It's just natural for professional artists and models to work with nudity, which can make many newcomers and art students blush.

Nudity in art is not for a particular physical aesthetics that discriminates all other bodies. It's not for sexuality, either. It's rather a celebration of the natural, general beauty of every human body, no matter its shape, color, size or other specific characteristics.

I am a painter myself, and I always work with the female nude. I can say that I am grateful to my models for their good work and professionalism. They are the body of my art, and they inspire its soul. As the model "Michael" says in the book: "If it wasn't for us, we wouldn't have a lot of the greatest works of art." For all the curious, and all of us artists who work with models, this book is necessary to understand, not stigmatize this indispensable job, in the models' own words.

Lola Baldwin indeed was the first policewoman in the United States with arrest authority. Portland also may boast of the first woman to be named Chief of a metropolitan police force in 1985: Penny Harrington. Harrington's innovations in diversity training and community policing are heralded today throughout the country, and reflected upon in her autobiography, Triumph of Spirit. The dedication and leadership of women like Baldwin and Harrington provide role models, not only for women who desire a career in law enforcement, but for all women who have the courage to follow their dreams.

We are used to hearing about religious cults led by one charismatic individual. Our times have no monopoly on such cults, of course; our nation's tradition of freedom of worship encourages them, and we look toward economic or societal means to subdue the most flagrant ones, since the law cannot touch them if they are merely worshipping in some sort of erroneous way. _Murdering Holiness: The Trials of Franz Creffield and George Mitchell_ (University of British Columbia Press) by Jim Phillips and Rosemary Gartner resurrects a forgotten case which is part of our nation's history of cults, religious freedom, vigilantism, and the insanity defense. Phillips and Gartner, professors in law and criminology at the University of Toronto, have produced a detailed and closely researched history of the incident, and an entertaining one as well.

Franz Creffield was an itinerant preacher who arrived in Corvallis, Oregon, in 1902, and drew almost all its Salvation Army members into his "Army of Holiness," though they were also known as "Holy Rollers," the first time that pejorative was every applied. He taught that the world was about to end, that wealth was bad, and that he could perform sexual purification of female converts. This got him tarred and feathered and run out of town. He was imprisoned for two years for adultery, and after his release, he was in Seattle in May 1906 when George Mitchell, a young laborer from Corvallis, walked up behind him and shot him in the neck on a busy Seattle street. Mitchell was acting to avenge the seduction and deflowering of his sister Esther, although she would have denied such a thing had happened. A temporary insanity defense was mounted, but the newspapers and most legal authorities agreed that Mitchell had done the manly thing.

Mitchell was acquitted, and his sister Esther and Creffield's widow started talking about getting revenge. Days after the acquittal, at an ostensible meeting to make peace, Esther shot and killed her brother George at the train depot; she was eventually to say that God had commanded the act. The second murder caused an even bigger sensation, but the press seemed to think that honor killings were what men should do for women, not vice versa. An insanity commission arranged for her to go to the asylum rather than the penitentiary, and she was released after some years to return to her family. She seemed happy, she married in April 1914, and she killed herself by poison in August. It is a strange end to a strange story. Creffield had pursued his religious vision with passion and sincerity; George Mitchell killed him, risking his own life on the scaffold because of what society thought was a virtuous defense of his sister; Esther Mitchell's faith was strong enough that she could kill even her brother. The authors have included many insights into religious, legal, social, and psychological history of the times in a fascinating and dispassionate case study.

Few national leaders have shaped present-day America more positively than Justice William O. Douglas. The force of Douglas's ideas has had a profound influence on our world--from the individual liberties that we enjoy to his attitudes about protecting the natural world from human encroachment. At the core of it all is Douglas's idea of the human person. The advantages Americans enjoy over citizens of other nations, particularly totalitarian regimes " . . . are not in material things such as technology and standards of living. They relate to matters of the mind and the spirit . . . Man's moral and spiritual appetite, as well as his political ideals, demanded that he have freedom. Liberty was to be the way of life--inalienable and safe from the intrusions of government."

James O'Fallon's edited selections provide us with an excellent overview of Douglas's vast experience and the life that underlay his philosophy--from his boyhood days growing up in near poverty in the Yakima foothills, through his great Supreme Court decisions (establishing the right of privacy) and dissents. Here we also get a feel of the great men Douglas knew: Brandeis, President Franklin Roosevelt (with whom he played poker and drank martinis regularly), Hugo Black and many others.

In the tradition of John Muir and Aldo Leopold, Douglas is one of our great nature writers with his descriptions of the experiences and characters of the great wild places of our Pacific Northwest. He has a botanist's feel for the detail of a landscape and paints a vivid picture with all the sights, sounds and smells of the wilderness.

Douglas was the partner of presidents, but he also had a great understanding and sympathy for the poor, for persons such as prostitutes who lived in conditions where criminal conduct was prevalent, and hobos with whom he rode in boxcars in his early days. These are outstanding recollections and ideas--Douglas is one of the greatest thinkers of the last Century.

I had the pleasure of learning from Ron Lansing for three years at law school. He is an amazing mind, and one of the finest story tellers I have ever encountered. Since most of us can't travel to Oregon to hear him lecture on the law, do yourself a favor and get this book.

NORTH BANK explores the patterns and the feelings of recreating a home place. After the author and his wife buy a home beside the Rogue River, he sets about discovering the locale--the hillsides, the neighbors, the rivers, the fly-fishing riffles. What began as strange landscape gradually takes on a familiar and valued quality. This book engages the process of rediscovery that we all experience, in some form, when we move from one place to another and set about putting down new roots. Because the author loves rivers and flyfishing, his particular process has much to do with the rivers and smaller coastal streams of the region. But there is more than fishing here. A wonderful read.

The intro gives a little history of the author and about what he wrote. The story was interesting to me because I like reading about agricultural communities in Oregon. It takes place in the 1930's when it was written so you get a feel of what life was like then. I usually read non fiction but really enjoyed the story.

The book is valuable and understandable. I am doing research in preparation to a move to the west coast of Oregon. Professor Komar takes a complicated issue and makes it understandable for a lay person. He is clear about what level of evidence exists for various subjects and is clear when expressing his opinion. The book very much answered just about all the questions I had.

Excellent reference book for anyone who grows or plans to grow native plants. Will likely go out of print. Highly recommended for the native plant lover or nursery grower. Unusual book.

Sam MCKinney's books are what inspired me to build my power sharpie (see my other reviews). I'm 70, and I figured if he can do it so can I. So I can't wait to get my boat done and follow his Colimbia River tracks. He was a dedicated, motivated, independant, off the wall, adventurous Waterman that dedicated his life to the water and helping youth learn outdoor skills. His writings are simple, homey, and inspiring. Get them all.

Terry Lesh