I thought of Timberland Regional Library’s proposed capital facilities plan last Wednesday evening as I listened to Wyoming author Craig Johnson, creator of the Sheriff Walt Longmire novels now adapted into a television series.
After publication of his debut novel, “The Cold Dish,” in 2004, a librarian invited him to speak and sign copies of his book. She tentatively noted that, as a small library, they didn’t have much to offer as an honorarium.
“So I quick looked up what an honorarium was,” Johnson said during his keynote at the Fort Vancouver Regional Library’s Authors & Illustrators fundraising dinner, which I attended with two sisters and a niece. He wrote her back and agreed to speak for a six-pack of Rainier beer.
“Done!” she responded. That story wound up in all Wyoming’s newspapers.
“I have done all 71 of the libraries in Wyoming,” he said. “And I haven’t bought a beer in about seven or eight years.”
With the success of his 14 Longmire mysteries, Johnson said he’s toured the country and visited many cities and towns.
“I have come to the point now where I can tell you that most assuredly I judge communities by the strength of their libraries, and this town should be extraordinarily proud of its libraries,” he concluded.
So should the five counties in the Timberland Regional Library system. Let’s keep it that way.
Managing Expectations
At the Oregon Christian Writers conference last month, Kathi Lipp, author of 17 books on topics such as marriage, praying, and decluttering, shared a story about managing expectations. On Father’s Day she asked her husband what he wanted to do. Enjoy a home-cooked breakfast and a Starbucks coffee and spend time alone with his wife, he responded.
They waited in a long drive-through line at a Starbucks near their California home and her husband, like the drivers before him, left a gap for motorists who needed to pass through to reach the Bank of America. The slow-moving line tested Kathi Lipp’s patience. Then a car from the bank’s drive-through line darted in front of theirs in the Starbucks line.
Lipp rolled down her window, stuck out her head, and shouted, “Unbelievable!”
Her husband tried in vain to calm her.
“Who raised you?!” Lipp hollered as her husband and son crouched in their seats.
She expected a perfect Father’s Day for her husband, and when it didn’t transpire, she lost it.
When they reached the Starbucks window, the young woman said, “I don’t know what’s going on, but the people in the car ahead of you just paid for your order.”
Laughter erupted as Lipp shared the story. But the Starbucks employee continued. “And they told me to tell you they were raised by wolves.”
Local Authors
I’ll be joining a dozen other local authors for a book signing from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at The Station Coffee Bar & Bistro on Tower Avenue in Centralia.
Seven local authors created an anthology of heartwarming Christmas stories published this year in a book called “Christmas in Time.” I edited the book with stories written by Kyle Pratt and James Pratt, both of Napavine; Debby Lee of Centralia; Carolyn Bickel of Chehalis; Kristie Kandoll of Kalama; and Heather Morse Alexander and Barbara Blakey, both of Olympia.
Two men who wrote their memoirs, which I helped them publish, will be selling their books. Robert A. Wheeler, who wrote about his life in the Los Baños internment camp in the Philippines during World War II, will sign his book, “A Child’s Life — Interrupted by the Japanese Imperial Army.” And Jess Daniels, a retired forester who used to live in Centralia, wrote about his life in the 1950s in his book, “Through the Kaleidoscope: A Memoir.”
Brian Mittge and Kerry MacGregor Serl will sell and sign copies of their book, “George Washington of Centralia,” about the black pioneer who founded Centralia in the 1850s. Other local authors at the event will be Jake Blake of Toledo, who writes science fiction; Janice Clark of Rochester, author of the Hall of Doors children’s series and the Healers Apprentice young adult series; and Stefanie Bridges-Mikota of Napavine, who wrote two novels, “By His Hand” and “In His Time.”
•••
Julie McDonald, a personal historian from Toledo, may be reached at memoirs@chaptersoflife.com.
