Oregon Books

I love this book. It has inspired to venture out to the Pacific Northwest and go on a tasting tour of my own.

I thought this book was a beautiful book, but lack some information that is useful for those wanting to tour. The book is in order by geograhic location which is very useful and there is good information about the wineries, such as what they produce and a bit of history about the vineyards. But, I found it is not a great touring book. There is no mention of directions to the wineries, there are maps, but having done much wine touring in the Northwest directions are needed. There was also no hours of operation listed for any wineries, this would also be another useful piece of information for planning your tour. It would have also been nice to have some information about the area regarding hotel accomodations and food. My conclusion is if you are a Northwest wine lover, which we are, it is a great coffee table book.

I love this book. It has inspired to venture out to the Pacific Northwest and go on a tasting tour of my own.

This book offers all levels of wine lovers great information. While the geographically-organized chapters are heavy on trechnical topics, the author really tries to explain the reasons each area makes wine and what influences its taste, without talking down to the reader. It also makes a super resource for someone who seeks a touring guide. Every producer in each region is profiled, too, with comprehensive contact information, making planning a wine tour easy. The photos of both winemakers and vineyards are also wonderful. For anyone who loves NW wines or wants to understand them better, this book can't be beat.

Hi, this is Bill Sullivan, the author of this book. Because of the large fires in Southern Oregon this past summer, I've decided to completely update this book. I've rehiked the trails and discovered some interesting new paths. The old edition is now out of print, but I'll have the new second edition available April 1, 2003 -- at the same price. I think it will be worth the wait!

I'm a bit puzzled by the previous review, because Sullivan'sbooks really do have fewer factual errors than most. In fact, he claims to offer a reward to anyone who reports an actual error -- this info is on page 2 of the book -- and he updates the book often, as you can tell by the copyright dates. If the reviewer above really has found a glitch, I'd suggest he report it to Sullivan (the address listed on Sullivan's Website). Maybe the reviewer has an old edition of the book?

I've recently moved to Southern Oregon and this guide has been an invaluable introduction to the hikes in the area. The book is well organized, and does a good job of ranking hikes according to difficulty and seasonality. One failing, however, is the large number of factual errors such as confusing north for south, or mis-stating the number of road miles to the trailhead. These sorts of errors had the positive value of making one more self-sufficient.

Right off the bat, I want you to know that this is a highly biased review.

First, Randi Platt is an old friend of mine, lost for years and then found again after her first Fe-As-Ko book hit the stands. We're such old friends that I know where "Leckner" and "Perrault" came from.

Second, I live in Walla Walla, Washington and if we didn't have a team like this in 1898, we sure did in 1973 when Kurt Russell (that's right - former Disney poster child, then the consummate cyber-soldier, Goldie's husband, etc.) played for the Walla Walla Padres. It was a third-rate farm club for the San Diego Padres, managed by a woman called Peppermint Patty - that alone tells you a lot about the team.

With that said, I loved the book. Problem is, I kept reading it aloud because its language is meant to be spoken. I have the same problem with Garrison Keilor's books.

It begs to be a movie and Russell should star in it. It would be a "Wild Wild West meets Major League".

Anyway, it's a very fun read and a story well-told. Thanks for it, Randi.

um. i think this book is good. um, im gonna use it for my next book to read in class. If is a good book to read. Um, i like baseball. GO METS!

It seems that the FDR writer is back wanting more Fe-As-Ko stories from cowpoke Royal Leckner.

This time it's 1897, Royal and E.M have been married about four years. And so have Leviticus and Lou(ella) Perrault, owners of the Four Arrows ranch. Royal is still foreman of the ranch and caretaker of its owner. As he reminds us, Leviticus and Lou(ella) Perrault are "short a hat size", but "nice and honest, which is better than smart and fox-like any day."

It's time to take the cattle to Portland for the annual sale, and Royal is bringing Leviticus along to teach him how "to sign on the dotted line". E.M. foresees trouble in Portland and decides she'd better go along as well. So the cattle get loaded and all are headed for the city. Except, Leviticus who has managed to walk onto the train, down the aisle and right back off - something's caught his eye. It shouldn't be a surprise that a long-time rock thrower like Leviticus would get fascinated by a base-ball. Once they get Levi back on the train, Lou(ella) says they are going to get themselves a base-ball in Portland.

As it turns out (and things do turn in Royal's life), the buyer isn't available when they go to sell the cattle, so it's declared a day off. E.M's off to buy hats and Royal goes shopping with Levi and Lou(ella). Innocently enough, Royal accepts baseball tickets for an expedition game from one of the local storekeepers. This probably wasn't the best place to take Leviticus for "he may only have a half mind, but the half he does have is damn hard to unset." Worse, Royal runs into E.M.'s half sister and full-time trouble, Augusta, who is also the owner of this Bowery Bulldogs. E.M. shows up and immediately takes exception to find Royal in the club house drinking champagne with Augusta. Knowing this isn't going anywhere right, Royal decides to take his new fishing pole and get out of town, leaving E.M. to sell the cattle.

Days later, E.M. shows up with a wagon overloaded with men passing the bottle, whooping, hollering and following out. These are not men Royal recognizes. Like Jack sent to town to sell a cow, but coming back with magical beans, it seems that Leviticus traded the herd of 1200 cattle for his very own baseball team, just as Lou(ella) said they'd have. Smart and fox-like Augusta had him "sign on the dotted line" when E.M. wasn't looking. And now it is up to the Leckner's to look for the giant beanstalk, despite winter coming, no cash, and ten extra mouths to feed. But E.M. is not without her resources; she has her father sitting in jail, the "seven vestal Burnbaums", daughters of Idlehours late banker, and Lou(ella's savant talent with numbers.

To give the benefit of hindsight to this rather nefarious situation, Platt has Royal Leckner tell his story years after the events while narrating to one of FDR's WPA depression writers. Platt dresses Royal's storytelling with a narration so colorful it's hard not to want to read every line out loud. It's a talented writer that can write a spellbinding story that hangs together right down to the funny bone. And Platt does this yet again in her third fe-as-ko, as she keep the plot moving, the bases loaded, and the pages turning until it all adds up to another home run for us, the readers of these fe-as-kos.

This book was very useful in my trip around south central Alaska. The content was up to date and specific and his reviews of the restaurants/lodging held true. As radio connections were sporadic, we took turns in reading the guide out loud as we traveled from one place to another. Not only was it very informative, but also Don's humor was a pleasant addition. Use other books for research, but bring this one along.

This book has been truely invaluable in preparing for a trip. It is not written in the normal dry style of many travel planners, but with wit and humor. As I read through the tidbits on the communities the author's dry humor and research come through. He is not afraid to tell you where the tourist traps are and when those self-same traps are worth a look because of the tacky items in them. The commentaries are honest and straight forward. Well worth the read if you are planning a trip to Alaska.

I'm the original author of this book, having researched and written the 1st edition in 1983. After that, I got very involved in writing about the South Pacific islands and had to bow out, so I'm happy to see the way Deke and Don have developed the book through five subsequent editions. Last summer my wife and I returned to the area and tried following my old edition. It was striking how little had changed and we enjoyed our trip immensely. We pitched our tent on some of the same sites I'd used nearly two decades earlier! I suggest you use the far superior new edition of Alaska-Yukon - it's a wonderful part of the world, and you're in for a real adventure.

Once again I have purchased a "Road and Recreation Atlas" and found little or no mine locations. My recreation is prospecting/metal detecting and rockhounding and while the contents state "mines" they are few and far between if at all. Are they trying to tell me there was very little mining in Oregon or that I should choose a new hobby because they don't classify mine as a "recreation". I think they are just trying to say that their maps are just not accurate enough or their "Field Checkers" (oxymoron if I've ever heard one) are so lazy or dumb, they can't locate a mine with a GPS? All me and a few other amateur explorers are asking for is a general location of mines, and we don't expect it to be spot on. That would enable us to plan a little bit and hopefully not get lost doing it. If it says "mine location" then it should show them. DeLorme does on most of their Atlas and Gazetteer's so why can't Benchmark?~desertdan

Benchmark are absolutely the best road atlases out there. I have the AZ, UT, OR, and CA maps that I have purchased for trips (I use my CA one all the time, but I live here) and find them invaluable. I can always find my way when lost, and they really do a great job of showing detail that you wouldn't expect, even in metro areas. They show the most random and remote Forest Service or BLM roads, and points of interest on those roads that you would otherwise need specialty maps to see. If there's a dirt road or otherwise going there, these maps show it. Highly recommended!

If you are going to do much traveling in the more rural areas of Oregon, then this Atlas is almost a necessity. I had the 1998 edition and just purchased this one (2006) to help with our travels this summer. I have found it to be accurate and it has almost all of the roads that are available to a modern automobile - it might keep a person from getting lost and it certainly helps if you are planning a trip into an area with which you are not too familiar.

We took a trip to Portland over a long weekend, and this guide was incredibly useful. Although we used the web to make our hotel reservations, we use this guide for everything else. The food reservations were always spot on, as were the things to do reservations.

Very complete. 200 restaurant reviews includingcuisine, price range, address, phone number, web site and location on map. The 'Things to Do' section was great also. These editors have actually been there. The 'Lodging' and 'Nightlife' sections seemed just as good as the rest of the book.

Now in an updated sixth edition, Best Places: Portland is a handy travel guide to the best restaurants, lodgings, sights, shopping, and more to be found in Portland, Oregon. Icons for "editor's choice", "good (monetary) value", "family", and "romance" allow for quick and easy selection of Portland features to suit one's needs. Best Places: Portland prides itself on only mentioning the best of the best; even one-star establishments will be a cut above. Suggested day trips and three-day itineraries will aid the reader in maximizing enjoyment on minimum funds. Best Places: Portland is not a catch-all travel guide; it focuses specifically on listing "must-see" places along with brief descriptions, addresses, websites, and so on. A superb resource for business or leisure travelers alike.

Did my first ride out of this book today. I noticed I hadn't been riding much this year as I was going over many of the same roads as previous years. This book opens up many great locations with excellent turn by turn directions. Looks like it works hard to keep you on the less traveled roads. Just what I was looking for.

I'm not sure why this book hasn't been updated in so long, and I'm not sure why there isn't more competition from other guides in an area as bicycle crazy as Northwest Oregon, but this is the best guide currently available. In general, its maps and tips remain accurate, so I give it a thumbs up.

And, please, wear helmets!

Good road selection, accurate maps and helpful text make this book an excellent guide to road bicycling in northwest Oregon. The forty-five rides listed nearly all start within short distances from Portland, Corvallis, Salem, or Eugene. Ride distances range from a short 11 miler to the three day 177 mile Oregon Coaster loop. Each ride in the book includes a clear map of the ride, a cue sheet/mileage log, an elevation profile, and a few paragraphs of descriptive text. This book was extremely helpful in planning a recent ten day bicycling trip around northwest Oregon. While I did not, strictly speaking, ride any of the 45 rides in this book, the information in this book contributed greatly in road selection and understanding the terrain. For example, in the Mt. Hood area, if I had relied on the Delorme atlas, our route would have included several gravel roads. Jones and Henderson's book, however, shows which roads in the vicinity are gravel thereby helping us avoid them. For those of you fortunate enough to live in northwest Oregon, this book would be an excellent way to discover some new rides. For the non-Oregonian, the book can serve as an excellent resource in route-planning. As a sidelight, I would comment that I have yet to find a book published by The Mountaineers that has not been uniformly helpful, whether the content is bicyling or hiking.

Whilst searching the dusty bookshelves of my late grandfather, I stumbled upon this gem of a fruit-dying guidebook. Oh Grandpa, if only you had lived longer you could have regaled us with your stories of bleaching natures sweet edibles. Who knew you enjoyed your fruit salad so? My wistful musings about Grandpa's secret life aside, this book was rad!

This current onslaught of "organic" and "natural" with the Whole Foods and the Wild Oats and the no trans fats and the excercising is getting old, am I right? Of course I am, and I would like to think that D. Bull would agree. If nature wanted us to eat fruit shiny and perfectly hued, it would come out of the ground that way. But it doesn't and so we must take it upon ourselves to make it so. How many times have you bitten into a juicy, ripe piece of fruit and thought "Wow. That was perfect, if not for the dull colouring and imperfections." No more! Why leave fruit dyeing to professional fruit handlers when you can DYI. Yes, ol D. Bull was a man ahead of his time. If he were alive today I imagine he would have his very own show on the Food Network, teaching us the joys of food bleaching. Or, a sitcom based on real life a la Home Improvement. He could be D.E. The Bleach Man Bullis. I'm just spitballing here, but the point remains. Of all fruit dyeing books on the market today, this one is the best. That I have read (by read I mean, flipped through casually).

One question remains, why would my grandfather, a Puerto Rican immigrant who couldn't read or speak English, have this on his bookshelf? I do not have those answers. But I do have shiny, vibrant cherries so ease up on the fact checking.

Ambrosia, fruit cocktail, Shirley Temple, whiskey sour, ice cream sundae, and anything with whip cream and a cherry on top. Heaven realized. It is generally agreed that the maraschino cherry is grown in magical, elf-tended, gardens of the faeries. We know this to be true because there is no other fruit quite so sweet, quite so red, nor possessing quite so long a shelf life - and no pit, to boot. Perfection.

In order to free us from our dependence on the magical realm, D. E Bullis, of the Oregon Agricultural College Experiment Station, has applied good old Yankee ingenuity to the problem. The result, a process of bleaching and dyeing Royal Ann cherries that mimics the faerie grown maraschino cherry.

Fortunately for us mortals, D. E Bullis tells succinctly (only 29 pages needed) how to in his not-so-succinctly titled, "Bleaching and dyeing Royal Ann cherries for maraschino or fruit salad use."

Unfortunately for us mortals, this particular work is unavailable - nothing else known about it, not even whether it was hardbound or paperback, leather bound or just stapled. An elfin cover-up, or Royal Ann syndicate intervention? All we can be sure of is that back in 1931, the good folks of Oregon succeeded where others had failed in providing an alternative maraschino source. Five Stars!!!

As we all know, cherries in their natural state are barely edible. Which is why they must be bleached, dyed, maraschinoed, or hidden amongst sliced apples and pears in a large glass bowl, covered in cellophane, and placed on a picnic table only to be ignored in favor of cheese dip and awkward conversation. This is a universal truth, like polarity or short people being dishonest.

Author D.E. Bullis (known variously as "Dee," "Dee Money" or simply "The Bull") manages to squeeze more information into 29 pages than most authors of cherry-related non-fiction could muster in 35. He covers not just bleaching, but also dyeing; he takes on not only the maraschino process, but also fruit salad. He does it all, baby. He is the Ralph Sampson of Depression-era, altered-cherry literature.

Five stars!

This is a neat little book. My five year old son likes it alot. I didn't realize when I bought it though that it only has twenty five bugs in it. I guess the author put in his 25 favorite bugs of Oregon & Washington. It's a well written and illustrated book and I was easily able to identify several bugs around my home. I guess I will have to purchase a more complete insect book to be able to identify ever insect I see. I like the other books by the Lone Pine and have used them alot where I live. (The woods of eastern Oregon).

really, a book on bugs? well that's what I thought too, but when I browsed through it at Powell's in Portland, I knew I had to have it. people are too free with their stars on Amazon but this book deserves 6 of them. it is a delight. not only are the illustrations great but the writing is pure and simple and done with some humor. it's clearly a labor of love. I liked this thing so much that I bought 2 copies and gave one to a friend.

In his introduction to Bugs of Washington and Oregon, John Acorn explains how difficult it was to select 250 bugs from the 25,000 that populate the region. His criteria for choosing was 1) big, 2) colorful, 3) really hard to miss or 4) extremely wierd. This is by no means a comprehensive guide, but an excellent handbook to get you started identifying miscellaneous bugs and Acorn's example species are well chosen. In the Introduction Acorn addresses various concerns, sensitive issues, and points of interest in entomology. His views are sensitive, yet balanced--a pleasure to read. It's one of the few introductions I've read that was worth the time. The illustrations by Ian Sheldon are clear and nicely executed and Acorn's descriptions contain intriguing factoids. This is a terrific gift for the naturalist in the family.
**If you are looking to further your insect education, one of the best and most lovingly written bug books out there is For the Love of Insects and if you're looking for a beautiful picture book, try An Inordinate Fondness of Beetles.

This is a very honest look at his life. Sometimes a look like this can be very hard but the reader gains an appreciation of such introspection.

I had read four of Craig's fictional books, before reading his biography, so was familiar with his real-life characters.
Like one of the reviews, I was "compelled" to finish this poignant and gut-wrenching story; bringing the book along on a Mexican cruise and visits to the doctor.
The one issue I have with this book comes I guess from being a retired Episcopal Priest. I was bothered by Craig's seeming lack of motivation to forgive his father. It seemed at times like he couldn't live without resentment. In the end, though, it's not mine to judge.
I know Craig, having taken a three week, five day a week summer course under her excellent tutelege. I must say he is a wonderful, gentle and loving man, in spite of all he has been through.
Perhaps he has forgiven his father more than he yet realizes!

When Rudell Lesley told his wife Hazel he had to go out for a while to look for a lost flashlight, he never returned, leaving her to raise their eight-month old son alone. The baby, christened Martin Craig Lesley, emerged with remarkable academic ability that came with a talent for remembering and processing every experience on an unusually deep level.

As I read, I marveled that the child didn't suffer a nervous breakdown or withdraw completely into fantasy. Relatives made vague, brief, derogatory comments about his father. Hazel said, "He just didn't give the slightest damn about anything." Rudell was shell-shocked from his fighting in the war. He was a backslider who poached. Trying to three-dimensionalize his father using this information began the stirrings of rage. Also Craig needed a target for his anger because his stepfather Vern was too terrifying to defy openly.

Badly injured in an accident at fifteen, Craig finally drew his father's attention. Rudell appeared with his young wife and four half-siblings. From that time until his father's death, Craig takes a spellbinding journey into the lives of his father's family and associates.

Rudell, with all his entertaining stories ("stretchers"), fails to say what would have meaning for Craig: why Rudell left, and whether he thought he made the right decision. With all of his hard physical labor as a fence builder, Rudell keeps himself and his family in squalor. Mixed into all this is Craig's adopted handicapped son Wade who burns Rudell's stack of freshly cut fence posts, believing that he's scaring off Big Foot.

If you would like to live inside the mind of a man who overcame a harrowing childhood to become a successful writer and university professor, this memoir is for you.